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HUDSON-MOHAWK 
GENEALOGICAL 



AND 



FAMILY MEMOIRS 



A RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE HUDSON AND 
MOHAWK VALLEYS IN NEW YORK STATE, INCLUDED WITHIN THE PRES- 
ENT COUNTIES OF ALBANY. RENSSELAER. WASHINGTON. SARATOGA, 
MONTGOMERY, FULTON, SCHENECTADY, COLUMBIA AND GREENE. 



PREPARED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF 

CUYLER REYNOLDS 

Curator of The .-Mbany Institute and Historical and Art Society, since 1898; Director of New 

York State History Exhibit at Jamestown Exposition, 1907; Author of ".A.lbany 

Chronicles," "Classified Quotations," and several other published works. 



VOLUME I. 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1911 






COPYRIGHT 

LF.WIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1911 



Cci.Al-^SCSoO 



t 



FOREWORD 

That many hundreds of persons have shown their personal interest in the 
publication of tliese volumes is sufficient evidence that it is a deserving field in 
historical literature. l!ut this is by no means the limitation, for these family 
sketches will be a matter of daily reference by persons throughout this country, 
and thus they will lie rendering a proper service, warranting the juiinstaking 
labor expended in their preparation. As time goes on, a work of this nature 
will be considered as a godsend. 

But aside from individual interest in family matters and the consequent 
inclusion of historical information, there is a special and pertinent value in this 
work, for instead of being an affair which some would heedlessly consider lightly, 
the effect on the student of these matters is known to be an inspiration, because 
through understanding the hardships and the successes of our ancestors, and 
reading of worthy feats, one certainly becomes imbued with an esprit Je corps 
which builds character, and good results invariably follow. 

In the times when the French and Indian wars were engaging the attention 
of every colonist from Maine to Florida, who never was able to rest easily at 
home lest the savage pillage his house within the high palisade, the settlements 
near .Albany, although protected in the crude fashion of that day, were the sub- 
ject of attack time and time again. This was, in part, because the vicinitv of 
.Albany was the seat of settlement of several tribes of continually warring 
Indians, principally the Mohawks and Mohicans. Not only were the bergs of 
Albany and Schenectady surrounded in entirety by stockadoes, and the villagers 
warned not' to build outside of them, but the residents erected their dwellings 
for defense, much in the manner of individual forts, by providing their walls, 
massive in those days, with portholes through which the musket could be directed 
at the enemy ; and such houses, although rare, are still standing there. Notable 
among these conflicts with the aborigines and French was the frightful massacre 
at Schenectady in the winter of 1690, when few in the peaceful village were 
permitted to escape the tomahawk, and later on the Ueukendaal massacre shocked 
the settlers, fraught with as high a percentage of brutal murders. 

\Mien the I'rench wished to possess the land in .America, their armies came 
by way of the Adirondack lakes, as a facile passage from Canada, and Albany 
had to be the resisting point to .save the other sections of the country. The 
orders issued in Europe by the higher officials who directed operations, were 
generally to the effect that Alban\- must first be taken ; but it never was a place 
which suffered concjuest. Its citizenship was composed of such men as would 
extract the lead from their windows in order to have it cast into bullets, and 
naturally such valor was indomitable. 

Some fifty years after the massacre mentioned, the l<"rench were once more 
decidedly active, and it was necessary to check them before thev came further 
south than Ticonderoga, or, at worst, Fort William Henry, on Lake George's 
southern end. The region in and about Albany was then given over to the 
massing of troops, and under General Abercrombie, in 1758, a large army was 
gathered and the raw recruits drilled. It was then that "Yankee Doodle" was 
composed by the surgeon in his army, while in the camp at Greenbush. 

In the Revolutionary period, the citizens sacrificed everything down to the 
condition of depriving themselves of their cattle, which were driven from their 
fields to supply the soldiers, while produce had to be brought in in such quan- 
tities that, when winter aiii^roached, the inhabitants made an appeal that they 



FOREWORD 

could not survive the winter if the drain continued. The best citizens were 
turned into officers, and the stories of their lives, headed with such names as 
Generals Schuyler, Ten Broeck and Gansevoort, furnish us to-day with both 
interesting and instructive reading. It was in 1777 that Albany was made the 
center of attack by large armies of British troops, plaiuied to attack it from the 
north by General Burgoyne; from the west, by General St. Leger, proceeding 
from Oswego, and Lord Howe, coming up the Hudson. It was a brilliant enter- 
prise and a fierce campaign ; but the men of Albany were victorious. 

In its later life, the people of this section of the country have placed them- 
selves creditably on record in the walks of peace, and one finds commerce, the 
arts and sciences, represented most worthily. There is no reason to gloss over 
the list by generalities, for definite cases are readily to be cited ; but one should 
take up these families one by one and read them thoughtfully. The entire country 
never furnished a more wonderful scientist than Professor Joseph Henry, born 
in Albany, who successfully demonstrated there the feasibility of his invention of 
tlie electric telegraph. The military men, lawyers, artists, authors, clergymen 
and doctors, have been among the foremost, and added a luster to a section of 
the country which furnishes itself as a topic for a history. 

For the benefit of those who seek details about this section of the state, as 
regards its topography and legislative formation, besides the more important 
information in other lines, there has been added a section of this work, devoted 
to this subject. 

Many persons will take special interest in salient features aboift the early 
settlers, and for their benefit a compilation of names and facts about six hundred 
difi'erent families, who arrived in that part of the State before the year 1700, 
has been purposely made. With the idea of making a creditable, authentic and 
full record of these families, each person associated with this work has put forth 
his best endeavor in the hope of affording abundant satisfaction. 

The editor and publishers are grateful to several gentlemen for valuable 
advisory assistance — to W. Max Reid. of Amsterdam ; Frank W. Thomas, of 
Troy : Rev. Dr. E. C. Lawrence, of Schenectady, and \\'illiam Richard Cutter, 
of Woburn, Massachusetts — all well known in historical and antiquarian circles. 

In various instances there are differing forms of names in the same family, 
different lines preserving their own nomenclature, and these differences have 
been preserved in these volumes. In all cases the narratives have been submitted 
to the person in interest, and their corrections have been carefully regarded. 

Some corrections and additional data were received after the pages had gone 
through the press, and these have been carried into a page of addenda and errata 
preceding the index, in the last pages of \'olume I\'. 

CUYLER REYNOLDS. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS. 



It is beyond pos- 
\'AX RENSSELAER sibility to write the 
history of the city 
of Albany, New York, without making- promi- 
nent mention of tlie Van Rensselaer family. 
This is because the deeds for every foot of 
land now comprising the site of the capital 
city were executed by the owners of the soil, 
the Mohawk tribe of aborigines, to Patroon 
Van Rensselaer and his associates, so that this 
family will ever stand in history as the origi- 
nal owner of a very important and large area 
of land in the New World ; but it is likewise 
true that every one in the United States either 
bearing that name or of the blood, must turn 
to Albany in order to trace his or her descent, 
which leads to the single progenitor of the 
family in America. 

For nearly three centuries it has been a 
family whose members have invariably main- 
tained, by culture and mode of living, an un- 
disputed prominence, yet with a well-known 
reluctance to force itself into public affairs, 
preferring that retirement which refinement 
usually seeks, avoiding notoriety and the con- 
flict concomitant with aft'airs of business life 
and public office. The family, however, has 
never suffered the complaint of any lack of 
patriotism, nor of failing to respond to a 
genuine appeal to serve the government in an 
official capacity. It can with full right count 
its numbers who have done both with a verdict 
of fullest credit from the people. The direct 
line has had its representation in the congress 
of the nation, in the state senate and assembly 
of New York, and in the chair of the lieu- 
tenant-governor of the Empire State. 

The patriotic qualities of the family have 
lieen fullv demonstrated by their figuring with 
prominence in all the great military struggles 
which have convulsed this nation, and their 
acts have placed high in the memorable rolls 
■of American history the names of a large 
number. To their special credit it is recorded 
.also that thev served either as officers or in the 



ranks without pay or emolument, and, more- 
over, devoted the advantages of their estates 
to the cause of freedom. The well-known war 
historian, William L. Stone, states that "They 
consisted of eighteen males in 1776. During 
the war every adult, except two old men, and 
all minors, except four boys, bore arms in one 
or more battles during the Revolutionary 
struggle." George W. Schuyler, in his "Colo- 
nial New York," explains further, that of the 
eighteen males, sixteen belonged to Hendrick 
Van Rensselaer's branch, and of these, five 
were of Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer's family. To 
bear out such statements by facts it is neces- 
sary to examine only a few of the records. 
Colonel Kiliaen Van Rensselaer departed with 
his three sons, two of them officers and all 
true patriots in the revolution, was wounded 
in the battle of Saratoga when participating 
in the fierce conflict against Burgoyne, and 
General Washington paid him the highest 
compliment upon his courage. One of his 
sons, Colonel Hendrick \'an Rensselaer, was 
directed by General Schuyler to go in com- 
pany with Colonel Long to hold the enemy in 
check at Fort Anne until the cannon and arma- 
ment of Fort George could be removed to a 
place of safety. The English vuider Colonel 
Hill were in pursuit of the patriots from Lake 
Champlain up Wood creek, and, on their ap- 
proach to Fort Anne, \'an Rensselaer and 
Long sallied from the fort on the morning of 
July 8, 1777, and attacked them so vigorously 
that they were obliged to retire, leaving their 
wounded on the field. Colonel Van Rensse- 
laer was so severely wounded that he was 
obliged after that to relinquish further service, 
and on his death, thirty-five years later, the 
ball then received was extracted from his 
thigh bone. Likewise there was IMajor James 
Van Rensselaer, who served with honor and 
without pay on the staff' of the brave Mont- 
gomerv, and who was near him when he fell 
mortally wounded before the walls of Quebec, 
December 31, 1775. Colonel Nicholas Van 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Rensselaer participated in the decisive battles 
on the heights of Stillwater, and after the 
surrender of General Burgoyne, October 17, 
1777, was despatched by General Gates to 
convey the intelligence to Albany. Philip Van 
Rensselaer was engaged in the commissary de- 
partment, where he rendered efficient service. 

In the war of 1812, Generals Stephen and 
Solomon Van Rensselaer will ever be remem- 
bered as the leaders in command of the forces 
which crossed into Canada and captured 
Queenstown, October 13, 1812. In this fight 
the latter was disabled, being wounded no less 
than six times. In 1794, as a captain of cav- 
alry, he took prominent part in the battle with 
*he' Indians on the Maumee river, where he 
was wounded, August 20, 1794, while fighting 
under General Wayne. General Robert Van 
Rensselaer commanded the militia who pur- 
sued and defeated Sir John Johnson when on 
his famous raid in the Mohawk Valley in 
1780. 

In the civil war there were many of the 
name and descent who sustained the Union, 
most prominent among them being Colonel 
Henry Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and his 
nephew, Captain Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, who 
fought bravely under both Grant and Han- 
cock, participatmg in no less than fourteen 
stubborn engagements. William Van Rensse- 
laer, of Seneca Falls, served in the New York 
Volunteers, Engineering Corps, and fought 
with gallantry in the Army of the Potomac. 

For several other pertinent reasons atten- 
tion has been directed to this family. It made 
one of the earliest attempts at colonization in 
America, the enterprise having received its 
initiatory movement in Holland at about the 
same time that the Pilgrims were planning 
their cruise to avoid religious persecution, and 
it was originally intended, so some maintain, 
that both should seek the free soil of what 
became New Netherland and then New York. 

The family will long be remembered be- 
cause it was identified with the movement for 
establishment of a landed aristocracy of the 
New World, its leader to enjoy the ancient 
Dutch title of Patroon, and after the super- 
sedure of the Dutch by the English, to be 
known by that of Lord of the Manor. It was a 
stalwart race and fought strenuously for high 
ideals; but the titles vanished with the revo- 
lution. If ever a feudal aristocracy could have 
been perpetuated in the New World, this fam- 
ily was best fitted to perform the task. 

After that period they added another chap- 
ter by being one of the parties participating in 
the famous anti-rent feud, for, although the 
revolution had abolished titles, the system of 
leasing land remained unchanged. It was a 



matter which was fought by arms and in the 
courts from 1839 until about i860. The \'an 
Rensselaers made a stubborn fight for the 
cause with which they had so long been iden- 
tified, and the last Patroon finally bowed gra- 
ciously to the will of the court when the con- 
struction of the change from the English laws 
made it imperative. 

A fourth matter of interest taken by many 
in this family is the importance of the mar- 
riage connection with a great number of fam- 
ilies also of note, in the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries, among which alliances mav be 
mentioned the Schuyler, Hamilton, Livingston, 
Jay. Morris, Bayard, \'an Cortlandt, Bleecker, 
Cuyler, Douw, Lansing, Ten Broeck, \'er 
Planck and Paterson lines. In the younger 
generations of half a century ago they inter- 
married with the families of Atterbury, Bay- 
lies, Bell, Berry, Biddle, Cogswell, Crosby, 
Cruger, Delafield, Erving, Fairfax, Grubby 
Hodge, Howland. Johnson, Kennedy, King, 
Lorillard, Pendleton, Pruyn, Reynolds, Robb, 
Rogers, Tallmadge, Thayer, Townsend, Turn- 
bull, Waddington and Wilkins. Each of these 
families holds a recognized position in the 
various cities where they reside, and in every 
instance their connection with the Van Rensse- 
laer line is well known, for it signifies that in 
each case one of the name traces with pride 
to the progenitor of the \''an Rensselaer 
family. 

The arms of the \"an Rensselaer family, in 
use three centuries ago in Holland and em- 
ployed by the Patroons and their descendants 
in America, consists of: A shield, the first and 
fourth quarters gules a cross moline argent ; 
second and third quarters argent, six fleurs- 
de-lys gules, 3, 2 and i. On an escutcheon of 
pretence argent bordered sable a cross moline. 
The crest disjjlays a high, iron fire-basket ar- 
gent, from which issue fiames proper. The 
motto is Niemand sonder. The interesting 
tradition regarding the crest has it that on a 
certain occasion of festival a grand illumina- 
tion took place in Holland, and the \'an 
Rensselaer family on that day ordered huge 
iron baskets, similar to that depicted in the 
crest, to be filled with combustibles and placed 
on the gate and fence posts, where they added 
to the effect of the night illumination. The 
result was so startling that it called forth 
special commendation from the Prince of 
Orange, who wished accordingly to bestow a 
favor such as royalty allows people to whom a 
money recompense would not be fitting, and 
he begged Van Rensselaer to adopt the motto, 
"Omnibus effulgeo," signifying "I outshine 
all." Before that time the motto had been 
"Niemand Zander," meaning "No one without 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



a cross," referring to the cross appearing upon 
the shield, being of silver upon a red field. 
The arms as an entirety and sometimes the 
crest have been employed as the family book- 
plate for several generations, and they like- 
wise form an attractive feature upon the silver 
handed down from oldest son to oldest son, as 
was the English custom so long a common 
practice of this family. 

The \'an Rensselaer family was one of im- 
portance in Holland before coming to America, 
respected and honored by their countrymen, 
holding such positions of trust as burgomaster, 
councillor, treasurer, etc. In the Orphan Asy- 
lum at Nykerk, Holland, there still hangs a 
picture of Jan Van Rensselaer, in which he 
is represented as a "Jonkheer," or nobleman, 
by the distinguishing costume, and he is iden- 
tified by the small representation of the arms 
painted on the shield above his head. The 
original Manor of the Van Rensselaer family, 
from which they took their name, was as late 
as 1880 called Rensselaer, and was located 
about three miles southeast of Nykerk. It 
was originally a "Reddergoed," the possession 
of which conferred nobility. The last member 
of the family who bore the name was Jeremias 
Van Rensselaer, who died there April 11, 1819. 
He had married Julie Duval (Judic Henrietta 
Duval), and they had no children. In his 
will he states that he had no heirs except the 
Van Rensselaer family then living in America. 

These facts were gleaned by Eugene Schuy- 
ler, who purposely journeyed to the ancient 
family seat, and whose letter, printed in the 
Albany Argus, September 21, 1879, reads in 
part as follows : 

"I went to Amersfoort. to Nykerk, and to sev- 
eral other towns in Guelderland. At Amersfoort, 
there is a Table in the Church of St. Joris or St. 
George, on which is mentioned Harmanus Van 
Rensselaer, as one of the Regents in 1639. Dr. is 
prefixed to liis name, which may mean Doctor of 
Laws, Divinity, or Medicine. There is also a tomb 
of a Captain Van Rensselaer, who died from a 
wound received at the battle of Nieuport. This is 
covered by the wood flooring, and is not visible. 
In the Orphan Asylum at Nykerk, there is a very 
fine picture of its first Regents, 1638. The picture 
is painted by Breecker in 1645. There are two 
noblemen in this picture, Jan, or Johannes Van 
Rensselaer, and Nicholas Van Delen ; one of the 
four others is Ryckert Van Twiller, the father of 
Walter Van Twiller. who married the sister of 
Kiliaen, the first Patroon. There are two other 
Van Rensselaers named among the later Regents — 
Richard, in 1753. and Jeremias, in 1803. 

"The estate of Rensselaerswyck is now only a 
farm, all the old buildings have lately been taken 
down — they were covered with gables, weathercocks 
of the arms and crest of the family; but all have 
now disappeared. There is scarcely a church in 
Guelderland that did not have somewhere the Van 
Rensselaer arms on the tombstones, either alone 
or quartered with others. The exact coat-of-arms 



is a white or silver cross on a red ground. The 
crest is a white basket, with yellow flames above a 
closed, or knight's helmet." 

The Crailo, as the seat of the family was 
called in Holland, was a large and productive 
estate some time before any of the family 
came to America, and it is believed that the 
family was related to that of Olden Barne- 
veldt, the famous patriot and statesman, be- 
cause portraits of John of Olden Barneveldt 
and of his wife Marie, of Utrecht, were pre- 
served as heirlooms until the Crailo estate was 
sold in 1830. The Manor of Olden Barne- 
veldt was close to Rensselaer, and about six 
miles south of Nykerk, between it and Amers- 
foort. This Crailo estate passed into the 
possession of the female line, the last of whom 
was Joanna Jacoba Sara \^an Rensselaer, from 
Amsterdam, who married Jonkheer Jan Bow- 
ier. She was the mother of twelve children, 
and when she died in 1830, the Crailo was 
sold. Two sons of this marriage, Jonkheer 
Hugo Jan Jacob Bowier, and Jonkheer Mar- 
tin Bowier, colonel in the royal marines and 
at one time coinmandant of the Dutch naval 
forces off Atchin, were permitted by royal 
license to assume both the name and the arms 
of the Van Rensselaer family. In this way 
the Bowier family came into possession of 
many heirlooms and valuable papers relating 
to the Van Rensselaers. These documents 
were brought from Holland through the ef- 
forts of Mrs. Alan H. Strong, of New Jer- 
sey, and after being translated by Arnold J. F. 
van Laer, New York* State Archivist, were 
published in 1908 by the state of New York, 
and make a volume of over nine hundred 
pages. 

The first historical mention of the family 
refers to Johan Van Rensselaer, a captain of 
a hundred men, who did good service in 
Friesland for the King of Spain in the early 
part of the sixteenth century. It also refers 
to Captain Harmanus Van Rensselaer, who 
was seriously wounded at the battle of Nieu- 
port, in the year 1600, and died in 1601, as is 
stated upon the tomb at Amersfoort. 

In tracing the descent from the earliest 
known records and family traditions, an early 
chart shows that the primordial name is that 
of Hendrick Wouter \"an Rensselaer, who 
married Swene \'an Imyck, and had children: 
Johannes Hendrick, married Derykebia Van 
Lupoel : Geertruj. married Advocate Swaas- 
kens ; Wouter (Walter) Hendrick; Anna and 
Betje. 

Johannes Hendrick Van Rensselaer and 
Derykebia Van Lupoel had a son Kiliaen, who 
married Nelle Van Wenckoin, and another son 
named Wouter Jans. 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Kiliaeii \ an Rensselaer and Xelle Van 
\^'enckoIn liad a son named Hendrick, who 
married ^Faria Pafraet ; a daughter, Engeltje, 
who married Gerrit Giiilliam \'an Patten ; 
Claas, who married Jacoliina Schrassens; Jo- 
hannes, who married Sandrina Van Erp, 
styled \\'aredenburgh, and Johannes, who died 
without issue. 

The foregoing statement figured on the 
chart brings one to a period when there are 
documents and dates which are reliable. 

Captain Hendrick Van Rei^.sselaer, son of 
Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer and Nelle \'an Wenc- 
kom, was probably born upon the estate named 
Rensselaer, near Nykerk, in Holland, and died 
at Ostende, Belgium, June 6, 1602. He mar- 
ried Maria Pafraet; children: i. Kiliaen, born 
at Hasselt. Province of Overyssel, Nether- 
lands, about 1580; died at Amsterdam, Hol- 
land, in 1644; married (first) Hillegonda Van 
Bylaer, (second) Anna \'an Wely, who died 
June 12. 1670. 2. Maria, married Ryckert 
Van Twiller, and had : Wouter \'an Twiller, 
who was the (third) director-general of New 
Netherland, 1633-38; Elizabeth, married Jo- 
hannes \'an Rensselaer, son of Kiliaen, the 
first Patroon. 3. A third child (apparently), 
also named Maria, who married Obelaers, and 
died at Munnikendam, Holland, in 1673. 

Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer, son of Hendrick 
Van Rensselaer and Maria Pafraet. was born 
in Hasselt, Province of Overyssel, in the 
Netherlands, about 1580, and died in Amster- 
dam, Holland, in 1644. He was the first 
Patroon and the founder of the colony of 
Rensselaerswyck in America. 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was a wealthy mer- 
chant of Amsterdam, known to be a dealer in 
pearls and precious stones, to have had some 
reputation as a banker and general merchant, 
and owned large estates in Holland. He was 
a leader in tlie famous guild of trading princes 
which at that time played so prominent a 
part in the commerce of the world, and it is 
quite evident that he must have been both 
shrewd and farsighted. The innumerable 
documents which he has left demonstrate 
great thoughtfulness in planning even the de- 
tails, and he could grasp a situation in a for- 
eign country with the same jjcrfcction in 
every respect as though present and overseemg 
all. He exhibited sagacity in his stand taken 
with regard to the policy of the colony as 
against the desires of his associates who de- 
sired to grow wealthy with rapidity. They 
sought to have those sent out engage in hunt- 
ing for the purpose of making immediate and 
large shipments to foreign lands, while he 
desired that the colonists should become set- 
tlers, owning their houses, and leading happy 



and contented lives, so that they would be 
willing to remain ; should raise large families, 
and long continue to progress the work on an 
ever increasing scale as they prospered. He 
not only had the courage to found a colony in 
the wilds of an unknown America, but pos- 
sessed the energy to push the work, once be- 
gun and discouraging at times, until it pros- 
pered. 

In those days the jewelers were moving 
spirits in advancing the trade with far-distant 
countries and were alert to seek new fields, 
even in the alluring country of India, whither 
all eyes were turned, and the greatest en- 
deavor being made to find a quicker passage. 
After long years of preparation the charter 
affecting the colony was granted June 3, 162 1, 
and the subscription list opened. At the start 
the subscriptions did not come in very rapid- 
ly, largely on account of the exclusion of the 
salt trade from the charter's list of induce- 
ments ; but when this difficulty was removed 
the full amount was subscribed. The Cham- 
ber of Amsterdam, "because thence came the 
most money," had the largest number of di- 
rectors, who were to administer four-ninths of 
the entire capital of the company. There 
were twenty, and each had to contribute at 
least 6,000 guilders. Next to the board of 
directors there was a body of chief partici- 
pants, each of whom had the same amount in- 
vested, yet while they took no part in the 
daily management, as the representatives of 
the stockholders, no resolutions of importance 
could be taken without them. It was agreed 
that the first two vacancies should be supplied 
from the ranks of the chief participants, and 
the first thus received into the Chamber was 
Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer, who it appears was 
among the first subscribers and had paid at 
least 6,000 guilders. It may be mentioned 
here that on June 16, 1628, he became the 
owner of the estate called Crailo. near Huizen, 
to which he added a vast area of unreclaimed 
land. 

Fort Orange had been established in May, 
1624, close to the western shore of the Plud- 
son river, about one hundred and forty-two 
miles north of New Amsterdam (New York 
City), now the site of Albany, and \^in Rens- 
selaer thought it an excellent advantage to 
have his lands under the protection of its 
guns. He sent agents to investigate the na- 
ture of the territory, who reported favorably, 
and Bastiaen Jansz Crol and Dirk Cornelisz 
Duyster were especially empowered in writ- 
ing, signed January 12. 1630. secured shortly 
a large tract of land on the west bank. 
In January. 1631, he sent Marinus Adriaensz, 
from \'eere, with some assistants as tobacco 



« 




i 


:p^^» 



Supposed to be Jvillaen Van Rensselaer 

Born 1580 

From a painting owned by 

Howard Van Kensselaer, Esq. M. D. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



planters, and in July he sent Laurens Lau- 
rensz, from Kopehaven, with another North- 
man, to operate the saw and grist mill, also a 
number of laborers and some ten calves. 
Knowing- that they could not succeed in their 
support for the first two or three years, he 
allowed them from 150 to 180 guilders per 
annum. He also provided the colonists with 
implements, and allowed the farm hands from 
40 to 90 guilders a year. Between 1630 and 
1632 he transported on these terms ten per- 
sons in the first year and twelve in the next 
two succeeding years. The first quota of men 
sailed from Holland, March 21, 1630, aboard 
the ship "d'Eendracht," or "the Unity," com- 
manded by Jan Brouwer, and arrived at the 
island of Manhattan, May 24th, to proceed 
up the river to the site of Rensselaerswyck. 
The Lords States-General, at The Hague, 
June 7, 1629, had ratified the plan of the Dutch 
West India company to allow the patroons to 
divide the land into manorial grants ; but re- 
serving to that company the fur business, and 
unless five per cent, were paid to the West 
India company should the colonists weave 
woolen or other stuffs. The land ultimately 
secured by Van Rensselaer from the Indians 
is commonly stated as a tract reaching north 
and south twenty-four miles from Baeren 
Island to the Cohoes Falls in the Mohawk, 
and extending forty-eight miles east and west- 
ward, half on each side of the Hudson river, 
containing about 700,000 acres, comprising 
therein the present counties of Albany, Rens- 
selaer and the northern part of Columbia. 
The statement, however, should be modified 
by the understanding of recent research, al- 
though it is practically correct. The land was 
not purchased at one time. The first certifi- 
cate of purchase from the Indians was dated 
August 13, 1630, and (translated) it reads: 

Anno 1630, this day the 13th of .\iigust. We, the 
director and council of New Netherland, residing 
on the island the Manahatas and in Fort Amster- 
dam: under the jurisdiction of their High Mighti- 
nesses the Lords States General of the United 
Netherlands and the Chartered West India Com- 
pany, Chamher of Amsterdam, do herehy testify 
and declare, that on this day, the date underwritten, 
before us appeared and presented themselves in 
their proper persons, Kottamack, Nawanemit, .'\h- 
antzeene, Sagiskwa and Kanamoack, owners and 
proprietors of their respective parcels of land ex- 
tending up the river, south and north, from the said 
fort (Fort Orange, later Albany) to a little south 
of Moeneminnes Castle (situated on Haver Island, 
in 1910 Peobles, Island, at mouth of the Mohawk 
River), belonging to the aforesaid proprietors joint- 
ly and in common, and the land called Semesseeck, 
belonging to the aforesaid Nawanemit individually, 
lying on the east bank from opposite Castle Island 
to the above mentioned fort : also, from Petanock, 
the mill creek (Normans Kill), north to Nega- 
gonse. . . . 



This was signed in the several hands of 
"Peter Minuiet, Director; Pieter Bijlvelt, 
lacob Elbertsz Wissinck, Ian lanssen Brou- 
wer, Sijmon Dircks Pos, Reynicr Har- 
mansen." 

Mr. A. J. van Laer, the New York State 
Archivist, a most careful and capable expert, 
interprets this to mean: "i, the land on the 
west side of the river from Fort Orange to 
the Mohawk ; 2, a small tract on the east side 
of the river, on both sides of the present Mill 
Creek, frotn opposite Castle Island to a point 
opposite Fort Orange ; 3, the land on the west 
side of the river from a point south of the 
Normans Kill to the north point of Castle 
Island, or possibly to Fort Orange. 

From what Kiliaen Van Rensselaer wrote 
in his "Account of the Jurisdictions." of July 
20, 1634, enclosed in his letter of the 21st to 
Johannes de Laet, it would seem that the land 
comprised "all the shore along the river on 
the west side, from beeren Island to Momnen- 
is Castle," which distance, froin Baeren Island, 
fourteen miles below Albany, to the "Castle" 
on the Mohawk, Cohoes, ten miles north of 
that city, would be a north and south line of 
about twenty-four miles. To the original pur- 
chase of 1630 was added in May, 1631, land 
from "Beeren Island to Smacks (Smax) 
Island." On April 23, 1637, more land was 
bought on the east side of the river from 
Papscanee creek south to a point opposite 
Smacks Island, and at later dates purchases 
were made of islands in that vicinity and land 
near the Poesten Kill (Troy), at Catskill, 
Bethlehem and Claverack. 

It is stated on good authority, after the 
examination of the Van Rensselaer-Bowier 
Manuscripts, which were translated in 1903 by 
the State Archivist, and in which was the let- 
ter-book of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and other 
voluminous documents, that he never visited 
his colony or came to America. Even before 
that it had been a matter of considerable 
doubt. 

It should be stated that Van Rensselaer, for 
the purpose of more speedy development of 
his large territory, formed a partnership Oc- 
tober I, 1630, with three brother directors of 
the company. These were Samuel (jodyn, 
Johannes de Laet and Samuel Bloemmaert, 
who after a time sold out their interest, and 
Van Rensselaer alone developed the colony. 

In 1640, because of disputes over various 
matters between the colony and the Dutch 
West India Company, the patroons obtained a 
new charter of privileges and exemptions, 
some of the provisions therein being that all 
patroons, free colonists and inhabitants of 
New Netherland should enjoy the privilege of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



selling articles brought from Holland upon 
payment of a ten per cent, duty ; that they 
pay ten per cent, export duty on all furs 
shipped to Holland; that they be allowed to 
manufacture woolen goods and cotton cloth, 
which had been prohibited ; the person bring- 
ing five persons to New Netherland as a col- 
ony would be entitled to two hundred acres, 
and might hunt in the public woods or fish in 
public streams ; no religion except that of the 
Reformed Dutch Church was to be tolerated ; 
the colonists were to be provided with negroes 
to help them on their farms ; appeal from 
manorial courts might be made to director and 
council of New Netherland, provided the sum 
in dispute was equal to forty dollars ; but the 
patroon's jurisdiction was not to be affected 
in any way by the new charter. The pro- 
visions of the patroon's contracts kept Arendt 
van Curler, commissary-general of Rens- 
selaerswyck, and Adriaen vander Donck, the 
public prosecutor, busy throughout 1641. 

On March 6, 1642, Patroon Kiliaen Van 
Rensselaer requested the classis of Amster- 
dam to send "a good, honest and pure preach- 
er" to his colony, and that body selected 
Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, Jun., pastor 
of Schorel and Berg of the Alkmaar classis, 
who accepted the call of six years, conditioned 
on a salary of one thousand guilders ($400) 
that he need not be ret[uire(l to work as a 
farmer, the same to be paid in meat, drink and 
whatever he might claim. The dominie was 
accredited on JVIarch 22nd, and June 3rd the 
patroon sent detailed instructions setting 
forth where he desired the church, the minis- 
ter's house and the people to build their 
homes. The Amsterdam Chamber of the 
Dutch West India Company indorsed Mega- 
polensis on June 6th, and the patroon was 
somewhat exorcised, as he considered the mat- 
ter entirely within his right and not a matter 
for them to act u])on in any way. The dom- 
inie, his wife and four young children, ar- 
rived at Rensselaerswyck on August 12th, and 
Arendt van Curler set about the erection of 
a house for him, while Megapolensis under- 
took the study of the Indian language so as 
to be able to preach to the savages. For 
fully half a century this church, erected by 
the order of Kiliaen V^an Rensselaer, was one 
of the only two in the province of New York, 
and among the earliest in the entire United 
States, for in 1650 there were but few. 

Undoubtedly Kiliaen, the first patroon, was 
a man of absolute sincerity in the maintenance 
of his Christian views, and this strong char^ 
acteristic may be traced through any number 
of his descendants for many generations. 
That he was so imbued may be accepted as a 



certainty from what he wrote in various let- 
ters, and is illustrated by the following ex- 
tract, translated from the \'an Rensselaer 
Bowier manuscripts, being a letter written 
July 2, 1640, to Arendt Van Curler when he 
shipped to the latter "three very fine blankets 
which you will give in my name to three 
chiefs; one to Sader Juchta, chief of the 
Maquaes (Mohawks), the other two to the 
two chiefs who have the greatest credit and 
power among the Maquaes," as presents to 
secure their friendship, "These small pres- 
ents to the savages may sometimes cause great 
friendship and prevent much enmity. It would 
also serve as a means of making them ac- 
quainted with God, saying this person knows 
you, although he has not seen you, through 
those persons whom he has heard speak and 
who have written of you. How much better 
then can God, who made the heavens and the 
earth and created the sun which you can see, 
see your works. He who each day lets his 
bountiful gifts come to man through the fruit- 
fulness which He gives to the products of the 
earth and to man's sinful body." 

Trouble was brewing for the colony of 
Rensselaerswyck early in 1643, for the pat- 
roon sovight to maintain his rights against any 
authority of the Dutch rule established firmly 
in New Amsterdam under the director-gen- 
eral. On September 8, 1643, the patroon sent 
word from Holland to Nicolaas Coorn to for- 
tify Beeren Island (some fourteen miles 
south of the present city of Albany), and to 
demand of each skipper passing up or down, 
except those of the West India Company, a 
toll of five guilders ($2) as a tax, likewise to 
see that every vessel coming up the river 
lowered its colors at the fort as a sign of 
respect to the patroon. Thereupon Croon is- 
sued the following manifesto : 

"I, Nicola.is Coorn, Commander of Rensselaer's 
Castle, and for the noble lord. Kiliaen V'aii Rens- 
selaer, nndcr the high jurisdiction of the high and 
mighty Lords States-General of the United Nether- 
lan<ls, and the privileged West India Company, 
hereditary commander of the colonies on this North 
River of New Netherland. and as vice-commander 
in his place, make known to you that you shall not 
presume to use this river to the injury of the acquired 
right of the said lord in his rank as Patroon of 
the Colony of Rensselaerswyck, the first and the 
oldest on this river. * * * Protesting in the name 
of the said lord, should you presume in defiance of 
law to attempt to pass by contrary to this proclama- 
tion, I am directed to prevent you. Under this mani- 
festo, however, you are permitted to trade with his 
commissary; but not with the Indians or his par- 
ticular .subjects, as will be seen and read in the 
admonition and instruction given by him, the Pa- 
troon, to Picter Wyncoop, the coinmissary, and 
.'\rendt Van Curler, the commissary-general, con- 
formable to the restriction of the regulations con- 
tained therein. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Matters in this line came to a crisis the 
next year. On July i, 1644, Govert Loocker- 
mans, skipper of the yacht "Good Hope," set 
sail from Fort Orange for New Amsterdam, 
and with studied contempt failed to salute the 
fort, Rensselaer's Castle (sometimes called 
"Steyn"), on Beeren Island ("heeren," the 
plural of bear), as directed by the mandate, 
whereupon Commander Coorn shouted across 
the water to him: "Lower your colors!" 
Loockermans answered back: "For whom 
should I ?" Coorn told him : "For the staple- 
right of Rensselaerswyck." To this the "Good 
Hope's" indomitable skipper replied: "I 
lower my colors for no one except the Prince 
of Orange and the lords, my masters !" 
Coorn applied a match to the fuse of his small 
cannon, and a shot ripped through the "Good 
Hope's" mainsail, also cutting loose the rig- 
g'ing. Another shot was delivered, but it 
passed over the vessel. The third shot, dis- 
charged by an Indian, passed through the 
colors of the Prince of Orange. On July 5th, 
Skipper Loockermans landed at New Amster- 
dam, making complaint and demanding repar- 
ation, and the Council of New Netherland is- 
sued an order for Coorn to desist from such 
practice ; but the following months he asserted 
that he would not, and should demand recog- 
nition of \'an Rensselaer. 

Authentic records show that Kiliaen Van 
Rensselaer, first patroon, died in 1644, in 
Amsterdam, Holland, although it has been 
published that his death took place in 1645 and 
also 1646.* 

He was married (first) to Hillegonda \^an 
Bylaer (or Bijier), daughter of Jan Van 
Bylaer. member of a prominent family in 
Holland. By her he had three children. She 
died in Holland, and was buried January i, 
1627, in the Oude Kerk. His second wife was 
Anna Van Wely (or Weely), whom he mar- 
ried December 14, 1627, and by her he had 
seven children. She was daughter of Jan Van 
Wely the younger, of Barneveldt, residing at 
The Hague, and of Leonora Haukens (or 
Haeckens), of Antwerp. To .\nna \'an Wely 
was presented in 1684 the first thimble, made 
by a goldsmith named Nicholas Van Benschot- 
en as a protection for her dainty fingers. She 
died June 12. 1670. The first and second 
wives were apparently cousins, and Jan Van 
Wely, father of the second wife, had a tragic 
fate. He was not only a prominent and re- 



*Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the first Patrnon. was 
buried at Amsterdam, October 7, 1643. The fact was 
ascertained as this work was going to press, by the 
city archivist of Amsterdam, on examination of the 
liurial book of the old Amsterdam church, and com- 
municated by him to Mr. van Laer, of Albany. 



spected merchant of Amsterdam, but the "ad- 
modiator," or administrator of the county of 
Buren, a domain of the Prince of Orange. 
In 1600-01 he had been chosen by the mer- 
chants of Amsterdam as their representative 
with the army, that they might have sure and 
regular news. It was then that he received a 
large gold medal representing the battle of 
Nieuport, which he transmitted as an heir- 
loom to his descendants. In 1616 Van Wely 
was sent for to The Hague by Prince .Maurice, 
and brought with him some diamonds and 
precious stones, which tlie prince wished to 
purchase, and worth about one hundred thou- 
sand florins. While waiting for the prince in 
his cabinet. Van Wely was murdered by two 
officers of the guard, and his body concealed 
under the table until it could be taken out 
and buried in an ash pit. This murder, though 
perpetrated solely for plunder, turned out in 
the end to have political effects. On the 
representation of the widow, Hans Van Wely, 
her eldest son, was continued in the duties 
and privileges of "admodiator" of Buren. 

The three children of Kiliaen Van Rensse- 
laer and Hillegonda Van Bylaer and the seven 
children by Ann \''an W^ely were : 

1. Hendrick, died in childhood. 

2. Johannes, baptized September 4, 1625, 
died in latter part of 1662, or early in 1663. 
He was the second patroon, but never came 
to America. Being a minor of about nineteen 
years when his father died in 1644, the estates 
in Holland and at Rensselaerswyck were 
placed in charge of executors. They selected 
Brant Arentse Van Slechtenhorst to take 
charge of the colony, in place of Arent \"an 
Curler, resigned, who arrived at Fort Orange 
March 22, 1648. He married Elizabeth, sister 
of Wouter Van Twiller, director-general of 
New Netherland for the Dutch. Children: i. 
Kiliaen, died at Watervliet, Albany county, 
soon after February 22, 1687, having married 
his cousin, Anna Van Rensselaer, daughter of 
Jeremias \'an Rensselaer and Maria Van 
Cortlandt. 2. Nella. married Johan de Swardt. 

3. Maria, died without issue. 

4. Hillegonda; buried August 23, 1664; 
without issue. 

5. Eleanora, died without issue. 

6. Susanna, lived and died in Holland ; mar- 
ried Jan de la Court, August 5, 1664. 

7. Jan Baptist, bom in Holland, was the 
first of the name to visit America, coming as 
"Director" of Rensselaerswyck colony in 
165 1 : was never patroon: returned to Hol- 
land in 1658, when he was succeeded by his 
brother Jeremias the same year, who became 
the third patroon ; married Susanna Van 
Wely ; had a son Kiliaen who died without 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



issue, and he (Jan Baptist V. R.) died in 
Amsterdam. Holland. October i8, 1678. 

8. Jereniias, born in Amsterdam, Holland, 
in 1632, became the third patroon ; married 
Maria \'an Cortlandt. July 12, 1662, and died 
at Rensselaerswyck, October 12, 1674. (See 
forward.) 

9. Rev. Nicolaas (Nicholas), born in Am- 
sterdam, Plolland. 1636. He was a clergyman 
of the Dutch Reformed Church. On being 
introduced to Charles H., then exile at Brus- 
sels, he prophesied the restoration of that 
monarch to the throne of England, which cir- 
cumstance afterward obtained for him a cor- 
dial reception at the Court of St. James, when 
he visited London as the chaplain to the 
Dutch Embassy. In acknowledgment of the 
truth of the prediction the king presented him 
with a snuffbox, which relic is preserved in 
the family. 

Upon his coming to America the Dutch 
church looked upon him with suspicion, 
fearing he was a Papist, and demanding a 
certificate from the classis, for not only did 
Dominie Nieuenhuysen absent himself from 
Dr. \'an Rensselaer's service in the church, 
but he was not permitted to baptize. He ar- 
rived in Rensselaerswyck as the engaged min- 
ister, July. 1674: married, February 10, 1675, 
Alyda Schuyler, born February 28, 1656, 
daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and 
Margarita \'an Slichtenhorst ; died Novem- 
ber, 1678, without issue, and his widow mar- 
ried, in 1679, Robert Livingston, who died 
about 1728. 

ID. Ryckert (Richard), born in Holland, 
and died there about 1695. ^^ was treasurer 
and administrator of the Vianen estate be- 
longing to the Breerode family. lie came to 
America, arriving at Rensselaerswyck June 
30. 1664. and that year built for himself a 
residence on the west bank of the Hud.son 
river, about four miles north of Albany, 
called The Flatts, which was long afterward 
known as Schuyler's Bouwerie and to this day 
is known as the Schuyler Flatts, because he 
sold it to Philip Pieterse Schuyler on June 
22, 1672. the father of Albany's first mayor, 
Pieter .Schuyler. He returned to Holland 
about this time, for he married in that coun- 
try, January 26, 1672, Anna Van Beaumont, 
by whom he had five sons and five daughters, 
only one son and three of his daughters mar- 
rying. Their third son. Johannes, died in 
1678; their fourth son, alsp named Johannes, 
was born February 17, 1679; .'\nna Cornelia, 
born in April, 1673, and Kiliaen, bom in 
April, 1675. For many years he was one of 
the magistrates of Rensselaerswyck, but never 
was director of the colony, although he as- 



sisted his brother Jeremias in the manage- 
ment, and after the death of his mother at 
Amsterdam he went there. When Jeremias, 
the third patroon. died in 1674, it was hoped 
that Richard would return ; but as he had 
been recently married he would not make the 
trip, and his brother Nicholas came in his 
stead. 

(I) Colonel Jeremias Van Rensselaer, the 
third patroon, son of Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer 
and .\nna Van Wely, was born in Amsterdam, 
Holland, in 1632, and died in Rensselaerswyck, 
October 12, 1674. Because he was the first 
patroon who resided in the colony, he was- 
considered the first Lord of the Manor of 
Rensselaerswyck. It has constituted consid- 
erable confusion to distinguish in the series 
the proper numerical position of the patroon 
and the lord of the manor, many historians 
employing the terms as though synonymous 
expressions, in error. It fell to the lot of 
Jeremias Van Rensselaer to witness the over- 
throw of the Dutch rule at Fort Orange on 
September 24, 1664, and to find it again to 
revert to the Dutch government August 5, 
1673, when the fort at Albany became known 
as Willemstadt. He continued the work of 
his father on much the same lines. His ef- 
forts saw the completion of the Dutch church 
edifice, a rude wooden affair, in July, 1646. 
One may form an excellent idea of the col- 
ony's aspects by what Father Isaac Jogues, the 
Jesuit missionary residing there, wrote thereof 
on August 3, 1646: 

"There are two things in this settlement, first, a 
miseral)le little fort called Fort Orange, built of 
logs, with four or five pieces of Breteuil cannon and 
as many swivels. This has been reserved and is 
maintained by the West India Company. This fort 
was formerly on an island in the river. It is now 
on the mainland toward the Iroquois, a little above 
the said island. Second, a colony sent here by this 
Rensselaer, who is the Patroon. This colony is 
composed of about a hundred persons, who reside 
in some twenty-five or thirty houses, built along the 
river as each one found most convenient. In the 
principal house lives the Patroon's agent ; the min- 
ister has his apart, in which service is performed. 
There is also a kind of bailiff here, whom they call 
the seneschal, who administers justice. Their houses 
arc solely of boards and thatched, with no mason- 
work except the chimneys. The forest furnishes 
many fine pines ; they make boards by means of their 
mills, which they have here for the purpose. They 
found some pieces of cultivated ground, which the 
savages had formerly cleared, and in which they sow 
wheat and oats for beer, and for their horses, of 
which they have great numbers. There is little land 
fit for tillage, being hemmed in by hills, wliich are 
poor soil. This obliges them to separate, and they 
already occupy two or three leagues of the country. 
Trade is free to all; this gives the Indians all things 
cheap, e.ach of the Hollanders outbidding his neigh- 
bor, and being satisfied, provided he can gain soiae 
little profit." 



HUDSON AND ^lOHAWK VALLEYS 



Petrus Stuyvesant became director-general 
for the Dutch in 1647, and immediately after 
his arrival at New Netherland there were 
strained relations between him and those in 
charge of the Rensselaerswyck colony. None 
of the name of \'an Rensselaer had come over. 
Johannes Van Rensselaer, then only twenty- 
two years old and residing in Holland, was 
the patroon, and Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer 
did not come over to be director until four 
years late. It was necessary to have an able 
representative to cope with the cunning of 
Governor Stuyvesant. Brandt A. Van Slech- 
tenhorst sailed from Holland, by way of Vir- 
ginia, September 26, 1647, ^or Fort Orange. 
The Hudson river being frozen over, he did 
not arrive until March 22, 1648. While he 
would not admit any rule over his authority 
by Pieter Stuyvesant, still he did pay him due 
respect on his first visit of inspection of the 
fort, south of the Manor, it being recorded : 
"Wliereas the council of the colony directed 
that the Heer General Pieter Stuyvesant 
should be honored, on his arrival and de- 
parture, with several salutes from the Heer 
Patroon's three pieces of cannon, the Director 
( \'an Slechtenhorst ) employed Jan Dircksen 
Van Bremen and Hans Eencluys to clean the 
same, for they were filled with earth and 
stones, and to load them, in doing which they 
were engaged three days, to wit: one day in 
cleaning them, the second day in firing at the 
arrival, and the third at Stuyvesant's de- 
parture, for which \'an Slechtenhorst pur- 
chased twenty pounds of powder and expend- 
ed ten guilders for beer and victuals, besides 
having provided the Heer General at his de- 
parture with some young fowls and pork," 
which was in July, ir)48. 

Stu\vesant had hardly returned to New 
Amsterdam when, July 23rd, he wrote Van 
Slechtenhorst that he must see to it that all 
buildings of the colony must be moved away 
from the range of the cannon in the fort, say- 
ing: "We request, by virtue of our commis- 
sion, the commandant and court of the said 
colony to desist and refrain from building 
within a cannon-shot from the fort until fur- 
ther orders, * * * for both above and 
below there are equally suitable, yea better 
building sites." Van Slechtenhorst replied on 
July 28th in refutation to the assertion of 
rights of Stuyvesant. stating the claim of the 
colony to use of land all about Fort Orange. — • 
that the Patroon's trading-house had stood a 
long time on the edge of the fort's moat, and 
he ridiculed Stuyvesant's order in view of 
the valueless quality of the fort as an adequate 
place of defence, saying: "So far as regards 
the renowned fortress, men can go in and out 



of it by night as well as by day. I have been 
more than six months in the colony, and yet 
I have never been able to discover a single 
person carrying a sword, a musket or a pike, 
or have I heard or seen a drum beat, except 
when the Director-General himself visited it." 

Stuyvesant was angered, and in September 
despatched both saiiors and soldiers to Fort 
Orange with orders to demolish the house of 
Van Slechtenhorst, which news when received 
in the colony excited the men to prepare to 
take up arms, and as a result Commissary 
Van Brugge wrote to Stuyvesant that it was 
useless for him to stand against the inhabitants 
as they outnumbered his men and had Indians 
as allies. Consequently Stuyvesant recalled 
his men in October, and requested Van 
Slechtenhorst to appear before him on April 
4, 1649. 

In 1 65 1, Jan Baptist, third son of Kiliaen 
Van Rensselaer, the first Patroon, came to 
the colony to be its director. It then became a 
mooted question whether he or Stuyvesant 
was to be superior. At once he sought to 
strengthen his position, and on November 23rd 
he had the council announce: "All house- 
holders and freemen of the colony shall appear 
on the 28th day of November of this year, be- 
ing Tuesday, at the house of the honorable 
director, and there take the 'burggerlijke' 
oath of allegiance." On that day forty-five 
colonists appeared and took their oath, swear- 
ing: "I promise and swear that I shall be 
true and faithful to the noble Patroon and co- 
directors, or those who represent them here, 
and to the honorable director, commissioners 
and council, subjecting myself to the court of 
the colony, and I jiromise to demean mvself 
as a good and faithful inhabitant or burgher, 
without exciting any opposition, tumult or 
noise : but on the contrary, as a loyal inhab- 
itant to maintain and support, ofifensively and 
defensively against every one, the right and 
the jurisdiction of the colony. And with rev- 
erence and fear of the Lord, and the uplifting 
of both the first fingers of the right hand, I 
say. So truly help me, God .\Imighty." 

The soldiers of Fort Orange, on January r^ 
1652, made at night a hideous outcry, dis- 
charging their muskets in front of the di- 
rector's mansion. A piece of burning wad fell 
on the thatched roof and set it abloze. The 
next day they assaulted Van Slechtenhorst's 
son, beating him and dragging him mercilessly 
through the mire. On January 15th Stuyve- 
sant wrote to his man, Vice-Director Dyck- 
man. to maintain the rights of the Dutch \Vest 
India Company, and he went with a body- 
guard to Jan Baptist \"an Rensselaer's manor 
house, where the colonial magistrates were in 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



"session, making the request tliat Director Van 
Rensselaer read the proclamation from Stuy- 
vesant to the inhabitants. Van Rensselaer was 
angered, maintaining that Dyckman should not 
have come with armed men upon his land, and 
he asserted : "It shall not be done so long 
as we have a drop of blood in our veins, nor 
until we receive orders from their high 
mightiness and honored masters." Thereupon 
Dyckman ordered the \'an Rensselaer bell to 
be rung to call the inhabitants together ; but 
being refused, rang that of Fort Orange, and 
returned to \'an Rensselaer's house for the 
purpose of reading this proclamation from his 
steps. Van Slechtenhorst snatched the docu- 
ment from his hands, and in tearing it, the 
seals fell from the paper. When Dyckman 
threatened that Stuyvesant would make Van 
Rensselaer suffer for the indignity, Van 
Slechtenhorst turned to the colonists and said, 
''Go home, good friends, it is only the wind of 
a cannon-ball fired six hundred paces off." 

Governor Stuyvesant then ordered Dyck- 
man, on March 5th, to erect a number of posts 
si.x hundred paces from the walls of Fort 
Orange, being about 3,083 feet (250 Rhine- 
land rods of 12 Rhineland feet of 12 36-100 
in.), marking each with the West India Com- 
pany's seal, and each with a board nailed 
thereon to hold the proclamation. On March 
17th, Vice-Director Dyckman planted several 
posts as directed, and two days later the mag- 
istrates of Rensselaerswyck ordered the high 
constable to remove them. After that incident 
Stuyvesant sent word to Fort Orange that he 
should come there and take steps to see that 
his mandates were strictly obeyed. He ar- 
rived at Fort Orange on April ist to 
straighten out matters and have a clear un- 
derstanding as to what was property of Van 
Rensselaer and what appertained to the fort. 
He despatched Sergeant Litschoe with a squad 
to lower the Patroon's flag, and, when \'an 
Slechtenhorst interposed, the soldiers entered 
his yard, discharged firearms and lowered the 
colors. Stuyvesant then ordered that the land 
within the area which he had staked out 
around the fort be known as Dorpe Bevers- 
wyck, or the village of I'everswyck, meaning 
where beavers gathered. Having given what 
was a fort the status of an actual locality, he 
instituted a court and appointed three judges. 
On the court-house he had his proclamation 
posted, but on April I5tli Van Slechtenhorst 
tore it down, attaching that of Van Renaselaer 
instead. Because of this act of insubordina- 
tion he was imprisoned on April i8th, and 
matters did not mend for several years until 
both parties, fearing the advent of the Eng- 
lish, adjusted matters amicably, fearing a com- 



mon foe. On May 8, 1652, Jan Baptist Van 
Rensselaer's certificate was signed in Holland, 
authorizing him to be "Director" of Rensse- 
laerswyck, and in 1658 he returned to Hol- 
land, and it was then that Jeremias became 
the third Patroon. It is known that he was 
in Rensselaerswyck in 1659, for history is 
filled with many of his important undertak- 
ings in adjusting matters with the Indians. 
An invasion of the French from Canada also 
caused fear. In October of that year he 
ordered the settlement to be surrounded by a 
high stockade, as the Esopus Indians were 
making raids along the river. Although on 
September 6, 1664, Stuyvesant at New Am- 
sterdam (New York city) drew up articles of 
surrender to the English fleet then menacing 
that place, it was not until September 24th 
that Vice-Director Johannes de la Montague, 
for the Dutch West India Company, sur- 
rendered Fort Orange. The name "Albany" 
was then bestowed, and Jeremias Van Rensse- 
laer took the oath of allegiance to King 
Charles II. 

Colonel Jeremias Van Rensselaer, the third 
Patroon, married, at New Amsterdam. July 
12, 1662, Maria Van Cortlandt, born in New 
Amsterdam, July 20, 1645, f^'^'l ^^ Rensse- 
laerswyck, January 24, 1689, daughter of Olof 
Stevense Van Cortlandt, who came on the 
ship "Haring" to New Amsterdam in 1637, 
from Wyck by Duurstede, Province of 
Utrecht, Holland, as a soldier in employ of 
the West India Company, and died in New 
York city, on April 4, 1684, having married, 
February 26, 1642, Anna (.Anneke) Loocker- 
mans, who died in May, 1684. Children of 
Jeremias Van Rensselaer and Maria Van 
Cortlandt : 

1. Kiliaen, fourth Patroon and second Lord 
of the Manor, born at Rensselaerswyck, Au- 
gust 24. 1663, died there in 171Q: married, in 
New York, New York, October 15, 1701, 
Maria \'an Cortlandt, daughter of Stephanus 
Van Cortlandt, and Gertrude Schuyler. (See 
forward.) 

2. Johannes, died without issue. 

3. Anna, born at Rensselaerswyck, August 
I, 1665; married (first) Kiliaen Van Rensse- 
laer, son of Johannes Van Rensselaer and 
Elizabeth Van Twiller, who died in 1687; 
married (second) William Nicoll. 

4. Hendrick, born at Rensselaerswyck, 
October 23, 1667 : resided in Greenbush, 
Rensselaer county (Rensselaer, N. Y.), where 
he died July 2. 1740; married, New York, N. 
Y., March 19, 1689, Catharina Van Bruggen, 
daughter of Johannes Pieterse Van Brugh (or 
(or Van Bruggen) and Catharina Roeloffse, 
daughter of .Anneke Jans, and Catharina Van 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



IBrug^gen died at Grcenbush, December 6, 1730, 
having had but one child, Anna, born in 1719, 
■who married John Schuyler. 

(5) Maria, born at Rensselaerswyck, Oc- 
'tober 25, 1672; married, at that place, Sep- 
tember 14, 1691, Ptter Schuyler (son of Philip 
Pieterse Schuyler and Margareta Van Slecht- 
•enhorst), who was born September 17, 1657; 
died at The Flatts, four miles north of Al- 
bany, February 19, 1724, being the first mayor 
of Albany. July 22, 1686-October 13, 1694. 
'The date of the death of Maria does not ap- 
pear. 

(H) Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, son of Col- 
onel Jeremias Van Rensselaer and jMaria Van 
Cortlandt, being the 4th Patroon of Rensse- 
laerswvck, was born there August 24, 1663, 
being "Friday morning towards eight o'clock," 
and "was baptised the next Sunday." He 
'died at Rensselaerswyck in 1719. 

He was left in the management of the Man- 
or for account of the heirs of the first Pa- 
ttroon until 1695. At this date all the children 
of Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer, the projector of 
the colony, were dead, except two, Eleonora 
and Richard, and the latter was the treasurer 
of \'ianen, a legalized asylum in Holland for 
criminals. The \'an Rensselaer estate was 
not yet divided among his heirs, but for near- 
ly fifty years had been held in common. Be- 
sides the manor there was a large estate in 
Holland (the Crailo) and other property. 
The time had now arrived for the heirs to 
make a settlement. Controversies had arisen 
among them, and, to end the disputes, Kiliaen 
Van Rensselaer (son of Jan Baptist Van 
Rensselaer) was delegated by the heirs in 
Holland to visit America and if possible make 
a complete settlement with the children of 
Jeremias, the third Patroon, as the only heirs 
in this country. Kiliaen, eldest son of Jere- 
mias, and the fourth Patroon, was appointed 
with power of attorney to act for the family 
'Of which he was a member. The cousins met 
and, after a prolonged discussion, in which, 
as is usual, both lost their temper, they at last 
came to an amicable agreement to their mu- 
tual satisfaction. The indenture is dated New 
York, November i, 1695. The heirs in Hol- 
land released to the heirs in Albany all right 
and title in the manor, which was recipro- 
cated by the release of the latter to the former 
of all right and title to the land in Holland, 
known as the Crailo, and another tract in 
Guelderland. They also agreed to deliver the 
titles to three farms in the Manor, reserving 
the tenths, and to pay in addition seven hun- 
dred pieces of eight. They also released all 
■claims on personal property in Holland, as 
well as on certain expectations from relatives 



on their decease. Bonds were exchanged be- 
tween the cousins for the faithful perform- 
ance of the-contract, and the work was com- 
plete. At last, in 1695, the vast estate of the 
old Patroon was settled, and the colony he 
founded in 1630, with its territory of prac- 
tically twenty-four by forty-eight miles, was 
in possession of one family consisting of Kili- 
aen, Johannes, Hendrick, Maria, wife of 
Mayor Pieter Schuyler, and Anna, wife of 
William Nicoll. Besides the Manor they 
owned another tract of land containing 62,000 
acres, known as the Claverack patent, and 
quite commonly called the "Lower Alanor." 
The latter was on the eastern side of the river, 
in the vicinity of what is now Hudson, New 
York. At this time the province was under 
the English law, and the eldest son was heir- 
at-law of the real estate belonging to his 
father. 

To Kiliaen, the eldest son of Jeremias \'an 
Rensselaer, deceased, a patent was granted 
May 20, 1704, for the entire Manor, including 
the Claverack patent. His brother Johannes 
having died without issue, there were only 
three others interested. Kiliaen conveyed to 
his brother Hendrick, on June i, 1704, the 
Claverack patent and some 1,500 acres on the 
east side of the river, opposite Albany, later 
known as Greenbush, and then as Rensselaer, 
New York. To his sister Maria or her heirs 
he gave a farm of a few hundred acres adjoin- 
ing The Flatts, above Albany, and to his sister 
Anna or her heirs he gave a farm larger in 
extent, but at that time no more valuable, lo- 
cated on the west bank of the river, in the 
town of Bethlehem. 

Kiliaen \''an Rensselaer devoted much of 
his life to the public service. He was an of- 
ficer of the militia and one of the magistrates, 
and represented the Manor in the assembly 
from 1693 to 1704, in which latter year he 
was appointed to the council, remaining a 
member until he died in 17 19. The settling 
of the Manor was much retarded by Indian 
wars. It was a common practice for the 
tribes to resell the lands to others after they 
had sold to Van Rensselaer in 1630. Kiliaen's 
grandfather's old miller, Barent Pieterse 
Coeymans. who came out in 1636, purchased 
from the Catskill Indians, in 1673, a tract of 
land eight miles along the river by twelve 
miles deep, which was actually the Manor 
land. He even procured a patent for it from 
Governor Lovelace, April, 1673, and the legal 
contest over it was not decided until 1706. 

Of his children, two of the three sons, Jere- 
mias and Stephen, survived him, and these 
were successively patroons. Two of his 
daughters, Anna and Gertrude, married 



HUDSON AND AIOIIAWK \'ALLEYS 



brothers, sons of Arent Schuyler, of Belle- 
ville, New Jersey. 

It was while Kiliaen ^'an Rensselaer, 4th 
Patroon, was alive and at the head of the col- 
ony, that Albany became a city by charter 
granted by Governor Thomas Dongan, July 
22, 1686. Naturally it created a serious state 
of affairs, for it meant the determination of 
the prescribed areas of Rensselaerswyck and 
Albany, which had been geographically very 
closely connected, for the legal security of 
which \'an Rensselaer had secured purchaser's 
rights from the Indians. 

Dongan came to Albany in May, 1686, and 
was requested by the most prominent men to 
issue a charter by which the village might 
acquire larger boundaries and by virtue of 
being a city would have a higher guarantee of 
property titles than that of magistrates. This 
forced Dongan to obtain a relinquishment of 
the Van Rensselaer claims to the land the 
people would include within the lx>unds, and 
his decision, as reported February 22, 1687, to 
the privy council of King James, regarding 
the rights of each party, is as follows : 

"The Town of Albany lyes within the Ranslacrs 
Colony. And to say the truth the Ranslaers had 
the right to it, for it was they settled the place, 
and upon a petition of one of them to our present 
King (James II.) about -Mbany the Petitioner was 
referred to his Matys Council at Law, who upon 
perusal of the Ranslaers Papers, made their return 
that it was their opinion that it did belong to them. 
Upon which there was an order sent over to Sir 
Edmund Andros that the Ranslacrs should be put 
in possession of Albany, & that every house should 
pay some two Beavers, some more, some less, ac- 
cording to their dimensions, Pr annum, for thirty- 
years & afterwards the Ranslaers to put what rent 
upon them they could agree for. What reason Sir 
Edmund Andros has given for not putting these 
orders into execution I know not. The Ranslaers 
came & brought mee the same orders which I 
thought not convenient to execute, judgcing it not 
for his Matys Interest that the second Town of 
the Government & which brings his Maty soe great 
a Revenue, should bee in the hands of any particu- 
lar men. The town of itself is upon a barren sandy 
spot of I.-and. & the Inhabitants live wholly upon 
Trade with the Indians. Ry the means of Mr. 
James Graham, Judge (John) Palmer & Mr. (Ste- 
phanus van) Cortlandt that have great influence on 
that people. I got the Ranslaers to release their 
pretence to the Town and sixteen miles into the 
Country for Common.s to the King, with liberty to 
cut firewood within the Colony for one & twenty 
years, .^fter I had obtained this release of the 
Ranslaers I passed the Patent for Albany, wherein 
was included the aforementioned Pasture to which 
the People apprehended they had so good a right 
that they expressed themselves discontented at my 
reserving a small spot of it for a garden for the use 
of the Garrison. That the people of Albany has 
given mee seven hundred pounds is untrue. I am 
but promised three hundred pounds which is not 
near my Prquisits, viz. ten shillings for every house 
& the like for every hundred acres patented by 
mee." 



Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the fourth- Patroon,. 
married Maria Van Cortlandt, in New York 
city, October 15, 1 70 1. She was born on her 
father's extensive estate, the Van Cortlandt 
Manor, near Croton, New York, April 4, 
1680. She wrote her name "Maritje." Her 
father was Stephanus Van Cortlandt (born 
J\Iay 7, 1643: died Nov. 25, 1700), son of 
Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt and Anneke 
Loockermans, who had married, September 
10, 1671, Gertrude Schuyler (born Feb. 4, 
1654: died after October 7, 1719), daughter 
of Philip Schuyler and Margareta Van Slech- 
tenhorst. Maria Van Cortlandt, when Van 
Rensselaer's widow, married Dominie John 
Miller, or Mellen. Children, born at .Albany : 
I. Maria, bom July 31, 1702; married Frederic 
\'an Cortlandt. 2. Gertrude, born October 4, 
1703; died May 9, 1705. 3. Jeremias, born 
March 18, 1705 ; died at Albany, and was 
buried May 8, 1745, without issue. He came 
of legal age in 1726, and was made the fifth 
Patroon, or third Lord of the Manor, and 
represented the Manor in the assembly from 
September, 1726, to September, 1743. In 
1734 he visited Canada at the time of threat- 
ened rupture between France and England, 
the Canadian governor reporting. "Patroon, 
Lord of Albany, in company with another in- 
fluential gentleman, visited us under pretense 
of a tour." 4. Stephen, born March 17, 1707; 
died at Albany, and was buried at "the Mills" 
on July I, 1747: was sixth Patroon; married, 
July 5, 1729, Elizabeth Groesbeck (see for- 
ward). 5. Johannes, born December to, 1708; 
died 171 1, without issue. 6. Daughter, born 
August 28, 1710: died September 2, 1710. 7.. 
Johannes, born November 15, 1711 ; died De- 
cember 9, 1711. 8. Jacobus (James), born 
March 29, 1713; died 1713. 9. Gertrude, 
born October i, 1714: married Adoniah 
Schuyler (born 1717. died 1763), son of 
Arent Schuyler and Swantje Dyckhuyse. 10. 
John Baptist, born, January 29, 1717; died' 
1763, without issue. 11. Anna, born January 
I, 1719; died 1791 : married John Schuyler, 
son of Arent Schuyler and' Swantje Dyck- 
huyse. 

(IH) Stephen \'an Rensselaer, .son of 
Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cort- 
landt, was born at y\lbany. New York, March 
17, 1707; was baptized j\Iarch 23rd by Dom- 
inie Lydius, of the Dutch Reformed Church, 
with General Philip Schuyler, godfather, 
Alaria Van Cortlandt and Elizabeth Johanna 
Schuyler, godmothers : died at the Manor 
House in .Mbany, and was buried "at the 
mills'' on July i, 1747. 

He was the sixth Patroon, and known as 
the fourth Lord of the Manor. His elder 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



13 



iDrother, Jeremias \'an Rensselaer, had been 
the fifth Patroon, but died unmarried in 1745, 
as the oldest son of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. 
Stephen therefore succeeded him in control. 
His constitution was not robust, and he never 
took a very active part in public affairs, and 
•only two y^ears after his succession died at 
the age of forty. The population of the prov- 
ince of New York at that time was 61,589. 
Colonel William Johnson was at that period 
sending bands of Indian allies into Canada, 
for in September, 1746, he had been appointed 
"chief manager of the Indian Wav and Col- 
onel over all die Indians by their own appro- 
bation." The savages had burned the farms 
at Saratoga (Schuylerville) November 17, 
1745, and the French were expected to move 
xipon Albany at any time. 

He married, at Albany, July 5, 1729, Eliza- 
beth Groesbeck, born at Albany, baptized Au- 
g'ust 17, 1707, and buried December 31, 1756. 
Her father was Stephanus Groesbeck, a 
trader, (son of Claas Jacobse Groesbeck, from 
Rotterdam in 1662), buried July 17, 1744, 
who married, July 16, 1699, Elizabeth Lansing 
(born 1679), daughter of Johannes Lansing 
(born in Hassel and buried at Albany, Feb. 
28, 1728) and Gertrude Van Schaick. Chil- 
dren of sixth' Patroon Stephen Van Rens- 
selaer and Elizabeth Groesbeck: i. Kiliaen, 
born at Albany, baptized December 8, 1730: 
died 1730, without issue. 2. Maria, baptized 
August 13, 1732; died 1734, without issue. 3. 
Elizabeth, baptized July 12, 1734; married, at 
Albany, November i, 1763, General Abraham 
Ten Rroeck (son of Mayor Dirck Ten Broeck 
and Margarita Cuyler), who was mayor of 
Albany from April 9, 1779. to June 26, 1783, 
and from October 15, 1796, to December 31, 
1798; born at Albany, May 13, 1734, and died 
there, January 19. 1810. 4. Kiliaen, baptized 
April 17, 1737; died without issue. 5. Maria, 
baptized August 19, 1739; died without issue. 
6. Stephen, seventh Patroon, born at Rens- 
selaerswyck, was baptized June 2, 1742, died 
at Albany, October 19, 1769; married, in New 
York city, January 23, 1764, Catherine Liv- 
ingston (see forward). 7. Kiliaen, born 
1743; died without issue. 

(IV) Stephen Van Rensselaer, son of 
Stephen \'an Rensselaer and Elizabeth Groes- 
beck, was born at Rensselaerswyck, baptized 
June 2, 1742, and died at Watervliet, Albany" 
county, October 19, 1769. He was the sev- 
enth Patroon. His father had died when he 
was only five years old and the estate had 
to be managed for him. At about that time 
(in 1749) the population of Albany county 
was 10,634, and of the colony of New York 
73,348. The boundary between New York 



and Massachusetts was in dispute in 1752, as 
the manors of Hendrick \'an Rensselaer and 
Robert Livingston, on the east side of the 
Hudson, were being encroached upon. In 
1753 tlic Albany council petitioned Governor 
Clinton to levy a tax on the province in order 
to raise $30,000 to erect a stone wall about 
the city, claiming it required such defense as 
a frontier town. The various provinces sent 
commissioners to the colonial congress held 
in Albany, June, 1754, and 1755 marked the 
great conflict with the French, with serious 
engagements along Lakes Champlain and 
(ieorge, which were of vital concern to Al- 
bany. On September 17, 1755, General Philip 
Schuyler married Catherine \'an Rensselaer, 
only daughter of Colonel John Van Rens- 
selaer, of the Claverack Manor, and grand- 
daughter of the original owner of the vast 
tract on the east side after the first division 
of the Van Rensselaer patent. In 1756 the 
population of Albany county had risen to 17,- 
524, and The Schuyler Flatts were burned 
that year. So serious was the Massachusetts 
boundary dispute in July, 1757, that offers 
were made to take Hendrick Van Rensselaer 
dead or alive. Troops assembled here in great 
numbers under General James Abercrombie, 
in 1758, and following the death of Lord 
Howe, at Ticonderoga. July 6th, his body was 
brought here for burial in St. Peter's Church. 
The \'an Rensselaer Manor House, or the 
"Patroon"s," as it was more commonly called, 
was built by Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1765. 
At the time of its erection it was unquestion- 
ably the handsomest house in the colonies, 
and as such exerted a wide influence over the 
arcliitecture of the more ambitious dwellings. 
One or two, possibly three, other edifices, had 
been used by the head of the family before 
this, and likewise styled the Manor House ; 
but they were poor affairs compared with 
this one or with the average residence of 
these days in a country village. The original 
house was built of brick of unusual size (9 x 
4 1-4 X 2 inches) and it was painted in the 
colonial colors, cream and white. A short 
flight of steps led up to the Dutch "stoop," a 
small porch whose roof was upheld by two 
Doric columns, above which, in the second 
story, was the great Palladian window. The 
house was flanked at either end with octa- 
gonal wings one story in height. The walls 
were of unusual solidity, and the entire con- 
struction was the heaviest. The floor beams 
were of hewn pine, ranging from 3 x 12 to 9 x 
1 1 inches. All alx>ut it were gardens and 
lawns, surrounded by enormous elms, and the 
gradual slope towards the Hudson river was 
beautified for acres with floral eft'ects, foun- 



14 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



tain and statuary. Located one mile north of 
State street, it stood directly at the head of 
Broadway, which made a turn to the west in 
order to continue northward as the Troy road. 
Patroon's creek was the southern demarcation 
of the property, spanned by a massive brown- 
stone bridge, and at its edge stood the lodge 
where the keeper lived. It was to this hand- 
some home that Stephen \^an Rensselaer 
brought his bride, Catherine Livingston ; but 
he enjoyed it only a brief spell, for within six 
years of his marriage he died. 

Stephen Van Rensselaer, the seventh Pa- 
troon, married, in New York City, January 
23, 1764, Catherine Livingston, born August 
25, 1745, died April 17, 1810. Her father 
was Philip Livingston, signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence for New York state ; 
born January 15, 1716; died at York, Penn- 
sylvania, June 12, 1778; who married, April 
14, 1740, Christina Ten Broeck, born Decem- 
ber 30, 1718; died June 29, 1801. When a 
widow, following the death of her husband, 
October ig, 1769, Mrs. \'an Rensselaer mar- 
ried, at Albany, July 19, 1775, Dominie Eilar- 
dus Westerlo, pastor of the Dutch Reformed 
Church in Albany, who was born in Groenin- 
gen, came to Albany in 1760. and died in 
Albany, December 26, 1790; by whom she 
had Rensselaer Westerlo, born in the Manor 
House, May 6, 1776, died April 18, 1851, 
married. May 5, 1805, Jane Lansing, daugh- 
ter of Chancellor John Lansing ; and a daugh- 
ter, Catherine, born in. the Manor House, 
August 23, 1778, died at Albany, September 
27. 1846, married Judge John Woodworth. 

Children of seventh Patroon Stephen Van 
Rensselaer and Catherine Livingston: 

1. Stephen, born in New York City, No- 
vember I, 1764; married (first) Margaret 
Schuyler, at Schuylerville, New York, June 6, 
1783; (second) Cornelia Paterson, at New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, May 17, 1802. Died 
at Albany. January 26, 1839. (See forward). 

2. Philip Schuyler, born at the Manor 
House. Albany, April 15, 1766; died at No. 
85 State street, Albany, September 25. 1824; 
was thirty-second mayor of Albany, officiating 
the longest of any maj-or, January i. 1799 to 
July 7, 1816, and July- 3, 18 19 to February 
18, 1821, and was president of the Bank of 
Albany: married, 1787, Anne de Peyster Van 
Cortlandt, born, 1766, died January 10, 1855, 
and was daughter of General Philip Van 
Cortlandt and Catherine De Peyster : no issue. 

3. Elizabeth, born at the Manor House in 
Albany, August 15, 1768; died in Albany, 
March 27. 1841 ; married in Albany, Septem- 
ber 18, 1787, John Bradstreet Schuyler, born 
in Albany, and was baptized July 23, 1765, 



died at Saratoga (Schuylerville), August 19^ 
1795, son of General Philip Schuyler and 
Catherine Van Rensselaer, by whom she had! 
two sons — Philip, born in Albany, October 26^ 
1788, married Grace Hunter, and Stephen 
Van Rensselaer, born May 4, 1790, died' 
young. After the death of John B. Schuyler, 
Elizabeth, his widow, married John Bleecker, 
in 1800, by whom she had one daughter, who- 
married Cornelius Glen \'an Rensselaer,, 
and several sons, who died unmarried, among 
them Stephen Van Rensselaer Bleecker, 
born January 5, 1803; died April 16, 1827. 

(V) General Stephen \'an Rensselaer, the- 
eighth Patroon, son of Stephen Van Rens- 
selaer and Catherine Livingston, was born in 
the house of his grandfather. Philip Living- 
ston, the Signer, in New York City, Novem- 
ber I, 1764, and died in the Manor House at 
Albany, New York, January 26, 1839. 

The new Manor House of the Patroon was 
not completed until he was one year old, in 
1765, and his father brought him and his 
mother there so soon as it was ready. His 
father died October 19, 1769, at the age of 
twenty-seven, when the son was less than six 
years old, so the care of the great landed and 
feudal estate, which had fallen exclusively tcv 
him by the rule of primogeniture, was com- 
mitted to his uncle. General Abraham Terr 
Broeck. It was managed by him with rare 
ability throughout the minority of his ward, 
despite the disturbed condition of affairs dur- 
ing the Revolutionary period, when Albany 
was the scene of serious preparation for war 
in collecting men and sujiplies for the great 
conflict at Bemis Heights and old Saratoga, 
or Schuylerville. General Ten Broeck was a 
participant in this military movenient to the 
north, and was the twenty-eighth mayor of 
Albany, officiating from April 9, 1779, to 
June 26, 1783. and a second term from Oc- 
tober 15, 1796, to December 31, 1798. He 
had married Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, daugh- 
ter of Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer and 
Elizabeth Groesbeck, November i, 1763. 
Under his direction the Manor House was 
erected. 

Stephen was given his earliest education 
at Albany by John Waters, who was what 
was then known as a professional schoolmas- 
ter, and. being before the days of printed 
spelling-books, he was taught from a horn- 
book. A little later, his grandfather, Philip 
Livingston, took charge of his education, plac- 
ing him at a school in Elizabethtown. New 
Jersey ; but the troublous times of the Revolu- 
tion drove Livingston with his family from 
his home in New York City, and they took 
refuge in Kingston. Fortunately he estab- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



15 



lished a classical academy there under John 
Addison, a fine Scotchman possessing thor- 
ough scholarship and who was later a state 
senator. It then became necessary to supply 
the young man with an advanced education, 
and he was sent to Princeton, when the cele- 
brated Dr. Witherspoon, scholar, divine and 
patriot, was president. Witherspoon aban- 
doned education for the pursuit of war, was a 
Signer of the Declaration, and young Van 
Rensselaer, to avoid the seat of war, was sent 
to Cambridge, where he became a Harvard 
graduate in 1782. In 1825 Yale conferred 
upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. 

The year following his graduation in 1782, 
peace had been restored in the United States, 
and the new nation firmly established. There 
was no occasion for the young man, then 
nineteen years of age, to fight. Instead, he 
turned his attention to matrimony, and mar- 
ried Margaret Schuyler, at "Old" Saratoga 
(Schuylerville), New York, in 1783. She 
W'as third daughter of General Philip Schuy- 
ler and Catherine Van Rensselaer. Her next 
elder sister, Elizabeth, had married Alexander 
Hamilton, who were thus the uncle and aunt 
of General Stephen Van Rensselaer. Mar- 
garet Schuyler was born in Albany, and bap- 
tized there September 24, 1758, and she died 
there on March 14, 1801. Her remains re- 
pose in the center of the Van Rensselaer lot 
in the Albany Rural Cemetery. Her father 
was General Philip Schuyler, commander of 
the Army of the North in 1777, and trusted 
friend of Washington, who was born in Al- 
bany, November 11, 1733, married September 
17, 1755. and died in Albany, November 18, 
1804. Her mother was Catherine Van Rens- 
selaer, born in The Crailo, Greenbush (Rens- 
selaer, N. Y.), November 4, 1734, died in the 
Schuyler ]\Iansion, Albany, RIarch 7, 1803, 
and was daughter of Johannes Van Rens- 
selaer and Engeltie (.Angelica) Livingston, 
the latter being the daughter of Robert Liv- 
ingston, Jun., twelfth mayor of Albany. John 
Van Rensselaer became heir of the Claverack 
patent when his father, Hendrick, died July 
2, 1740. and was thus the owner of "The 
Crailo" in Greenbusli, called Rensselaer later. 
It will be remembered that Hendrick Van 
Rensselaer was a brother of the last Patroon 
by the name of Kiliaen — in other words, the 
younger brother of Stephen's great-grand- 
father. Hendrick was born in 1667, died in 
1689, and had married Catharina Van Brough 
(or Verbrugge), whose share in the property 
left by their father, Jeremias, was the Claver- 
ack property. 

At this time Stephen Van Rensselaer's 
mother was the wife of Dominie Eilardus 



Westerlo, whom she had married in Albany, 
July 19, 1775, and they were residing in the 
Manor House, which she had a right to do as 
the Patroon's widow. He was an original' 
Dutchman, born in Groeningen, known widely 
as a fine scholar, an eminent divine, and as- 
the pastor for a long period of the Dutch Re- 
formed Church in Albany, preaching in the- 
Dutch language for the first fifteen or twenty 
years of his charge. As Dominie Westerlo- 
and his wife, the mother of Stephen, were 
occupying the Manor House, consequently the 
young man brought his bride to tlie mansion 
at the southeast corner of North Market street 
(Broadway) and North Ferry street, which 
had served as an ample parsonage. When,, 
however, Stephen reached his majority. Dr. 
Westerlo and his wife exchanged residences 
with the young Patroon and his bride, the- 
latter couple leaving the parsonage to occupy 
the Manor House. The day of his attaining 
his majority was made one of great celebra- 
tion, and from miles around the tenantry and 
the social set of the city flocked to participate 
in his hospitality. 

Mr. Van Rensselaer found it necessary to 
look critically after the interests of his Manor, 
for in order to secure good returns it was 
essential that the lands should be cultivated, 
and while speculators would buy lands, the 
farmers, or laborious tillers of the soil, were 
unwilling to contract for the fee. By offering 
leases in fee or for long terms at a moder- 
ate rental, he readily succeeded in bringing a 
large proportion of his lands, comprising the 
greater portion of the counties of Albany and 
Rensselaer, into cultivation, thus acquiring a 
goodly income, \ct those who knew him have 
said "he had none of that morbid appetite for 
wealth which grows ravenous by what it feeds 
on." 

He received his first military commission^. 
as a major of infantry, in 1786, when twenty- 
two years old, and two years later was pro- 
moted to colonel and given command of a 
regiment. In 1801, Governor John Jay di- 
rected the cavalry of New York to be divided 
from the infantry, and the cavalry formed a 
single division, with two brigades, and the 
command of the whole was conferred upon 
Stephen Van Rensselaer. He bore the com- 
mission of major-general of cavalry to his 
death. 

In 1787, he took an important step in his 
career as a man of character, when twenty- 
three years of age and on the threshold of a 
life which might have been one pampered 
with wanton and luxurious excesses, he de- 
liberately chose, by a formal profession of 
religious faith and a personal vow of religi- 



i6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



■ous obedience, according to the doctrines and 
discipline of the Christian cliurch as adopted 
by the Dutch reformers, to pledge himself to 
a life of temperance, simplicity, truth and 
purity. How well he kept his vow is known 
to all who are intimately acquainted with the 
manner of his life, for his domestic relations 
were the most tender, and his character before 
the world harmonious and beautiful, as well 
.as replete with deeds of public service. 

Towards the close of 1787, the convention 
sitting in Philadelphia to frame a constitution, 
terminated its labors and submitted its work 
for the judgment of the people. Air. Van 
Rensselaer took ground promptly, and was 
pronouncedly in favor of the constitution. The 
next spring delegates to the state convention 
were to be chosen from Albany county, and 
both Yates and Lansing, who had left the 
Philadelphia convention before its labors were 
completed, were residents of the same county 
and held great power as anti-Federalists. It 
was to be expected that their views would 
prevail, yet Mr. Van Rensselaer, urged by his 
party to uphold their moral force in the con- 
troversy, consented to stand as a candidate 
for the assembly, and despite his popularity 
was beaten. In the spring of the next year, 
1789, however, Mr. Van Rensselaer was again 
a candidate, and, with the previous question 
settled, was elected by an enormous majority. 
In the spring of 1790 he was elected to the 
state senate, and was re-elected, serving con- 
tinuously until 1795, as a faithful, vigilant 
and influential member. On standing com- 
mittees, of which there were few then, he 
was always an important member. At the 
next gubernatorial election, 1795, he was 
chosen lieutenant-governor, with Hon. John 
Jay as executive, Messrs. Yates and Floyd 
heading the opposition ticket. In 1798 both 
were renominated and elected by handsome 
majorities. This time Chancellor Livingston 
was .Mr. Jay's opjxjnent, while Mr. \'an Rens- 
selaer was the candidate of both Federalists 
and the antis, so universally popular had he 
become. .At the same time, the plan was to 
attract votes for Livingston away from Jay. 
In January, 1801, a convention was held at 
the Tontine Coffee House in .Albany, and Mr. 
Van Rensselaer was unanimously named the 
candidate for governor. His nomination was 
enthusiastically seconded in New York City 
and at public meetings all over the state. His 
purity, reliable judgment and competent ac- 
quaintance with interests and business of the 
state commended him ; but the parties were 
at such great odds, the rancor so fearful, that 
it poisoned even whole families with hatred 
•one for another. De Witt Clinton was named 



as his opponent. He was also deservedly pop- 
ular and a man of great energy in affairs of 
moment. In the midst of the state campaign 
announcement of the election of Thomas Jef- 
ferson was announced. It helped in large 
measure to turn the tide, and Mr. Van Rens- 
selaer was defeated by a majority of less than 
four thousand votes. 

In October, 1801, a state convention met 
at Albany to revise the constitution, and Mr. 
\'an Rensselaer was a member, presiding dur- 
ing much of the deliberations as chairman, 
although Aaron Burr was its president. In 
1807 he was elected to the assembly, with 
his friend, Abraham \'an Vechten, as col- 
league. In March, 1810, a commission was 
chosen by the legislature, consisting of seven 
persons — Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton 
and Stephen Van Rensselaer among the more 
important — for exploring a route for a pro- 
posed western canal. In the summer of that 
year, accompanied by a surveyor, he traveled 
by horseback inspecting a route for the pro- 
jected undertaking which resulted in the Erie 
canal, and they gave their findings in Febru- 
ary. 181 1. With all his enormous energy he 
advocated the measure in the assembly, thus 
giving the plan an impetus very needful be- 
cause of considerable opposition. 

War against Great Britain was declared in 
June, 1812. This was another crisis in his 
life. A requisition was made on Governor 
Tompkins, of New York, and the patriotic 
governor promptly obeyed, selecting Major- 
General Stephen Van Rensselaer for the com- 
mand. They were then regarded as rival can- 
didates for the chief magistracy. The lines 
of party were distinctly drawn, and the Fed- 
eralists were charged with lieing hostile to the 
war as being premature and unnecessary. 
General \'an Rensselaer was a Federalist. 
The appointment placed him in a position of 
embarrassment, for, should he decline, it 
would tell against his party, and. on the other 
hand, he was expected to defend both the 
northern and western frontier, with no ex- 
perience in warfare and dealing with decided- 
ly impracticable material in the make-up of 
fighters. He did not hesitate an instant, but 
accepted the service. His country had sum- 
moned him to the field, and he was ready. He 
was not a loiterer, for in an incredibly short 
time he had thrown off the citizen surrounded 
by political advisers, and had formed his mili- 
tary family. In ten days he arrived at Og- 
densburgh. having inspected Sackett's Har- 
bor on the way. On August 13th he was in 
camp at Lewiston, just one month from his 
call, and just two months later, on October 
13th, he was engaged in one of the most gal- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



17 



lant and brilliant affairs of the whole war. 
He carried his American arms into the ene- 
my's territory, and planted the flag' of the 
LTnited States triumphantly on the Heights of 
Oueenstown. Althougli gaining a complete 
victory, unfortunately it was of brief dura- 
tion, on account of the deflection of his troops. 
Had they remained by him, he could have re- 
tained the peninsula of the upper province of 
Canada for the winter, for it was originally 
planned that Fort George should also be 
stormed by regular troops. Very valuable to 
him had been the services of his aide, Colonel 
Solomon \'an Rensselaer, who was wounded 
a number of times when in the thickest of the 
fight. By the shameful refusal of his yeoman 
soldiery, under the plea of constitutional scru- 
ples, to march into the camp which had been 
won for them, he should have felt wroth ; but 
he reported it .as an unvarnished relation of 
facts, telling the truth plainly, but without 
complaints or reproaches, for he had done his 
full duty. The British had lost their General 
Brock by the engagement, and during the 
■cessation of hostilities agreed upon for six 
days, both sides proceeded to humanitarian 
duties of burying the dead and caring for the 
wounded. General ^^an Rensselaer informed 
his antagonist that he should order a salute 
to be fired at his camp and also at Fort Ni- 
agara on the occasion of the funeral solemni- 
ties of the brave and lamented Brock, to 
■which the stern General Sheaffe replied : "I 
feel too strongly the generous tribute which 
you propose to pay for my departed friend 
and chief, to be able to express the sense I 
entertain of it." 

(General \'an Rensselaer entered the guber- 
natorial campaign against Daniel D. Tomp- 
kins in the spring of 1813, but his party was 
in the minority, even though giving him a 
united support, and he was defeated in the 
state by 3,600 votes out of the 83.000 cast in 
the election. In 1816 he was again elected to 
the assembly, and in March the canal com- 
missioners, with Mr. Van Rensselaer at their 
head and acting as chairman, presented their 
report to the legislature, requesting that body 
to adopt immediate measures for prosecuting 
the enterprise. In April this great work was 
authorized, the management committed to a 
hoard of canal commissioners, with General 
Van Rensselaer as a member. He was presi- 
dent of that board for fifteen years, succeed- 
ing DeWitt Clinton in April, 1824, and serv- 
ing until his death in 1839. 

In 1819 the legislature was induced to pass 
an act for the encouragement and improve- 
ment of agriculture, appropriating money to 
he divided ratablv among the counties, which 



were to form county societies, with presidents, 
who should form a central board. The dele- 
gates from twenty-six county societies met at 
the Capitol in January. 1820, and elected Gen- 
eral Van Rensselaer president. In 1819 he 
was elected regent of the University of the 
State of New York, and was subsequently the 
chancellor until his death. 

In December. 1823, General Van Rensselaer 
took his seat in congress for the first time, 
and was continued in his place by re-election 
for three successive terms, retiring on March 
4. 1829. He held the position of chairman 
of the committee on agriculture. His report 
on tariff laws affecting agriculture, made in 
March, 1824, was a valuable one. His ballot 
on the presidency, in February, 1825, deter- 
mined the vote of his state's delegation in 
favor of Mr. Adams. 

On May 5, 1824, the Albany Institute was 
organized for the purpose of engaging in 
fields of observation of the natural sciences, 
for study of new theories and discoveries, and 
the preparation of learned papers. General 
\'an Rensselaer was elected its first president, 
having the local prestige of being the presi- 
dent of the Albany Lyceum of Natural His- 
tory. This society elected him annually 
through fifteen years, until his death. He 
perceived the advantage of placing knowledge 
before the people, and his first movement was 
to employ Professor Eaton, with several com- 
petent assistants, to traverse the state near 
the route of the Erie canal, taking apparatus 
and specimens to aid the delivery of lectures 
before business men and farmers in all the 
villages along the line. Tiiese were given on 
chemistry, natural philosophy and various 
branches of natural history, and were given 
in the summer of 1824 at his expense. The 
experiment was a success. He had also been 
accustomed to send his schoolmaster among 
his tenants in the same capacity, and this led 
him, on November 5, 1824. to provide a suit- 
able building in Troy, New York, for the 
conduct of a school under Rev. Dr. Blatch- 
ford, to whom he delivered a set of rules for 
its government. He endowed it with pro- 
fessors, and it was incorporated in 1826 as 
the Rensselaer Institute. Through the next 
two years, he paid one-half of its current ex- 
penses, and at his death he endowed it. Not 
alone did he institute the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic, but to two colleges he gave $5,000 
each, and to a single agent for the prosecu- 
tion of scientific research and advancement of 
education, no less than $30,000. His bene- 
factions were not only most liberal, but wisely 
devoted, and in those days these sums were 
considered fortunes in themselves. 



i8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



He was connected with the institution of 
Masonry, having been initiated in 1786. when 
twenty-two years old, and was placed in official 
station, becoming successively junior and 
senior warden, and then master. In 1793 he 
declined further election in Master's Lodge, 
but in 1825 was installed in the highest office 
of Masonry, that of grand master, which act 
was conducted by Governor DeWitt Clinton. 

The funeral of General Van Rensselaer was 
a most impressive one, perhaps more so than 
any other at Albany before or afterwards. 
The religious service was held at the North 
Dutch Church, and the body, in a simple, 
unadorned casket, was borne nearly a mile to 
the family vault, upon men's shoulders, the 
bearers frequently relieving each other, for 
no hearse was permitted to receive the hal- 
lowed burthen. The mourners, composed of 
the family, civic officials. Masonic bodies, 
school societies, the chief magistrate and other 
executive officers of the state, members of 
the legislature, all on foot, not a carriage 
being in use. The military were in citizens' 
dress ; all badges of office were laid aside ; 
no plumes nodded ; no helmets glistened ; no 
music murmured — solemn, slow and silent the 
vast throng moved through the highway to 
the north. 

It is of interest to note the manner in which 
in those days the intelligence of his death was 
sent to New York City, where he was well 
known, and it being necessary to transmit 
the news because of his prominence in the 
state's public life. It is recorded in Mun- 
sell's "Notes from the Newspapers," as an 
item of news on that day, January 26, 1839 : 

".\n e.xpress was started by Messrs. Baker & 
Walker, to carrj' the intelligence of the Patroon's 
death to Kew York. A Mr. Dimmick left Albany 14 
minutes before 6 p. m. in a sulkey. At Redhook, he 
found a bridge gone, but mounted his horse and 
swam the stream, drawing the sulkey after him. .^t 
Fishkill, the obstruction was much more formidable. 
The bridge was gone, and the road for more than 
half a mile inundated. He again mounted his horse, 
who pushed gallantly into the flood and swam, with 
his rider and sulkey, over a quarter of a mile, bring- 
ing both safely to the opposite shore. Notwith- 
standing these and other obstructions the express 
arrived at the Carlton House at 20 minutes past 8 
o'clock in the morning, having rode over the distance 
of about 150 miles in 14 h. 31 m." 

General Stephen \'an Rensselaer, the eighth 
Patroon. married Margaret Schuyler, daugh- 
ter of General Philip Schuyler and Catherine 
V'an Rensselaer, at Schuylerville. New York, 
June 6, 1783: and married (second) Cornelia 
Patcrson, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, on 
May 17, 1802. She was born June 4. 1780, 
and died in New York City, August 6. 1844. 
Her father was Chief Justice William Pater- 



son, a resident of New Brunswick, New Jer- 
sey, born at sea December 24, 1745, and died 
September 9, 1806, while on a visit at the 
Manor House in Albany. He was U. S. 
senator in 1789; in 1791 chosen second gov- 
ernor of New Jersey, and General Washing- 
ton appointed him in 1793 a justice of the 
U. S. supreme court, which position he held 
up to the time of his death. He married Cor- 
nelia Bell, daughter of John Bell, in 1779. 
Three children were the result of the first 
marriage, and nine by the latter. 

Children of General Stephen \'an Rensse- 
laer and Margaret Schuyler : 

1. Catherine Schuyler, born in July,, 1784, 
baptized August 9 ; died at Albany, April 26, 
1797, without issue. 

2. Stephen, born at Albany, June 6, 1786; 
died in 1787. 

3. Stephen, born at Albany, March 29, 
1789 : died at the Manor House, Albany, May 

25, 1868; married, in New York City. January 
2, 1817, Harriet Elizabeth Bayard (see for- 
ward). 

Children of Gen. Stephen \'an Rensselaer 
and Cornelia Paterson : 

4. Catherine, born at Albany, October 17, 
1803 ; died in New York City, November, 
1874 ; married, 1830, Gouvemeur Morris 
Wilkins. 

5. William Paterson. born at Albany, New 
York, March 6, 1805 ; died at New York 
City. November 13, 1872: married (first) in 
New York, March. 1833. Eliza Rogers, (born 
New York, 1812, died in Cuba. March, 1836), 
by whom one child: married (second), at 
New York City, April 4. 1839, Sarah Rogers 
(born New York. October 29. 1810: died Rye, 
N. Y.. Nov. 19, 1887). daugliters of Benjamin 
Woolsey Rogers and Susan Bayard : by whom 
eight children, as follows : William Paterson, 
born in New York, January, 1835. died in 
Rye, New York, July, 1854: Susan Bayard, 
born in New York, January 31, 1840. died in 
Rye. New York. July 19. 1863 : Cornelia, born 
in Albany, September 22. 1841. married John 
Erving of New York, April 22. 1862; 
Walter Stephen, born in Albany, November 
2, 1843, died in Rye, New York. May 14, 
1865 ; Captain Kiliaen, born in Albany. Feb- 
ruary 14, 1845. married Olivia Phelps 
Atterbury, in New York. Deceinber 13, 
1870: died in New 'S'ork, November 

26, 1905 ; Sarah Elizabeth, born in New 
York, January 18, 1847, "^'^d in Rye. New 
York, June 29, 1859; Arthur, born in New 
York. September 28, 1848. died in New York, 
March 4. 1869: Catherine Goodhue, born in 
Norwalk, Connecticut, 1850, married, June 11, 
1891, Rev. Anson Phelps Atterbury ; Eleanor 




Snte/i/ien Van ,yien66ela&K 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



19 



Cecilia, born in Rye, New York, November 
3, 1853, married at Rye, New York, June i, 
1887, Hamilton R. Fairfax. 

6. Philip Schuyler, born at Albany, October 
14, 1806; died June i, 1871 ; married, October 
17, 1839, Mary Rebecca Tallmadge, born May 
16, 1817, died August 3, 1872, and had: James 
Tallmadge; Philip, died in 1882; Cornelia; 
Clinton ; Franklin ; Cortlandt. 

7. Cortlandt, born at Albany, May 25, 1808 ; 
died at Burlington, New Jersey, July 25, i860; 
married, September 13, 1836, Catherine Led- 
yard Cogswell, born September 22, 181 1, died 
December 24, 1882. daughter of Mason Fitch 
Cogswell. M. D., by whom: Philip Livingston; 
Alice (Hodge) ; Elizabeth Wadsworth (Byrd 
Grubb) ; Ledyard Cogswell ; Alexander. 

8. Henry Bell, born at Albany, May 10, 
1810; died at Cincinnati, Ohio, March 23, 
1864; married, August 22, 1833, Elizabeth 
Ray King (daughter of Governor John Alsop 
King and Mary Ray), born August 17, 1815; 
by whom: Euphemia, Elizabeth (Wadding- 
ton), John King, Katharine (Delafield), and 
Henry. 

9. Cornelia Paterson, born at Albany. July 
8, 1812; married Robert Turnbull, M. D., 
February 16, 1847; by whom Cornelia Pater- 
son (Turnbull) and Catherine Euphemia 
(Turnbull). 

10. Alexander, born November 5, 1814; 
died, 1878: married, 1851, Mary Howland ; 
(second), 1864, Louisa Barnewell, and had: 
Samuel Howland, Mary, Louisa, (Baylies), 
Mabel, and Alice. 

11. Euphemia White, born at Albany, Sep- 
tember 25, 1816: died May 27, 1888; married, 
May 2, 1843, John Church Cruger ; by whom 
Stephen Van Rensselaer (Cruger), Cornelia 
(Cruger), and Catherine (Cruger). 

12. Westerlo, born at Albany, March 14, 
1820: died at Albany, July 8, 1844. 

(VI) General Stephen Van Rensselaer, son 
of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, the eighth 
Patroon, and Margaret Schuyler, was born in 
the Manor House at Albany, New York, 
March 29. 1789, and died in the same place. 
May 25, 1868. 

He was given a thorough education, and 
enjoyed the benefits of culture acquired by 
travel abroad and by continual association 
with people of refinement. In social and pub- 
lic life he was greatly respected, and in his 
family much beloved. 

A leading event in his life, as it aflfected 
him and his family, was the anti-rent feud. 
Anti-rentism had its origin in Albany county. 
Its existence dated from the death of General 
Van Rensselaer in 1839, the last holder of 
the Manor of Rensselaerswvck under the 



British crown and its regulations. He was 
known to that generation as "the Patroon," 
was sometimes styled the "good Patroon," 
and after his death as "the old Patroon." 
Primogeniture was the law of inheritance in 
England, so it had been to some extent in 
the British colonies, and, as the eldest son, 
Stephen Van Rensselaer had inherited the 
Manor. But the Revolution and subsequent 
laws changed the rule of inheritance, giving 
alike to all the children if no will were made. 
In order to break the force of this radical 
change, and so as to continue this vast landed 
interest in the hands of his two eldest sons, 
Stephen and William Paterson Van Renssel- 
aer, General Van Rensselaer (1764-1839), on 
reaching his majority, had adopted the sys- 
tem of selling his lands in fee, reseii-ing to 
himself in the conveyances, and to his heirs 
and assigns, all mines and minerals, all streams 
of water for mill purposes, and beyond this, 
certain old-time feudal returns, denominated 
rents, payable annually at his Manor House, 
usually specified as so many bushels of good, 
clean, merchantable winter wheat, four fat 
fowl, and one day's service with carriage and 
horses : finally the reservation or exaction of 
one-quarter of the purchase price on every 
vendition of the land. In other words, one 
condition alone provided an income to him 
every time the purchaser of land should resell 
it. It is said that the mind of Alexander 
Hamilton conceived and framed this form of 
lease or conveyance for Van Rensselaer's es- 
pecial benefit. 

Under such peculiar conditions, the land of 
the Patroon in Albany and Rensselaer coun- 
ties was sold to innumerable purchasers for 
farms. The system operated successfully dur- 
ing the life of the Patnx)n ; but when liis son 
Stephen (born in 1789), inherited tlie land 
by his father's deatli in 1839, a new and seri- 
ous trouble arose. The first purchasers did 
not object, for they had bought with the defin- 
ite understanding clearly before them : but 
on the death of the Patroon and also of the 
purchaser, the successors of the latter, as new 
owners, began to grow restive under the bur- 
dens imposed, and when either Stephen or 
William P. Van Rensselaer pressed for pay- 
ments of the money due as reserved in the 
deeds, the owners of the land began to ques- 
tion the legality of the reservation. 

To Stephen \'an Rensselaer and his younger 
brother, William Paterson Van Rensselaer, 
the Patroon, General Stephen Van Rensselaer, 
had devised by his will, drawn on April 18, 
1837, all interest in the lands thus sold by him 
in fee, with the reservations of rents — in other 
words, they believed that they owned or re- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



tained the soil. Stephen, the oldest son, was 
to receive the rents in Albany county, and 
William P. Van Rensselaer those in Rens- 
selaer county. The rents at this time came 
in more sparingly and were paid more re- 
luctantly than they had been to the father, 
who had been noted as one of the most gentle, 
kind-hearted and benevolent of men, often 
generously reducing the rents and in many 
ways calling forth the love and gratitude of 
the landholders. The only course open for 
his son was to sue in the courts, and it was 
not long before a strong hostility developed. 
The legal contests of a quarter of a century 
might have been avoided if the lawyers had 
perceived that the deeds of the Patroon, being 
absolute conveyances of all interest in the 
lands, the reservations were, for that reason, 
invalid as incumbrances, made so by the Eng- 
lish statute, known as the statute of quia 
emptores, which rendered it impossible for a 
British subject, on a conveyance in fee of 
his land, to make, or if made, to enforce by 
re-entry or forfeiture, such feudal reserva- 
tions. That was a right remaining in and 
belonging to the crown alone. It is probable 
that Hamilton assumed that that statute was 
never in force in the colonies, for it was 
adopted hack in the reign of Edward L, and 
later lawyers might have dismissed the con- 
sideration of it on the assumption it was not 
the law of either colony or state. 

In the spring of 1839 the anti-renters held 
their preliminary meeting, numerously at- 
tended by all the fanners living in the Helder- 
berg towns. They apixiinted a committee to 
wait on Mr. Van Rensselaer to ascertain 
whether a compromise might not be effected. 
On May 22 the committee visited the office of 
Mr. Van Rensselaer, but he refused to recog- 
nize them, and instructed his agent, Douw B. 
Lansing, to inform them that he would com- 
municate in writing. He did so, informing 
them that he considered it would be an in- 
justice to himself and his family to consent 
to their claims. 

From that time on, his agents had much 
difficulty in collecting rents, and frequently, 
when attempting to do so, were held off by 
shotguns. In December, Sheriff Archer was 
obliged to call to his aid. in serving process, 
the posse comitatis, or power of the county. 
Among jirnminent citizens summoned was ex- 
Governor William L. Marcy. who went as far 
as Clarksville. On December 3rd the sheriff, 
with his posse, numbering six hundred citi- 
zens, started from Albany for Reidsville, some 
sixteen miles from the city. Arriving within 
a few miles of the place where the disturb- 
ance was expected, he selected seventy-five of 



the stoutest-hearted and pushed on to Reids- 
ville, where it was understood that the anti- 
renters were collected in force. Before reach- 
ing Reidsville the sheriff and his posse en- 
countered no less than fifteen hundred men, 
mounted upon their farm horses, posted 
across the highway, who absolutely barred 
further progress and ordered the smaller body 
to go back. The sheriff and his men could 
but comply, and gladly marched back to Al- 
bany, arriving at 9 o'clock that night. 

The next morning the sheriff presented an 
exaggerated account of what had transpired 
to Governor William H. Seward, who deemed 
it his duty to call out the militia, and forth- 
with he ordered out a force sufficient to cap- 
ture every man, woman and child upon the 
Helderbergs. It consisted of the Albany Bur- 
gesses' Corps, Capt. Bayeux ; Albany Union 
Guards, Capt. Brown ; Albany Republican Ar- 
tillery, Capt. Strain ; First Company Van 
Rensselaer Guards, Capt. Kearney : Second 
Company Van Rensselaer Guards, Capt. 
Berry ; Troy Artillery, Capt. Howe ; Troy 
Citizens' Corps. Capt. Pierce, and Troy City 
Guards, Capt. Wickes. 

Major William Bloodgood was in command 
of this formidable body of citizen-soldiery, 
and, headed by Sheriff Archer, they moved 
on Reidsville, the morning of December 9, 
1839. Its march, with colors flying, drums 
beating and cannon rumbling, was decidedly 
imposing. It found no enemy to attack. Re- 
maining on duty in camp for a week, it re- 
turned sadly bedraggled, in a cold rainstorm, 
somewhat chagrined. Under proclamation of 
subsequent governors, similar demonstrations 
took place, all the time the landholders hop- 
ing that Mr. \'an Rensselaer would seek a 
compromise. Politicians were alive to bring 
the landholders into line, and urged the press 
to take the matter up. with the result that 
The Freeholder, published in Albany, became 
their organ, while The Whig, or the paper 
opposed to the Democratic party, secured the 
greater number of anti-renters. After many 
years the question was allowed to drop from 
politics and the courts took it up. The court 
of appeals rendered decisions in special cases 
in 1852. 1859, and finally in 1863, after which 
the matter rested. Many who sought to risk 
their fortunes that they might be large gain- 
ers, bought the claims of the landholders, and 
Walter S. Church in this way acquired in- 
numerable pieces of property and was in liti- 
gation until his death. 

The large area of the once famous "Lumber 
District" extending along the river front from 
North Ferry street, northward for a mile, and 
real estate in or close to the city, were not 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \"ALLEYS 



encumbered by perpetual leases, and remained 
as a source of income for members of the 
three generations following. Among the pa- 
pers preserved by the family is the account- 
book of General Abraham Ten Broeck, the 
guardian during the minority of Stephen, and 
under the entry of a "charge for beef and 
liquor consumed in a dinner to the tenantry 
on this your glorious twenty-first birthday" 
is a brief mention of a transaction which 
many years later took from the Van Rens- 
selaers many of their acres. On that day the 
Patroon sold in fee. with warranty of title, 
his farming lands in Albany and Rensselaer 
counties, and no less than nine hundred farms 
of 150 acres each, or more than 207 square 
miles, were leased on that day. 

On June 3, 1843, the Manor House was 
opened after extensive alterations made by 
Architect Richard Upjohn, the leading archi- 
tect of the time, whose handiwork may be 
seen in Trinity Church, New York. The 
wings had been torn down, the whitestone had 
been removed and replaced with brown New 
Jersey sandstone, and the great wings and 
porch in front had been added. The new 
building bore no resemblance to the old, even 
in architectural style. The brick exterior was 
now concealed behind a coating of sanded 
mastic, and the new stone-work was for the 
most part of a strictly classical design ; but 
in gables and belt courses a distinctly Gothic 
tendency prevailed. The building was rec- 
tangular in plan, with the great hall, 24 feet 
broad, extending from the front to the rear, 
some 46 feet. On either side of front and 
rear doors were large windows with deep 
window-seats. The walls of this hall were 
decorated with frescoes which in their day 
were the wonder of the country. These were 
painted upon large sheets of heavy paper, and 
were executed in Holland especially for the 
room, and put on the walls in 1768, as is 
shown by the bill which is preserved. The 
center of the west wall was pierced by a large, 
arched doorway, leading to the stairs, flanked 
by Ionic pilasters. The stairs were lighted 
by a semi-circular window at the landing, dis- 
playing in colors the family coat-of-arms, sim- 
ilar to one placed in the Dutch church in 
1656. 

The principal adornments in the main hall 
were two alabaster urns, six feet tall and 
handsomely carved with acanthus leaves, in- 
tended to hold lights. Two large equestrian 
statues in bronze stood in the central line, one 
of them depicting Chevalier Bayard, there 
being only one duplicate in existence. To the 
right of the entrance was a room about 24 
feet square, the guest room or "Bridal Cham- 



ber," as sometimes called, and beyond it, fur- 
ther to the east, the large drawing room, orna- 
mented with carved wood, statuary in marble 
and bronze, and many oil paintings upon the 
walls. To the rear of this was the library. 
Correspondingly were placed to the left of the 
entrance, the reception room, from which one 
entered, further to the west, the long dining- 
room, which was the scene of brilliant enter- 
tainments and had made the Manor House a 
noted place both here and abroad, for the 
foreign guests received at the Patroon's board 
not infrequently returned to their homes with 
glowing accounts of the sumptuous hospitality 
and the magnificence of the family plate. 

When Stephen Van Rensselaer died. May 
25, 1868, he left behind him an enviable re- 
putation for the sterling virtues which had 
distinguished the line from which he had de- 
scended. He was liberal in his benefactions 
and dispensed wealth freely to all charitable 
objects and church. On his death, about 2,500 
acres between the Troy and Shaker roads, 
north of the Manor House and in which he 
had a life estate, reverted to his half-brother, 
William Paterson Van Rensselaer. Surviving 
him in his own immediate family, besides his 
widow, were: Margaret, wife of Wilmot 
Johnson, of Chases, Maryland: Cornelia, wife 
of Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston : Catherine, 
widow of Nathaniel Berry of Washington and 
Paris ; Justine, widow of Dr, Howard Town- 
send, then residing in Albany; Harriet, wife 
of Colonel John Schuyler Crosby, of New 
York City ; Laura Reynolds, widow of Bayard 
Van Rensselaer, living in Albany ; and Eu- 
gene, who had married Miss Sarah Pendleton. 

At the funeral, held in the old North Dutch 
Church of 1799, on May 28th, Rev. Rufus 
W. Clark officiated, assisted by Rev. Dr. Ken- 
nedy, of Troy, Rev. Dr. Vermilye preaching 
the sermon, and Rev. Dr. William Buel 
Sprague delivering the benediction. The 
mourners were followed by the physicians, 
wearing white linen scarfs. On the following 
Sunday, Rev. Dr. Clark preached a memorial 
discourse. The consistory of the Dutch 
Church, of which he had been an elder, met 
the day following his deatli and voiced this 
sentiment regarding their senior member : 
"We bear, with profound satisfaction, our 
testimony to his munificent liberality to this 
church, to the various public educational insti- 
tutions, to the societies for the extension of 
the Redeemer's Kingdom, and to every de- 
partment of Christian charity." 

The Board of Lumber Dealers met on the 
27th, and their resolution spoke of "our land- 
lord and friend. General Stephen Van Rens- 
selaer, whose intercourse with us has been 



HUDSON AND MOPIAWK VALLEYS 



distinguished by fairness, considerateness and 
courtesy." The Albany Institute, of which 
body he was an early, most efficient patron 
and supporter, memorialized his "love of jus- 
tice and regard for the rights of others were 
strong by nature and invigorated by constant 
exercise, whose respect for truth and detesta- 
tion of deceit were always deeply felt." The 
Young Men's Christian Association assembled 
on the 29th and spoke of him as "our vener- 
able and honored friend, * * * Jn whom 
we have lost a personal friend, a public bene- 
factor, and an earnest supporter of our As- 
sociation." 

General Stephen Van Rensselaer and Har- 
riet Elizabeth Bayard were married in New 
York City, by Bishop Hobart, of the Episco- 
pal church, January 2, 1817. She was born 
in New York City, February 12, 1799, and 
died in the Manor ?Iouse at Albany, June 19, 
1875. She was the daughter of William 
Bayard, who died September 18, 1826 ; who 
married, October 4, 1783. Elizabeth Cornell, 
born in 1764, died at the Manor House, Al- 
bany, January 17, 1854. William Bayard was 
the son of Colonel William Bayard and Cath- 
erine McEvers. 

Colonel William Bayard was a prominent 
and opulent merchant of New York City, 
where he was born on June i, 1729, and died 
at Southampton, England, in 1804. He re- 
sided at Castle Point, Hoboken, New Jersey, 
and, although he joined the Sons of Liberty, 
his estate was confiscated because his princi- 
ples would not permit him to aid the move- 
ment for independence. He was a direct de- 
scendant of Nicholas Bayard, born in Alphen, 
Holland, about 1644, who came to America 
with the Dutch Governor, Pieter Stuyvesant, 
landing at New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647, 
and died in New York, in 1707. He was 
mayor of New York in 1685, secretary of 
the Province of New York in 1673, and re- 
ceiver-general in 1663. Colonel William Bay- 
ard's wife, Catherine McEvers, was born in 
1732 and died in 1814. Mrs. Stephen Van 
Rensselaer was a woman of superior educa- 
tion and culture, given to the most cordial 
hospitality, and her life was consecrated to 
kind acts, h'ollowing her death, in 1875, there 
was a division of the property among the 
heirs, and the Manor House was closed for- 
ever as a family habitation. In October, 
1893, the building was razed, and the land 
thereabouts placed on the market. Twenty- 
five years later it was the scene of a number 
of manufacturing plants, and what were once 
handsome grounds and a forest park were 
bisected bv spurs of railroad tracks. 

The children of Gen. Stephen Van Rens- 



selaer and Harriet Elizabeth Bayard were as 
follows : 

1. Elizabeth Bayard, born at Albany, Oc- 
tober 4, 1817; died July 7, 1819. 

2. Margaret Schuyler, born at Albany, May 
12, 1819; died at Albany, September 15, 1897; 
married, at Albany, April 12, 1837, John De- 
Peyster Douw (born in Albany, Dec. 16, 
1812; died in Poughkeepsie, Jan. 30, 1901), 
son of Johannes DePeyster Douw and Cath- 
erine Douw Gansevoort ; by whom : Henry 
Augustus (Douw), born at Albany, January 
21, 1840, died February 23, 1854; and Harriet 
Van Rensselaer (Douw), born at Albany, 
March 20, 1842; died at Albany, August 31, 
1862: married (second) Wilmot Johnson, of 
Catonsville, Maryland, April 24, 185 1, who 
died in New York City, September 9, 1899. 

3. Harriet Elizabeth, born at Albany. Alay 
30, 1821 ; died there, September 19, 1821. 

4. Cornelia Paterson, born at Albany, Janu- 
ary 24, 1823; died at Boston, Massachusetts, 
March 4, 1897; married, at Albany, June 10, 
1846, Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, son of 
Nathaniel Thayer and Sarah Toppan, who 
was born at Lancaster, Massachusetts, Sep- 
tember II, 1808, and died at Boston, March 
7, 1883; by whom: Stephen Van Rensselaer 
(Thayer), born at Boston, August 2, 1847, 
died there, October 10, 1871, married, Bos- 
ton, November 2, 1870, Alice Robeson ; Cor- 
nelia \'an Rensselaer (Thayer), born at Bos- 
ton, October 23, 1849, died at New York, New 
York, July 19, 1903, married, Boston, No- 
vember 24, 1868, Hon. James Hampden Robb 
(q. v.) ; Nathaniel (Thayer) born Boston, 
June 13, 1851, residing in Boston and New- 
port, Rhode Island, in 1910, married, Balti- 
more, Maryland, February i, 1881, Cornelia 
Street Barroll, who died February 18, 1885; 
married (second) Boston, June 11, 1887, Pau- 
line Revere; Harriet (Thayer), born at Bos- 
ton, February 16, 1853, died at Dublin, New 
Hampshire, September 16, 1891 ; married, 
Boston, October 11, 1883, John Forrester An- 
drew; Eugene Van Rensselaer (Thayer), born 
at Boston, December 27, 1855, died there, De- 
cember 20, 1907, married, Boston, December 
21, 1880, Susan Spring; John Eliot (Thayer), 
born at Boston, April 3, 1862, married, Clin- 
ton, Massachusetts, June 22. 1886, Evelyn 
Duncan Forbes ;' Bayard (Thayer), born at 
Boston. -April 3, 1862, married, Yarmouthport, 
Massachusetts, September i, 1896, Ruth Simp- 
kins. 

5. Stephen, born at Albany, June 12, 1824; 
died April 9, 1861 ; married Annie Wild, no 
issue. 

6. Catherine, born at Albany, July 24, 1827; 
died at Washington, D. C, November i, 1909; 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



23 



married, in the Manor House, Albany, 1856, 
Nathaniel Berry, son of Nathaniel Berry and 
Anna Beach, of Washington and Paris 
(born Sharon, Conn., July 4, 181 1; died, 
Paris, France, April 4, 1865), son of Nathan- 
iel Berry, by whom Katherine Van Rens- 
selaer (Berry), born at Paris, France, No- 
vember 2, 1857, died at Bar Harbor, Maine, 
September 14, 1907; Walter \'an Rensselaer 
(Berry) born at Paris, France, July 29, 1859, 
residing in Washington, D. C, in 1910; and 
Nathalie (Berry), born at Paris, July 15, 
1864, residing in Washington in 1910. 

7. Justine, born at Albany, September 18, 
1828; residing in New York city in 1910; 
married, in the Manor House at Albany, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1853, Howard Townsend, M.D., (son 
of Isaiah Townsend and Hannah Townsend) 
who was born at Albany, November 22, 1823, 
and died there January 16, 1867; by whom: 
Justine Xan Rensselaer (Townsend), born at 
Albany, December 5, 1853, died at Paris, 
France, April 22, 188 1, married at Albany, 
January 23, 1877, Lieut. Thomas Henry Bar- 
ber, U. S. A.; Helen Schuyler (Townsend), 
born at Albany, November 17, 1855, died 
there. May 27, 1858; Howard (Townsend), 
born at Albany, Aug. 23, 1858, attorney, prac- 
ticing in New York City in 1910; married, 
New York, New York, April 17. 1888, Sophie 
Witherspoon Dickey, who died at Saranac, 
New York, Jan. 29. 1892; married (second), 
New York, New York, October 20, 1894, 
Anne Lowndes Langdon ; Stephen Van Rens- 
selaer (Townsend), born at Albany, October 
20, i860; attorney; died at Hempstead, Long 
Island, January 15, 1901, married, at Grace 
Church Chantry, New York City, May 22, 
1888, Janet Eckford King; Harriet Bayard 
(Townsend), born at Albany, March 23, 1864, 
residing in New York City in 19 10, married, 
New York, New York, April 28, 1886, 
Thomas Henry Barber. 

8. William Bayard, born at Albany, 1830 ; 
died young. 

9. Bayard, born at Albany, September 8, 
1833; died at Pau, France, January 12, 1859; 
married at Albany, February i, 1854, Laura 
Reynolds, born at Albany, November 22, 1830, 
daughter of Marcus T. Reynolds and Eliza- 
beth Ann Dexter ; by whom : William Bay- 
ard, born at Albany, October 4, 1856, died at 
Albany, September 25, 1909, married, at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, November 3, 1880, 
Louisa Greenough Lane ; and Howard, born 
at Albany, June 26, 1858, (see forward). 

10. Harriet, born in the Manor House, Al- 
bany, July 3, 1838; residing in Washington, 
D. C., in 1910; married, in the Manor House, 
Albany, June 20, 1863, Colonel John Schuyler 



Crosby (son of Clarkson Floyd Crosby and 
Angelica Schuyler), who was born at Quidor 
Knoll (Watervliet), Albany county, Septem- 
ber 19, 1839, and was residing in New York 
City in 19 10; by whom: Stephen \'an Rens- 
selaer (Crosby), born in the Manor House, 
Albany, May 14, 1868, married at Manches- 
ter, Massachusetts, September 18, 1895, Hen- 
rietta Grew; and Angelica Schuyler (Crosby), 
born at Albany, June 26, 1872, died at Port- 
land. Maine, July 25, 1907, married, at 
Charlestown, West Virginia, February 12, 
1903, John Brooks Henderson, Jr. 

II. Eugene, born at Albany, October 12, 
1840; residing at Berkeley Springs, West Vir- 
ginia, in 1910; married, at Baltimore, Mary- 
land, April 26, 1865, Sarah Pendleton (daugh- 
ter of Elisha Boyd Pendleton and Marie Lu- 
cinda Tutt), who was born at Martinsburgh, 
West \'irginia, December 11, 1846, and was 
residing at Berkeley Springs in 1910; by 
whom : Elizabeth Kennedy, born in the Manor 
House, Albany, May 31, 1866, married, at 
Washington, D. C, February 23, 1909, James 
Carroll Frazer; and Rev, Stephen, B. A., B. 
D., born in the Manor House. Albany, Janu- 
ary 17, 1869, married, at Lenox, Massachu- 
setts, October 10, 1900, Mary Thorn Carpen- 
ter, born March 18, 1861, died October 12, 
1902. 

(\TI) Bayard \'an Rensselaer, son of Gen- 
eral Stephen \'an Rensselaer and Harriet 
Elizabeth Bayard, was born at Albany, New 
York, September 8, 1833, and died at Pau, 
France, January 12, 1859. He was the third 
son and ninth child, but his eldest brother 
died without issue, and his next elder brother 
died in infancy before he was born, hence the 
family name of William Bayard, bestowed 
upon the infant, was carried down by bap- 
tizing him Bayard. By birth, culture and 
associations he was one of the leaders in the 
most brilliant social set in Albany, and be- 
longed to a number of clubs and organiza- 
tions, among them the Burgesses' Corps, then 
composed of the most prominent young men 
in the city. His health being far from ro- 
bust, he sought to improve it by a sea voyage 
in 1858 and a sojourn in the most invigorating 
climate of France. Unfortunately, the results 
were not as beneficial as expected, for he died 
in France. 

He married, at the bride's residence. No. 
25 No. Pearl street, Albany, Bishop Horatio 
Potter, of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, of- 
ficiating, February i, 1854, Laura Reynolds. 
She was born in Albany, November 22, 1830, 
and was residing in her home there. No. 98 
Columbia street, in 19 10, Her father was 
Marcus TuUius Reynolds, born at Minaville, 



24 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



Montgomery county. New York, December 
29, 1788, died at 25 No. Pearl street, Albany, 
July II, 1864, who married. May 6, 1823, at 
Albany, Elizabeth Ann Dexter, born Albany, 
March 24, 1797, died 7 Park Place, Albany, 
August 30, 1840. 

Children: i. William Bayard, born at Al- 
bany, October 4, 1856, died at Albany, Sep- 
tember 25. 1909, married, at Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts, November 3, 1880, Louisa Green- 
ough Lane ; and Howard, bom at Albany, 
June 26, 1858, residing there in 19 10, (see 
forward). 

(Vin ) William Bayard Van Rensselaer, 
oldest son of Bayard Van Rensselaer and 
Laura Reynolds, was born in Albany, New 
York, October 4, 1856, and died in Albany, 
September 25, 1909. 

He was a direct lineal descendant of Kiliaen 
Van Rensselaer, of Amsterdam, Holland, and 
had not the laws of New York prohibited the 
entailing of property, he would have been the 
nth Patroon, and owner of the Rensselaers- 
wyck property. 

In early boyhood, after returning from 
Europe, where he had been taken by his par- 
ents, went for a while to the Albany Boys' 
Academy. A little later he was sent to a 
private boarding-school at Catskill, where he 
spent two years, or until 1869, when a boy 
of thirteen, he went to St. Paul's School at 
Concord, New Hampshire, where he remained 
for six years, entering Harvard as a freshman 
in 1875. He was a graduate of the class of 
1879 and then attended the Harvard Law 
School. At school, college and the Law 
School he was prominently identified with all 
the leading societies and clubs. After leaving 
the law school he entered the office of M. T. & 
L. G. Hun, in Albany, and was admitted to 
the bar in the fall of 1882, opening an office 
at No. 25 No. Pearl street. Active duties of 
a general counselor were to some extent set 
aside in 1881, by Mr. Van Rensselaer's ap- 
pointment as the one most suitable person to 
have full charge of the Van Rensselaer estate. 
His knowledge of tlie laws governing real es- 
tate and his conservative judgment were a 
guarantee of most capable management. In 
the fall of 1885, following his suggestion, the 
many heirs of the late General Stephen Van 
Rensselaer conveyed their interest in the Al- 
bany property to the Van Rensselaer Land 
Companji, and he was made treasurer, which 
office he continued to hold until his death. 

Mr. \'an Rensselaer became a director of 
the New York State National Bank in 1885, 
and was made its vice-president in 1900. He 
was elected a trustee of the Albany Savings 
Bank in 1883, vice-president in 1897. His 



grandfather, General Stephen Van Rensselaer, 
had been the first president of this bank when 
chartered, March 25, 1820. As chairman of 
the building committee he devoted untiring 
energy to the erection of the handsome, new 
edifice which was opened April 25, 1899. On 
August 15, 1900, about a month after the 
death of J. Howard King, he was elected the 
bank's president, and was its chief executive 
through a term of years the most successful 
in its long and remarkable history. 

In 1901 he was chosen chairman of the ex- 
ecutive committee of the Savings Banks As- 
sociation of the State of New York, and on 
May 12, 1904, was elected president of that 
body because of his widely recognized ability 
and conservatism. 

In 1893 he organized the Albany Terminal 
Warehouse Company, and a large building 
was erected on the Van Rensselaer property 
in the north part of the city, part of which 
was used as a bonded warehouse. He was a 
director of the Cohoes Company, incorporated 
in 1823, by his grandfather, which supplies 
all the factories of Cohoes, New York, with 
their water power. On organization of the 
Union Trust Company, he was made its vice- 
president, and he was also a trustee for nu- 
merous estates, giving close attention to their 
careful management. 

Among various appointments in rendering 
public service was his appointment by Gover- 
nor Morton on the Albany Bi-Centennial Cel- 
ebration Committee, and he was named by 
Governor Hughes one of the State's represen- 
tatives on the Hudson-Fulton Commission in 
1909. 

He was one of the organizers and charter 
members of the Fort Orange Club of Albany, 
a member of the Albany Country Club and 
of the Albany Institute and Historical and Art 
Society ; also a member of the Holland So- 
ciety, Reform Club and University Club of 
New York City. He was on the board of 
trustees of the New York State Normal Col- 
lege and of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- 
tute, also one of the officers of the Albany 
Chamber of Commerce. 

In politics Mr. \'an Rensselaer was a Re- 
publican, but at times asserted his indepen- 
dence. Though repeatedly urged to accept, 
yet he never sought or held political ofifice. 
As a thoughtful man was, however, much in- 
terested in governmental affairs. To the ad- 
vancement of the Cathedral of All Saints, as 
one of the chapter, he gave his best endeavor, 
promoting the work of securing the new and 
handsome edifice. He traveled extensively, 
going abroad a number of summers, and in 
the winter season entertained with great fre- 




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Yam/^Zay/tmJxAzcr; 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



25 



quency at his home. No. 385 State street, all 
distinguished visitors coming to Albany, being 
met at his table. His house is furnished with 
many of the articles once belonging to his 
ancestors. 

Mr. \'an Rensselaer married, at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. November 3, 1880, Louisa 
Greenough Lane. She was born at Cam- 
bridge, November 21, i860, and still lives, re- 
siding in Albany. Her father was Professor 
George Martin Lane, of Harvard University, 
born in Charleston. December 24. 1826. died 
in Cambridge, June 30, 1897, son of Martin 
Lane and Lucretia Swan. Her mother was 
Frances Eliza Gardiner, born at Shelter Isl- 
and, New York, July 31, 1828; died in Cam- 
bridge, August 31, 1876, daughter of Samuel 
G. Gardiner, and Mary Catherine L'Homme- 
dieu. 

(\'ni) Howard Van Rensselaer, ALD., son 
of Bayard \'an Rensselaer and Laura Rey- 
nolds, was born at No. 98 Columbia street, 
Albany, New York, June 26, 1858. 

Before he was a year old he was- taken 
abroad by his parents, returning in 1859, or^ 
the death of his father, when he was but 
nine months old. He was placed in the State 
Normal School at Albany to learn the ele- 
mentary branches, and later changed to the 
Albany Boys' Academy. Remaining there a 
short time, he was sent to Miss Gaylord's pri- 
vate boarding-school at Catskill, New York, 
noted for its excellent moral training. When 
twelve years old he entered St. Paul's School 
at Concord, New Hampshire, where he pur- 
sued his literary studies with especial diligence, 
and was made an editor of The Horae. While 
here he was an enthusiastic athlete. He es- 
tablished the one. and three-mile walking rec- 
ords, which still remain unbeaten. He was 
stroke oar on the successful crew ; was on the 
first eleven of the cricket club, and was presi- 
dent of the Athletic Association. At the age 
of eighteen he entered Yale, taking the Shef- 
field Scientific course preparatory to the study 
of medicine, and graduating in 188 1 with the 
degree of Ph.B. He was afso a student of the 
Yale Art School, took a literary prize, and was 
a member of the Berzelius Society, the oldest 
scientific society in this country. 

After his graduation from Yale, he imme- 
diately entered the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons in New York City, then under Drs. 
Clark, Sands and Dalton, graduating in 1884. 
During this period of three years he attended 
all the courses of lectures and read with avid- 
ity in every spare moment. He was made 
the interne at the Chambers Street Hospi- 
tal, where he gained practical knowledge of 
medical science. After that he passed the 



severe competitive examination which entitled 
him to the position so much to be desired by 
the aspiring student of medicine, of house 
physician at the New York Hospital, for a 
service of eighteen months. 

While still studying in New York, he enter- 
tained the idea of visiting Europe with a view 
of studying disease in its various forms and 
symptoms and the modes of treatment adopted 
by the celebrated physicians. He crossed to 
Germany in January, 1887, and visited all the 
great hospitals of Europe, excepting those of 
Spain, studying in the large ones in Berlin, 
Paris, \ienna, Munich, London and Edin- 
burgh. Two years were thus spent, and at 
intervals he made side trips as opportunity 
opened, seeing sights in the old world from 
the North Cape to Constantinople and 
Greece. He returned from abroad in Febru- 
ary, 1889, and opened an office in his native 
city. He was at once appointed visiting phy- 
sician to St. Peter's Hospital, and the dis- 
pensary of the Child's Hospital. In the fall 
of 1889 he was appointed instructor of ner- 
vous diseases and diseases of the chest at the- 
Albany Medical College of Union Univer- 
sity. In December, 1889, he was given the 
position of attending physician to the Hospi- 
tal for Incurables, and in January, 1890, was 
elected visiting physician to the Home of the 
Friendless. In June of the same year he 
was called to the position of lecturer on ma- 
teria medica at the Albany Medical College. 
In 1892 he was advanced to the position of 
associate professor of materia medica. In 
1894 he was elected full professor of materia 
medica and therapeutics, and associated pro- 
fessor of the practice of medicine, positions 
which he still holds. 

He is a member of the Medical Society of 
Albany County ; the New York State Medical 
Society ; and is vice-president of the American 
Therapeutic Society ; also, of the Fort Orange, 
Albany Country and Albany Camera Clubs, 
the Chamber of Commerce, and the Albany 
Institute and Historical and Art Society, and 
likewise of the Calumet Club of New York 
City. He was a prime mover in establishing 
the Country Club, and has been for many 
years its president. 

Dr. Van Rensselaer has written a number 
of notable scientific papers, which have been 
published and widely read. He was editor 
of the Albany Medical Annals for six years. 
He is a medical examiner of several promi- 
nent life insurance companies, and gives his 
services as the attending physician of four 
Albany hospitals and two charitable institu- 
tions. He has been for several years presi- 
dent of the Albany Boys' Club. 



26 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Besides his visits to Europe, he has traveled 
extensively on the American continent, tour- 
ing the Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone re- 
gions, Cuba, the Bahamas and Mexico. In 
1909 he labored assiduously to establish a Red 
Cross Hospital for Consumptives, and raised 
single-handed the fund which covered the 
erection of the original buildings, the large 
area of land for the site of which he con- 
tributed. It has grown to be one of the most 
appreciated institutions in the city, and as a 
department of the Albany Hospital, which it 
became, will endure as a valued testimonial 
to his efforts for his fellow-citizens. He holds 
the position of medical director for this in- 
stitution. 

(The Thayer Line). 

Nathaniel Thayer, banker, of Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts, was born at Lancaster, Massachu- 
setts, September 11, 1808, and died at Bos- 
ton, March 7, 1883. He was the son of Nath- 
aniel Thayer, D.D., (Harvard, 1789), and 
Sarah Toppan. 

Nathaniel Thayer married, at Albany, New 
York, June 10, 1846, Cornelia Paterson Van 
Rensselaer, who was born in the Manor House 
fit Albany, January 24, 1823 ; died at Boston, 
Massachusetts, March 4, 1897, and was 
.daughter of Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer and 
Harriet Elizabeth Bayard, who were married 
in New York City, January 2, 1817. 

I. Stephen Van Rensselaer Thayer, son of 
Nathaniel Thayer and Cornelia Paterson Van 
Rensselaer, was born at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, August 2, 1847, 'i"d died at Boston, Oc- 
tober 10, 1871. He married, at Boston, No- 
vember 2, 1870, Alice Robeson, who was born 
at Newport, Rhode Island, September 23, 
1849. and was daughter of Andrew Robeson 
and Mary Arnold Allen, of Providence, Rhode 
Island. 

Andrew Robeson was born at New Bed- 
ford, Massachusetts, October 14, 181 1; mar- 
ried, at Providence, Rhode Island, March 2, 
1843 ; died at Tiverton, Rhode Island, July 

23, 1874, and was son of Andrew Robeson 
and Anna Rodman. Mary Arnold Allen was 
born at Providence, Rhode Island, September 

.9, 1819; died at Islcborough, Maine, July 25, 
1903, and was daughter of Zachariah Allen 
and Eliza Harriet Arnold. 

To Stephen Van Rensselaer Thayer and 
Alice Robeson was born, at Tiverton, Rhode 
Island, July 15, 1871, Stephen Van Rensselaer 
Thayer, Jr., who died at \'ichy, France, June 

24, 1907. He married, at Niagara Falls, New 
York, June 5, 1895, Julia Mathews Porter, 
who was born at Niagara Falls, March 6, 187 1 
and was daughter of Augustus Porter and 
Julia Granger Jeffries. Children: Alice, bom 



at Paris, France, June 11, 1896; Julia, born 
at Boston, Massachusetts, December i, 1899; 
Mary Allen, born at Boston, June 7, 1901. 

2. Cornelia \'an Rensselaer Thayer, daugh- 
ter of Nathaniel Thayer and Cornelia Pater- 
son \"an Rensselaer, was born in Boston, Alas- 
sachusetts, October 23, 1849, 3"d ^^^^^ ^t her 
home. No. 23 Park avenue, New York City, 
July 19, 1903. She was a woman of most 
estimable qualities. She married, at Boston, 
Massachusetts, November 24, 1868, Hon. 
James Hampden Robb. 

Mr. Robb was born in Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, October 27, 1846. His father was 
James Robb, born in Brownsville, Pennsyl- 
vania, April 2, 1814; died at Hampden place, 
near Cincinnati, Ohio, July 30, 1881, who 
married June 14, 1836. Louisa W'erninger, 
born at ]\Iorgantown, Mrginia, IMay 15, 1808, 
died at New Orleans, October 13, 1855. She 
was the daughter of Augustus Werninger (or 
Weningerode) and Charlotte Matilda Van 
Swearingen, the latter a direct descendant of 
Garritt Van Swearingen, the Dutch Represen- 
tative and Pieter Stuyvesant's lieutenant for 
the Dutch Colony on the Delaware river. 

Mr. Robb received his education at a school 
in Europe, and afterwards at Mr. Churchill's 
well-known military school at Sing Sing, New 
York ; later at Harvard University. After 
leaving Cambridge he was associated in busi- 
ness in New York City with his father and 
the late Edward King. He has always been 
a Democrat, and as such was elected a mem- 
ber of assembly in 1882 from his New York 
district. He also served as state senator in 
1884 and 1885. He was a delegate to the 
Democratic national convention held in St. 
Louis in 1888. He was appointed a park com- 
missioner for New York City, and was presi- 
dent of the Park Board, serving from 1887- 
1890. He was also a commissioner on the 
first State Board of Commissioners of the Ni- 
agara State Reservation, and its first secre- 
tary and treasurer. He had served in the Na- 
tional Guard of New York State, and was 
adjutant-general of the First Brigade. In 
1887 President Cleveland offered him the of- 
fice of assistant secretary of state ; but he was 
obliged to decline the appointment, owing to 
other engagements. His city residence was at 
No. 23 Park avenue, and his country home 
was located at Southampton, Long Island. He 
died in New York, N. Y., January 21, 191 1. 

Children: (a) Nathaniel Thayer Robb, 
born in New York, New York, July 5, 1870; 
married, New York, November 26, 1895, 
Frances Beatrix Henderson, born in New 
York City, October 18, 1875, daughter of 
Charles R. Henderson and Jennie North ; by 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



27 



whom, born in New York City : Janet Hen- 
derson, September 7, 1896; James Hampden, 
December 22, 1898 ; Cornelia Van Rensselaer, 
March 5, 1904. (b) Cornelia Van Rensselaer, 
born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, September 
II, 1874. (c) Louisa, born in New York 
City, January 5, 1877; married, New York 
City, April 8, 1896, Goodhue Livingston, 
architect, born in New York City, February 
23, 1867, son of Robert Livingston and Susan 
De Peyster ; by whom : Goodhue, Jr., born in 
New York City, March 30, 1897; Cornelia 
Thayer, born in New York City, November 
20, 1903. (d) Harriet Bayard, born in Lan- 
caster, Massachusetts, August 22, 1822, died 
in New York, N. Y., December 27, 1910. 

3. Nathaniel Thayer, Jr., son of Nathaniel 
Thayer and Cornelia Patterson Van Rensse- 
laer, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, June 
13, 1851. He was a banker of Boston, resid- 
ing in 1910 at Lancaster, Massachusetts, and 
with a summer home at Newport, Rhode 
Island. 

He married (first), at Baltimore, Maryland, 
February i, 1881, Cornelia Street Barroll, 
who died at Boston, February 18, 1885, 
daughter of Benjamin C. Barroll and Sarah 
Street. He married (second), at Boston, 
June II, 1887, Pauline Revere, who was born 
at Quincy, Massachusetts. February 19, 1862, 
and was daughter of Paul Joseph Revere and 
Lucretia W. Lunt. Children: (a) Cornelia 
Van Rensselaer (Thayer), born at Boston, 
December 6, 1881 ; married, Lancaster, Mas- 
sachusetts, July 29, 1907, Count Carl Moltke ; 
by whom : Carl Adam Nathaniel, born at Co- 
penhagen, Denmark, September 13. 1908. (b) 
Anna Morton (Thayer), born at Boston, ;\Iay 
29, 1883: married at Lancaster, Massachu- 
setts, June, 1904, William S. Patten, son of 
Joseph H. Patten and Elizabeth G. Boit ; by 
whom : Anna Tha,yer, born at Wellesley, 
March 29, 1905 ; Jane Hunnewell, born there. 
May 8, 1906; William S., Jr., born there, 
Nov. 29. 1909. (c) Sarah Barroll (Thayer), 
bom at Boston, February 18, 1885. 

4. Harriet Thayer, daughter of Nathaniel 
Thayer and Cornelia Paterson Van Rensse- 
laer, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, Feb- 
ruary 6. 1853, and died at Dublin, New 
Hampshire, September 16, 1891. 

She married, at Boston, October 11, 1883, 
John Forrester Andrew, born at Hingham, 
Massachusetts, November 26, 1850, died at 
Boston, May 30, 1895, son of John Albion 
Andrew and Eliza J. Hersey. Children: (a) 
Cornelia Thayer, born at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, November 19, 1884; married, at Bos- 
ton, April 5, 1904, John Dudley Clark ; by 
whom. John Dudley, born at Boston, Decem- 



ber 30, 1904; Forrester Andrew, born at Bos- 
ton. February 20, 1906; CorneHa Andrew, 
born at Sherborn, Alassachusetts, April 11, 
1907; George Oliver, born at Boston, March 
15, 1909; Nathaniel Thayer, born at Boston, 
December 8, 1910. (b) Elizabeth Thayer, 
born at Boston, Massachusetts, April 9, 1886; 
married, at Hingham, Massachusetts, July 15, 
1905. Charles Ellis Mason; by whom: Har- 
riet, born at Hingham, May 26, 1907 ; Charles 
Ellis, born at Boston. October 5. 1908. 

5. Eugene \'an Rensselaer Thayer, son of 
Nathaniel Thayer .and Cornelia Paterson \"an 
Rensselaer, was born at Boston, Alassachu- 
setts. December 27, 1855. and died at Boston, 
December 20, 1907. 

He married at Boston, December 21, 1880, 
Susan Spring, born at Lexington, Massachu- 
setts. August 29, 1854. daughter of Isaac 
Hastings Spring and Susan M. Phinney. 
Children: (a) Eugene Van Rensselaer 
(Thayer) Jr., born at Boston, Massachusetts, 
September 27, 1881 ; married, Newport. Rhode 
Island, September 3, 1903. Gladys Brooks, 
born at New York, New York, February i, 
1882, daughter of Mortimer Brooks and Jose- 
phine Higgins, of New York City, (b) Kath- 
arine Spring (Thayer), born at Boston, 
Mass., November 2, 1882: married, at Lancas- 
ter, Massachusetts, June i, 1904, Howland 
Russell, born at Milton, Massachusetts. Janu- 
ary 27, 1872, son of Henry Sturgis Russell 
and Mary Forbes ; by whom : Henry Sturgis 
Russell, born at Hyde Park, Massachusetts, 
February 24, 1905. (c) Susan (Thayer), born 
at Boston, Massachusetts, October i, 1885. 
(d) Rosamond (Thayer), born at Boston, 
Massachusetts, January 8, 1891 ; died Novem- 
ber 25, 1891. 

6. John Eliot Thayer, son of Nathanial 
Thayer and Cornelia Paterson Van Rensse- 
laer, was bom at Boston, Massachusetts, April 
3, 1862: ornithologist; residing in Lancaster, 
Massachusetts, in 1910. 

He married, at Clinton, Massachusetts, 
June 22, 1886, Evelyn Duncan Forbes, born 
at Clinton, Massachusetts. September 22, 1862, 
daughter of Franklin Forbes and Martha 
Anne Stearns Gushing. Children: (a) John 
Eliot Thayer, Jr., bom August 19, 1887; (b) 
Evelyn Thayer, born August i, 1888; (c) 
Nora Forbes Thayer, born September 6, 1889; 
(d) Natalie Thayer, born May 24, 1894; (e) 
Dimcan Forbes Thayer, born February 14, 
1900. The first three were born in Lancaster, 
Massachusetts ; the last in Boston, Massachu- 
setts. 

7. Bayard Thayer, son of Nathaniel Thayer 
and Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer, was 
born at Boston, Massachusetts, April 3, 1862 ; 



28 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



residing in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1910. 
He married, at Yarmouthport, Massachu- 
setts, September i, 1896, Ruth Simpkins, born 
at Brooklyn, New York, November 19, 1864, 
daughter of John Simpkins and Ruth Barker 
Sears. Children: (a) Ruth Thayer, born at 
Yarmouthport. Massachusetts, September 28, 
1897; (b) Nathaniel Thayer (2), born No- 
vember 14, 1898; (c) Constance Van Rens- 
selaer Thayer, born, December 20, 1900; (d) 
Mabel Bayard Thayer, born April 6, 1908. 
The three last named were born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. 

CUYLER REYNOLDS. 



The family name of Schuy- 
SCHUYLER ler was originally "van 
Schuyler,"' when coming to 
this country, and by it was meant one resid- 
ing in a place of shelter, from the Dutch 
"schuiler," a hider ; or "schuil," a shelter ; and 
possibly also from the German word "schu- 
ler," a scholar, the intention being to signify 
a family of education, or scholarly. The pro- 
genitor of the family in America commonly 
wrote his name "Philip Pieterse," excepting 
when he signed contracts, deeds, or other im- 
portant documents, when he added "Schuij- 
ler," which could also be expressed by writing 
it "Schuyler" by placing the two small marks 
over the letter "y." After the year 1667 he 
usually wrote his name in full ; but after 1672 
he had dropped the name "Pieterse," signify- 
ing that Peter was his father as one might 
now drop the "Junior" after the death of a 
father, and he signed his will "Philip Schuij- 
ler." In the early family records he wrote the 
names of seven of his children with the pre- 
fix "van." Thus one traces the transition, 
with its definite reasons, to the present form. 
The Schuyler Arms : Shield : Argent, a sin- 
ister cubit arm, vested azure, cuffed or, hold- 
ing on the hand a falcon proper, beaked and 
mcmbered of the third, hooded gules. Crest : 
A falcon as in shield. Motto: Semper fidelis. 
Two brothers of the name of Schuyler, 
David and Philip, were among the earliest 
settlers of I'everswyck who came to this coun- 
try from Holland, and it is from them all of 
the name in America have proceeded, which 
for the first century and a half after their 
arrival was distinctively an Albany name. Un- 
fortunately, by the year 1900 it became ex- 
tinct in that city but was still held in highest 
respect in memory. There were many of 
them who attained high distinction, especially 
in military valor, in governmental affairs, and 
as owners of very large estates. Five of the 
name were mayors in Albany, and hardly a 
more illustrious naine appears in American 



history than that of General Philip Schuyler, 
of the Revolution. 

(T) Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler was 
the son of Pieter Schuyler, of Amsterdam, 
Holland. He was the better known of the 
two brothers who settled in New Netherland,. 
and is recognized as the head of the family 
in America, or progenitor of the Schuyler 
family. 

He purchased the property four miles north 
of Albany, on the public highway to Saratoga,, 
which has been the home of the Schuyler fam- 
ily to this day. The original house on this- 
bouwerie was the residence of Arent Van Cur- 
ler, a cousin of the first Patroon, Kiliaen Van 
Rensselaer, who came with the colonists to 
Rensselaerswyck in 1630. He had married 
in 1643, and on his return from his- 
bridal journey to Holland settled on his farm,, 
known as The Flatts, even as at present it is 
styled. After him it was owned by Richard 
Van Rensselaer, a son of the Patroon, who 
relinquished it when he returned to live in 
Holland. The entry in the account-book of 
the \'an Rensselaer estate reads: "Debit: 
Philip Schuyler, for the Bouwery called de 
\'Iachte (The Flatts) and the Island, sold tO' 
him for 700 beavers and 1,600 florins Holland 
money, together 8,000 florins. Contra : Credit, 
a bill of Exchange drawn on Jan Baptist Van 
Rensselaer, calculated at 2,400 florins ; 650 
whole Beavers ; 5,200 do. ; 50 do. ; 400 do. ; 
total 8,000 florins." The county clerk's rec- 
ords show : "Jeremias Van Rensselaer in his 
life time That is to say on the two and twen- 
tieth day of June in the year of our Lord 
Christ one thousand six hundred seventy, and 
two for an in consideration of the sum of five 
thousand Holland guilders to him in hand paid 
did grant Bargain and sell unto the said Philip 
Schuyler his heirs and assigns for ever all 
that farm Tract and parcell of Land com- 
monly called The Flatts as also one Island 
over against said flatts commonly called the 
great Island of the flatts situate on the west 
side of Hudson river in the Colony of Rens- 
selaerswyck in the like manner as the said 
farm heretofore has been occupied and en- 
joyed by Mr. Richard van Rensselaer." 

Philip's son, Colonel Pieter Schuyler, in- 
herited The Flatts. and he lived there twelve 
years, when he leased it to his son Philip, 
who inherited it in turn; but, having no chil- 
dren, by his will, dated June 28, 1748, he gave 
the "Great Island" to his brother Jeremy, and 
to his brother Pieter he left The Flatts. In 
the latter's will, drawn April 27. 1771, he 
left it to his grandson, Stephen Schuyler, and 
in 19 10 it was occupied by the widow of Rich- 
ard Philip Schuyler (Susan Drake), because 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



29 



lie was ifhe son of Stephen R. Schuyler and 
Catherine Elizabeth Schuyler, who was the 
son of Peter S. Schuyler and Catherine 
Cuyler, who was in turn the son of 
Stephen Schuyler and Engeltie Van 
Vechten, whose parents were Pieter Schuyler, 
Jun., and Catherine Groesbeck, and his father 
was I\Iayor Pieter Schuyler. In 19 10, in the 
hallway of The Flatts, hangs the old oil por- 
■.trait of "Quidor," the Indian name for Pieter 
Schuyler, meaning the "Indians' Friend," and 
in the brick mansion standing on the brow of 
the hill, west of the Troy road, hangs the 
seven-foot oil portrait of Pieter Schuyler, first 
mayor of Albany, painted in England in 17 10, 
by order of Queen Anne, and now owned by 
the children of John Cuyler Schuyler, uncle 
of the late Richard P. Schuyler. 

It is interesting to learn a few facts about 
this old mansion, as described by Mrs. Grant 
more than a century ago in her famous "Me- 
moirs of an American Lady." wherein she 
■writes : 

"It was a large brick house of two, or rather 
three stories (for there were excellent attics), be- 
sides a sunk story, finished with exactest neatness. 
The lower floor had two spacious rooms, with large, 
light closets ; on the first there were three rooms, 
and in the upper one four. Through the middle of 
the house was a wide passage, with opposite front 
and back doors, which in summer admitted a stream 
■of air peculiarly grateful to the languid senses. It 
was furnished with chairs and pictures like a sum- 
mer parlor. Here the family usually sat in hot 
weather, when there were no ceremonious strangers. 
* * * One room, 1 should have said, in the great- 
er house only, was opened for the reception of com- 
pany; all the rest were bedchambers for their accom- 
modation, while the domestic friends of the family 
occupied neat little bedrooms in the attics or the 
winter-house. This house contained no drawing- 
room — that was an unheard-of luxury ; the winter 
rooms had carpets ; the lobby had oilcloth painted in 
lozenges, to imitate blue and white marble. The best 
bedroom was hung with family portraits, some of 
which were admirably executed ; and in the eating- 
room, which, by the by, was rarely used for that 
purpose, were some Scriptural paintings. * * * The 
house fronted the river, on the brink of which, un- 
der shades of elm and sycamore, ran the great road 
toward Saratoga. Stillwater, and the northern lakes ; 
a little simple avenue of morella cherry trees, en- 
closed with a white rail, led to the road and river, 
not three hundred yards distant." 

The place tuay be reached by taking a drive 
four miles to the north of Albany, or about 
■one mile beyond tbe Rural Cemetery, then 
turning abruptly to the east, crossing the 
canal by the "Schuyler's Bridge," and con- 
tinuing a fourth of a mile towards the Hud- 
son. The road passes between rows of elms 
evidently a century old, and the low, brick 
house stands to the right, facing the river, 
while across the road is the old family burial- 
•ground, coiitaming some sixty graves, whose 



rows of invariable brown sandstone, some tot- 
tering to the right or left, look weirdly like 
a decrepit army, for thus have they stood 
during two centuries, bearing testimony in 
verse to the exalted memory of many a soldier 
Schuyler. 

This head of the Schuyler line was a man 
much esteemed by his acquaintances and by 
representatives of the Dutch governiuent. He 
was the first man in the colony to receive 
the commission of captain. He died at The 
Flatts, May 9, 1683, and was buried in the 
old Dutch church which then stood at the 
intersection of Broadway and State street, 
Albany. 

Philip Pieterse Schuyler luarried, at Rens- 
selaerswyck, December 12, 1650, Margarita 
Van Slechtenhorst, in the presence of the of- 
ficers of Fort Orange, Antoni de Hooges, sec- 
retary of the colony, officiating. She was 
born at Nykerck, Holland, in 1628 ; died at 
Rensselaerswyck in 171 1, and was the 
daughter of Brant Arentse Van Slechtenhorst, 
who came to Rensselaerswyck in 1648, acting 
as an official for \'an Rensselaer. Children : 

I. Gysbert, born at Rensselaerswyck, July 
2, 1652 ; died young. 

(2) Geertruj, born at Rensselaerswyck, 
February 4, 1654; died about 17 19; married, 
Rensselaerswyck, September 10. 1671, Ste- 
phanus \'an Cortlandt, who was born May 7, 
1643, <^'i^d November 25, 1700, and was the 
son of Olof Stevense \'an Cortlandt and An- 
neke Loockermans. 

3. Alida. born at Rensselaerswyck, Febru- 
ary 28, 1656; married (first) Rensselaers- 
wyck, February 10, 1675, R^v. Nicholaas \^an 
Rensselaer, who was born in Amsterdam, Hol- 
land, in 1636, died November, 1678, and was 
the son of first Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensse- 
laer and Anna Van Wely ; married (second) 
July 9, 1679, Robert Livingston, (q. v.), sec- 
retary of Albany from 1675 to 1721, who 
was born abroad and was buried in the Dutch 
church at Albany, April 21, 1725. 

4. Pieter, born at Rensselaerswyck, Septem- 
ber 17, 1657; first mayor of Albany, officia- 
ting from date of the charter. July 22, 1686, 
to October 13, 1694 ; died at Rensselaerswyck, 
February 19, 1724; married (first) Rensse- 
laerswyck. in 1681, Engeltie (Angelica) \'an 
Schaick, who was born at Rensselaerswyck, in 
1659, died there, in 1689, daughter of Captain 
Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick and Annatje 
Lievens ; by whom : Margarita, born Novem- 
ber, 1682, married, .-Xugust 26, 1697. Robert 
Livingston, Jun.; Philip, baptized October, 
1684, died young: .Anna, baptized September 
12, 1686, died aged twelve years; Gertrude, 
baptized August 17, i68g, died young; he mar- 



30 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ried (second) Rensselaerswyck, September 14, 
1691, Maria \'an Rensselaer, born at Rens- 
selaerswyck, October 25. 1672, daughter of 
Colonel Jeremias \'an Rensselaer, the third 
Patroon, and Maria Van Cortlandt ; by whom : 
Maria, baptized May, 1692; Gertrude, baptized 
February 11, 1694, married, June 13, 1714, 
Johannes Lansing; Philip, baptized January 
15, 1696, died in 1758, without issue, mar- 
ried, December 29, 1720, Margarita Schuyler; 
Pieter, Jr., baptized January 12, 1698, mar- 
ried December 29, 1722, Catherine Groesbeck ; 
Jeremiah (twin), baptized January 12, 1698, 
buried at The Flatts, December 10, 1753, 

married Susanna . 

3. Brandt, born at Rensselaerswyck, De- 
cember 18, 1659 ; resided on Broad street, 
New York, in 1686; died August 15, 1752; 
married, July 12, 1682, Cornelia Van Cort- 
landt, baptized November 28, 1655, daughter 
of Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt and Anneke 
Loockermans, by whom : Philip, baptized No- 
vember 6, 1683, married August 28, 1713, 
Ann Elizabeth Staats, who was baptized De- 
cember 21, 1690; Olof, born December 12. 
1686, died without issue ; John, baptized Janu- 
ary 15, 1690, died without issue. 

6. Arent, born at Rensselaerswyck, June 25, 
1662, died at Belleville, New Jersey, Novem- 
ber 26. 1730, was a trader; created freeman 
of New York City in 1695 ; settled before 1725 
on the Passaic river, near Belleville, New Jer- 
sey ; married (first) November 26, 1684, Jen- 
neke Teller, who died in 1700, daughter of 
Willem Teller (who arrived in Fort Orange 
in 1639) and Margaret Donchesen ; by whom: 
Margareta, baptized Albany, September 27, 
1685, married (license) November 7, 1704, 
Charles Oliver ; Philip, baptized Albany, Sep- 
tember II, 1687, married Hester Kingsland ; 
Maria, baptized Albany, October 6, 1689, 
died young: Judik, baptized Albany, March 
II, 1692, died young: Casparus. baptized New 
York, May 5, 1695, died April 13, 1754, mar- 
ried Jane , (second) Mary ; 

William, baptized June 2, 1700, died young. 
Arent Schuyler married (second) January 2, 
1703, Swantje \'an Duyckhuysen ; by whom: 
John, married Anne \'an Rensselaer ; Pieter, 
married (first) Hester Walter, (second) 

Mary ; Adoniah, born 17 17, died 1763, 

married Gertrude Van Rensselaer ; Eve, mar- 
ried Peter Bayard ; Cornelia, married Pierre 
De Peyster. 

7. Sybilla, born at Rensselaerswyck, No- 
vember 12, 1664; died December, 1664. 

8. Philip, born at Rensselaerswyck, Febru- 
ary 8, 1666; died May 24, 1724; married 
(first) New York, New York, July 25, 1687, 
Elizabeth De Meyer, who died, and he mar- 



ried (second) Albany, Alay 19, 1719, (Mrs.) 
Catherine Schierph, widow of Ritsiert Brou- 
wer. By his first wife he had: Nicholas, born 
in New York, New York, .September 11, 1691, 
died July 3, 1748; married (first) December 
2, 1714, Elsie Wendell, who died April 8, 
1744; married (second) Mary Stephenson, 
who survived him. By his second wife Philip 
had no child. 

9. Johannes, born at Rensselaerswyck, April 
5, 1668 ; died February 27, 1747 ; married, 
in 1695, Elizabeth Staats, widow of Johannes 
Wendell, who died June 3, 1737, (see for- 
ward ) . 

10. Margaret, born at Rensselaerswyck, 
January 2, 1672; died May 15, 17 ;8: mar- 
ried (first) September 8, 1691, Jacobus Ver 
Planck, son of Isaac Ver Planck and Abigail 
Uytenbogart, who died in 1700; married (sec- 
ond) November 2, 1701, Lieut. John Collins, 
who died April 13, 1728, his wife surviving. 
By her first husband: Jannetje, baptized Al- 
bany, April 13, 1693, and Philip, baptized in 
New York, June 3, 1695. By her second hus- 
band: Edward, baptized July 30, 1704. mar- 
ried Margarita Bleecker, and was buried in 
the Dutch Church, March 29, 1753. 

(H) Johannes Schuyler, tenth mayor of 
Albany, son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and 
Margarita Van Slechtenhorst, was born at 
The Flatts, Rensselaerswyck, April 5. 1668, 
died July 25, 1747. and was buried in the 
Dutch Church at Albany. 

He was only five years old when his father 
died, and at an early age developed great in- 
terest in public affairs. In 1689. when twenty- 
one, he joined the convention which assumed 
the government of Albany and its dependen- 
cies in opposition to Leisler. The next year he 
was a volunteer in General Winthrop's army 
for the invasion of Canada. When the others 
of greater age and experience than he held 
back, he volunteered to lead a company into 
the enemy's country, and he was commissioned 
a captain in 1690. Twenty-nine whites and 
one hundred and twenty Indians volunteered 
to go under his lead. He left camp August 
13, 1690, going by way of Wood Creek, and 
two days later was within three miles of 
Crown Point. Marching across the country 
in the direction of La Praric, he made a num- 
ber of prisoners, and arrived back at Albany 
on August 30th. 

In the spring of 1691 he made another in- 
vasion into Canada, and in January, 1693, 
having been appointed lieutenant of cavalry, 
he drove the French from the Mohawk coun- 
try when on their raids. A gratuity was 
voted to him on the suggestion of Lord Hello- 
mont "in consideration of his extraordinary 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



31 



diligence and his wise observations while in 
Canada." Later he was made a colonel, and 
because of having greater influence with the 
Indians than any other man in the colony, he 
was invariably a delegate to conventions for 
consideration of treaties. 

He was appointed the tenth mayor of Al- 
bany by Colonial Governor Edward Hyde, 
serving from 1703 to 1706. He was Indian 
commissioner, 1705-1723; member of colonial 
assembly, September i, 1710 to March 3, 1713; 
alderman of First Ward, 1738 and 1739. He 
was a trader, dealing largely in beaver and 
other skins, and engaged extensively in river 
transportation by sloops. His land transac- 
tions were considerable. He bought 2.000 
acres on the south side of the Mohawk, east 
of Schenectady, named Rosendale ; was one 
of the company procuring a land patent in 
the Schoharie valley, named Huntersfield ; 
owned half of a tract of 2,000 acres on the 
east side of the Hudson, and in 1702 made 
his important purchase from .'\braham Wen- 
dell of a portion of the vast Saratoga patent. 
Fish creek, the outlet of Saratoga lake flow- 
ing eastward for twelve miles into the Hud- 
son river and forming the northern boundary 
of his tract, aiiforded fine waterpower for the 
mills which he erected in the vicinity of 
Schuylerville, while on the southern bank, 
close to the falls and not much more than a 
quarter mile from the river, he built his resi- 
dence, which was to be transmitted from 
father to son, until possessed by his grandson, 
General Philip Schuyler, who turned it over 
to his son. His house in Albany, in 1712, 
was at (the southeast corner of State and 
Pearl streets, with grounds running back to 
the Rutten kill. 

Captain Johannes Schuyler, the tenth 
mayor, married at Albany, April 25, 1694, 
Elizabeth .Staats, widow of Captain Johannes 
Wendell. Elizabeth Staats was the daughter 
of Dr. Abraham Staats, who came to Bevers- 
wyck in 1642 with Dominie Megapolensis, and 
she died June 3, and was buried in the Dutch 
Church, June 5, 1737. Her mother was Ca- 
trina Jochemse Wesselse. Children : 

1. Philip, baptized at Albany, December 25, 
1695 : shot by the French marauders while in 
his house at Schuylerville, and died November 

17. 1745- 

2. Johannes, baptized at Albany, October 
31, 1697: buried at The Flatts, November 6, 
1741 ; married in New York City, October 18, 
1723, Cornelia Van Cortlandt, daughter of 
Stephanus van Cortlandt and Gertrude 
Schuyler, (see forward). 

3. Margarita, (known as "The American 
Lady," see Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs,") bap- 



tized at Albany, January 12, 1701 : died at 
The Flatts, August 28, 1782; married, .Albany, 
December 29, 1720, Philip Schuyler, who was 
baptized at .Albany, January 15, 1696, died in 
1758, and was the son of Maj'or Pieter Schuy- 
ler and Maria Van Rensselaer ; no issue. 

4. Catalyntje (Catherine), baptized at .Al- 
bany, March 5, 1704: hiarried at Albany. De- 
cember 9, 1726, the twentieth ma\-or of Al- 
bany, Cornells Cuyler, who was baptized in 
New York, New York, February 14, 
1697; died at Albany, March 14, 1765; 
officiating as mayor from October 14, 1742, 
to September 28, 1746, and was the son of 
the fourteenth mayor of Albany, Johannes 
Cuyler and Elsie Ten Broeck ; by whom : Jo- 
hannes, baptized January 29, 1729; Elizabeth, 
baptized August 8, 1731 ; Philip, ijaptized Au- 
gust 29, 1733 ; Hendrick, baptized August 22, 
1735 ; Elsie, baptized April 10, 1737, buried 
in Dutch Church, July 2, 1752 ; Margarita, 
baptized December 10, 1738 ; Cornelis, born 
October 31, 1740: Colonel Abraham Cornelis, 
twenty-si.xth mayor of Albany, born .April 11, 
1742, died at Yorkfield, Canada, February 
5, 1810; Dirck, baptized May 12, 1745. 

(Ill) Johannes Schuyler, Jun., nineteenth 
mayor of .Albany, son of Johannes Schuyler 
and Elizabeth Staats, was born at The Flatts, 
in Watervliet, Albany county ; was baptized 
at Albany. October 31, 1697, and was interred 
in the family burial-ground at The Flatts, No- 
vember 6, 1 74 1. 

He died in the prime of life, when his ac- 
complishments indicated that he was abun- 
dantly able to continue a career of great pub- 
lic usefulness. He succeeded his father in the 
mercantile business about 1733, and that year 
was appointed, with Johannes De Peyster, a 
commissioner to furnish supplies to the forts 
at Oswego. He was elected alderman of the 
First Ward in 1738 and again in 1739. In 
December of the latter year he took a seat in 
the Board for Indian AiTairs. He was ap- 
pointed nineteenth mayor of Albany by Lieu- 
tenant-Governor George Clarke, and took the 
oath October 31, 1740, serving until Novem- 
ber 22, 1 74 1. He began to invest in land so 
soon as he had acquired surjjlus capital. In 
December, 1722, he bought of Philip Living- 
ston, trustee, a portion of the Saratoga Patent, 
lying on the east side of the Hudson river 
and bounded on the north by the Batten kill. 
On August 10. 1738. the land commissioners 
issued to him, Jacob Glen and Arent Bradt, a 
certificate of survey for a tract which they 
had purchased by license of the Indians, sit- 
uated on the north side of the Mohawk river, 
beginning below Little Falls, extending west 
to Canada creek, thence northerly along that 



32 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



creek for thirty miles, thence easterly twelve 
miles, and to the place of beginning. In 1740 
he and five others procured a title from the 
Province for 12.000 acres lying on the east 
side of the Hudson river above the Saratoga 
Patent, of which he had an equal share. 

Mavor Johannes Schuyler, Jun., married, in 
New York City, October 18, 1723, Cornelia 
Van Cortlandt. She was born at Van Cort- 
landt Manor. February 30, 1698; her will 
proved November 24, 1762; she was the 
youngest daughter of Stephanus Van Cort- 
landt and Gertrude Schuyler. Children: 

1. Gertrude, born at Albany, August 18, 
1724: married (first) Pieter Schuyler (bap- 
tized February 20, 1723 ; buried at The Flatts, 
September 2, 1753), son of Pieter Schuyler 
and Catherine Groesbeck ; by whom: Pieter, 
who married Gertrude Lansing. January 17, 
1767, died January 4, 1792, and Cornelia, bap- 
tized July "26, 1746, married Walter Living- 
ston. Gertrude Schuyler married (second) 
December 4. 1760, Dr. John Cochran, who 
died April. 1807. 

2. Johannes, bom at Albany, December 30, 
1725 : died without issue, and was buried in 
the Dutch Church, November 7, 1746. 

3. Stephanus, born at Albany, September 
30, 1727 ; died young. 

4. Catherine, baptized at Albany, July 14, 
1728; died young. 

5. Stephanus, born at Albany. December 20, 
1729 ; died young. 

6. Philip, baptized at Albany, October 17, 
1731 ; died young. 

7. General Philip, born at Albany, Novem- 
ber 22, 1733; died in the Schuyler Mansion, 
Albany, November 18, 1804; married, at Cla- 
verack, Columbia county, New York. Septem- 
ber 17, 1755. Catherine Van Rensselaer, (see 
forward). 

8. Cortlandt, baptized at Albany, July 9, 

1735; married Barbara ■ , and had John 

Cortlandt, who married Angelica \'an Rens- 
selaer, and died without issue, December, 
1793. 

9. Stephanus, baptized at Albany, August 
14. 1737; died young. 

10. Elizabeth, baptized at Albany, October 
8, 1738; died young. 

11. Oliver, baptized at .Mbany, February 22, 
1741 : died young. 

(I\') General Philip Schuyler, son of 
IVIayor Johannes Schuyler, Jun., and Cornelia 
Van Cortlandt, was born in his father's house 
on the southeast corner of State and Pearl 
streets, Albany. New York. November 22, 
1733, and died in the Schuyler Mansion, Al- 
bany, November 18, 1804. 

Philip Schuyler had only Dutch blood in 



his veins. There was absolutely no line of de- 
scent in America at that time of which any- 
one could be more justly proud. Both his 
father and grandfather had been mayors of 
Albany. His grandfather's brother, Pieter 
Schuyler, had been appointed the first mayor 
of the city, and two of that dignitary's cous- 
ins. David Davidse Schuyler and Myndert 
Schuyler ; had served respectively as the elev- 
enth and thirteenth mayors. Probably no 
other family in America has experienced such 
a record in civic administration, and appoint- 
ments in those days were because of promi- 
nence or proficiency. In regard to military 
valor, the major portion of all the males in 
his family had acquired some sort of title or 
had participated in one or more of the almost 
constant colonial conflicts or struggle for su- 
premacy against the savage. 

His was a life filled with eminent services 
to his country, and his fame will ever remain 
so well established that no eulogistic phrase 
in this biography can better its brilliancy. 
There are other volumes devoted exclusively 
to his life; but for the benefit of the person 
who seeks it here, a resume is presented, 
which is purposely of a local nature because 
this life sketch is pertinent to Albany, and for 
that reason it may seem that space devoted to 
family matters outweighs what might have 
been employed in recounting deeds of national 
importance. 

He was fourth in descent from Philip Pie- 
terse Schuyler, progenitor of the family, and 
was eight years old when his honored father 
died. However, he was brought up by his 
cultured mother with unusual diligence to 
train him to be a youth who should make his 
mark as those before him had done. Living 
sometimes at her "house in Albany and at 
other seasons at The Flatts. a model and moral 
household, where "Aunt Schuyler" was wont 
to entertain the most prominent visitors com- 
ing into the colony, he received a certain pol- 
ish which proved useful to him, and all those 
things moulded his character. 

A Huguenot tutor instructed him until he 
was fifteen years of age. and then he was sent 
to New Rochelle, a locality of many Huguenot 
refugees, and placed in charge of the Rev. 
Mr. Stouppe, pastor of the French Protes- 
tant church. He remained there three years, 
learned to speak the language fluently, and 
became especially proficient in mathematics, 
thus inculcating system, orderly habits and ac- 
curate thinking, essential habits for a credi- 
table military career. It is curious to look 
upon tiie mathematical drawings and calcula- 
tions made then, of canal locks, and figures 
having to do with the public debt. The place, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



33 



however, had its serious disadvantages, for 
with the snow forcing its way through the 
chinks of his bedroom walls, he contracted a 
form of rheumatic gout which confined him 
to the house for a year, and at important 
stages of his after life it bore its more serious 
aspects, by affecting him when in the northern 
military camps. In his youth he paid many 
visits to New York, mingling with society 
which brought about many intimacies that 
were to be of importance later on, when he 
was one of those engaged in shaping the des- 
tiny of the new nation. 

One of his first experiences in active battle 
conflict was during the celebrated engagement 
with the French in the late summer of 1755, 
when he was only twenty-two years of age 
and a captain by commission. The French 
Baron, Ludwig August Dieskau, was proceed- 
ing southward by the route of Lakes Cham- 
plain and George. Colonel William Johnson 
and Colonel Ephraim Williams, both men 
famed in American history, took regiments to 
the head of Lake George in order to thwart 
the attempt to turn the province over to the 
French, which was to be accomplished first by 
an attack made on Albany. Young Schuyler 
was in the party as a participant, and when 
General Dieskau was wounded in the encoun- 
ter of September 8, held prisoner in Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson's tent, an angry horde of savage 
allies pressed about the spot where he lay 
and demanded that he be given over as a vic- 
tim for their right to torture ; but Colonel 
Johnson ordered Schuyler to convey him safe- 
ly to Albany. This he did, and he showed 
him all the courtesy due to an honored guest, 
and so appreciated was this act that the for- 
eign general never failed thereafter to speak 
of the nobility of Americans. 

Philip Schuyler was one of the officers who 
went north- with General .^bercrombie, leaving 
Albany in the latter part of June. 1758, to 
block the French attack at Fort Tifonderoga. 
On the morning of July 6th, soon after making 
the landing of the army at the northern end 
of Lake George, and while walking ahead of 
his men near Trout Brook, about a mile south 
of the present village of Ticonderoga, Lord 
Howe was mortally wounded. It was but a 
week before that he had drilled his men in 
the "pasture" at Albany, and had ridden on 
horseback early nearly every morning to 
breakfast at the Schuyler Flatts, where he had 
become as one of the family and was dearly 
loved by all. Schuyler brought the body of 
his friend to Albany, as is verified by contem- 
poraneous publication of despatches in the 
newspapers, although this incident has been a 
matter of dispute between inliabitants of Ti- 



conderoga and Albany. It is said that the 
body was placed first in the Schuyler family 
vault, until the interment took place in old 
St. Peter's Episcopal church, on September 5, 
1758, and is authentically established by the 
entry in the "Church Book," there preserved 
with care to this day, and examined by the 
writer of this sketch, for tliis very reason. 

General Schuyler was a member of the Pro- 
vincial Assembly, 1768-1774; delegate to the 
Continental Congress, taking his seat May 15, 
1775; member of the New York State Sen- 
ate, 1780-1790; Commissioner of Indian Af- 
fairs, 1775-1797; surveyor-general, 1782-1788; 
president of the Northern Inland Lock Navi- 
gation Company, and of the \\'estern Inland 
Lock Navigation Company, in 1792, projects 
enlisting his closest interest; the first United 
States senator from New York, 1790-1792; 
re-elected, 1792- 1797. 

He was appointed major-general, command- 
ing the Army of the Northern Department, 
in 1775, a most important position in the Rev- 
olution, as one of the gravest dangers of the 
entire conflict was the advance of the British 
forces under General Burgo}'ne coming from 
Canada by way of the Adirondack lakes and 
the valley of the Hudson. With the greatest 
skill and consummate system he both planned 
and developed all the necessary preparations 
to meet the powerful foe — in fact, with such 
ability that defeat of the enemy was finally 
brought about in October, 1777. He had 
found an insurmountable difficulty in acquir- 
ing men to form an army of sufficient num- 
bers and adequately equipped as would guar- 
antee victory. The writer of this sketch has 
time and again come across manuscript let- 
ters of General Schuyler in which he made 
most urgent appeals to General Washington 
to grant him more men, and even the windows 
in the houses of friends in Albany were 
stripped of the metal in order to furnish ma- 
terial for bullets. His army, in August of 
that fateful year, numbered not more than 
two thousand men, and it was known that 
Burgoyne was marching southward with eight 
thousand, and camp luggage which even in- 
cluded numerous cases of champagne. Sol- 
diers from adjacent states were loth to come 
into another and fight under its generals for 
credit which would not redound to the state 
whence they came. A sad and serious spirit 
of jealousy was plainly manifest : but by the 
appointment of Horatio Gates of Massachu- 
setts to the command, brought about by con- 
nivance, this impediment was overcome, so 
that an army of proportions was the result. It 
required several severe conflicts to overthrow 
Burgoyne, the principal onslaughts being the 



34 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



fighting at Beiiiis Heights on September 19th, 
and at "Old Saratoga" (Schuylerville), on 
October 7th. General Schuyler's country res- 
idence, the ancient homestead on the southern 
bank of Fish creek and east of the highway 
from Albany to Canada, was occupied by Bur- 
goyne on the night of October 9th, when he 
gave a banquet to his officers, drinking to 
the health of the women of his entourage, and 
promising to feast in Albany presently, and he 
burned it the next morning on departing. The 
surrender took place on October 17th, and im- 
mediately afterward the prisoners marched 
southward. It was then that General Schuy- 
ler took General Burgoyne and his brother 
officers to his home in Albany, where they be- 
came his guests October 18, 1777. It was 
another act of gentlemanly courtesy that won 
a credit for the chivalry of Americans. 

Washington had always thought of Schuy- 
ler in the highest esteem, and never failed to 
maintain confidence in and speak of his abil- 
ity and courage. He had had an abundant 
opportunity throughout the war to form an 
accurate estimate, and as the commander-in- 
chief was noted for his judgment of charac- 
ter of his officers, it is certain that his opin- 
ion is more just than that of any captious 
critic or antagonistic historian who writes of 
men he has never known and about incidents 
of which he was not a witness. General 
Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to 
General Schuyler, on January 21, 1784, as fol- 
lows : 

"Your favor of the 20th of Dec. found me, as you 
conjectured, by that fireside from which I have been 
too long absent for my own convenience ; to which 
I return with the greatest avidity, the moment my 
pubHc avocations would permit ; and from which I 
hope never again to be withdrawn. While I am 
here solacing myself in my retreat from the busy 
scenes of life, I am not only made extremely happy 
by the gratitude of my countrymen in general ; but 
particularly so by the repeated proofs of the kind- 
ness of those who have been intimately conversant 
with my public transactions, and I need scarcely add 
that the favorable opinion of no one is more ac- 
ceptable than that of yourself. In recollecting the 
vicissitudes of fortune we have experienced, and the 
difficulties we have surmounted, I shall always call 
to mind the great assistance I have frequently re- 
ceived from you. both in your public and private 
character. May the blessings of peace amply reward 
your exertions; may you and your family (to whom 
the compliments of Mrs. Washington and myself 
are affectionately presented) long continue to enjoy 
every spccief pf happiness the world can aflFord. 
With sentiments of sincere esteem, attachment and 
affection, I am. Dear Sir, your most obedient, very 
humble servant, G. W.vshi.ngton." 

Before passing to the consideration of the 
kith and kin of General Schuyler, it is advis- 
able to show with no uninistakable clearness 
why they and the great men of the country 



have revered his memory. .A few excerpts 
from the writings of well-known characters 
will serve to illustrate. In Washington Irv- 
ing's "Life of Washington" appears the fol- 
lowing: "When the tidings reached General 
Washington of the action of the Congress in 
superseding Schuyler (by Gates), he wrote 
him immediately 'that he looked upon the 
whole scheme as diabolical,' that he regarded 
it 'with sentiments of abhorrence, having the 
utmost confidence in your integrity and the 
most incontestible proofs of your attachment 
to your country.' Schuyler asked for a court- 
martial to sit on the case and was fully ac- 
quitted, the information being forwarded to 
General Washington by the court with an ex- 
pression of hope that 'Schuyler's name might 
be handed down to posterity as one of the pil- 
lars of the American cause.' " On finishing 
his book, Irving regretted that he was "toO' 
old" to undertake that of Schuyler. 

Daniel Webster also expressed a desjre tO' 
add at least "a chapter on General Schuyler 
to the History of the Revolution," writing as- 
follows: "I was brought up with the New 
England prejudices against him; but I con- 
sider him as second only to Washington in 
the services he rendered to the country in the 
War of the Revolution. His zeal and devo- 
tion to the cause under difficulties that would 
have paralyzed most men, and his fortitude 
and courage when assailed by malicious at- 
tacks, having impressed me with a strong de- 
sire to express publicly my sense of his great 
qualities." 

Gov. Horatio Seymour, in his address de- 
livered on the occasion of the centennial cele- 
bration of Burgoyne's surrender, held at 
Schuylerville, in 1877, o" the very spot where 
.Schuyler's house and property had been de- 
stroyed by the British, gave testimony again 
to General Schuyler's patriotism and unsel- 
fishness, — "as the one figure which rises above 
all others; upon whose conduct and bearing 
w-e love to dwell. There was one who won a 
triumph there which never grows dim, one 
who gave an example of patience and patrio- 
tism unsurpassed on the pages of history, one 
who did not, under cutting wrongs and cruel 
suspicions, wear an air of martyrdom ; but 
with cheerful alacrity served where he should 
have commanded." 

Mrs. Lamb, in her "History of New York," 
writes: "In this connection, the figure of 
Philip Schuyler rises grandly above all others, 
— lie uttered no comjjlaint at seeing his laurels 
won by another ! He even congratulated 
Gates, who had displayed no professional skill 
whatever." 

It will not do to omit mention of the his- 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK VALLEYS 



35 



toric Schuyler Mansion at Albany, the scene 
of so much social life that was of importance 
in the period just described and an edifice 
which to this day has attracted every foreign 
visitor to the Capital City. 

After his earlier campaigns, Philip Schuy- 
ler settled down at The Flatts with his bride, 
intending to busy himself with private affairs. 
He was, however, soon called away from the 
anticipated quiet life to engage again in pub- 
lic matters. Colonel John Bradstreet had an- 
other campaign on hand in 1760, this time 
against the Indian allies of the French in the 
west. The colonel's health was poor, and he 
had accounts with the government covering 
several years which required close attention. 
Thinking to manage his point successfully, he 
wrote to Philip Schuyler : "Your zeal, punc- 
tuality and strict honesty in his Majesty's ser- 
vice, under my direction, for several years 
past, are sufficient proofs that I can't leave 
my public accounts and papers in a more faith- 
ful hand than yours to be settled, should any 
accident happen to me this campaign ; where- 
fore that I may provide against it and that 
a faithful account may be rendered to the pub- 
lic of all the public money that I have re- 
ceived since the war, I now deliver to you 
all my public accounts and vouchers and do 
hereby empower you to settle them with 
whomsoever may be appointed for that pur- 
pose, either in America or England.'' 

It proved to be difficult to conduct the busi- 
ness properly without visiting London, so 
Schuyler determined to go abroad. He sailed 
in February, 1761, aboard a packet named 
"General Wall," and he interested himself in 
the study of navigation, which, because of 
his previous taste for mathematics, and the 
slowness of the voyage, allowed him to make 
peculiarly rapid progress. It happened that 
the captain of the vessel died on the journey 
over, and both passengers and crew requested 
him to assume command. He was then but 
twenty-eight years old, but he possessed much 
self-reliance, and he navigated the vessel with 
full success until nearing the coast of Eng- 
land. At this time there was a war in prog- 
ress between England and France in Europe, 
although peace had come between them in the 
colonies, and the "General Wall" was taken 
by a French privateer, with the result that 
a French lieutenant and a prize crew were 
placed aboard. It was then that his knowl- 
edge of French proved very beneficial, and he 
found himself presently on good terms with 
his foreign captor. As both privateer and 
prize, the "General Wall," were nearing 
France, they were both captured by an Eng- 
lish frigate, and it happened thus that young 



Schuyler was able to reach London in safety 
with his valuable papers. After attending to 
these affairs he devoted some time to the study 
of the products which he hof>ed to see pro- 
duced at home instead of the colonies contin- 
uing to import them. He also made a study 
of canal systems, with the expectation that 
some day he might introduce such methods 
into his province. 

On his arrival home, as the little sloop 
neared the city of Albany, his eyes rested 
on an unfamiliar sight. He knew that when 
he had departed a new house for his family 
was in contemplation ; but here it was a real- 
ity on the spot he had selected. Its construc- 
tion had been brought about by the fact that, 
after the war ended. Colonel P.radstreet rec- 
ommended the number of newly idle men, car- 
penters and the like, as an inducement to be 
reckoned with in constructing it advantage- 
ously, and Mrs. Schuyler coincided with these 
views. It was a large, double house, in the 
English colonial style, built facing the Hud- 
son, and about a mile from it, with pleasing 
outlook because of its elevation which sloped 
gradually to the river shore, affording the 
family extensive terraces and gardens. It was 
of brick, with spacious rooms within and por- 
ticos on front and sides, the whole painted 
cream and white in later years. So well was 
the work accomplished that although erected 
in 1761, it has stood in about the same condi- 
tion to this day, and the only striking change 
has been in the encroachments made by the 
city growing about it on all sides, until the 
estate was limited to an acre or two. 

The principal guest chamber was on the 
second floor on the left hand side, and there 
slept Lafayette, the Duke de Lauzun, and, 
after his surrender. General Burgoyne, with 
several of his leading officers. After the Rev- 
olution also came there the Marquis de Chas- 
tellux, \'icomte de Noailles and Comte de 
Damas. Washington also was his guest, and 
was godfather of one of his children, the in- 
fant, Catherine Schuyler. Her elder sister 
Margaret married Alexander Hamilton in one 
of the rooms, December 14, 1780. She like- 
wise figured in the attack made on the Schuy- 
ler Alansion by Indians on the evening of Au- 
gust 7, 1781, when a band of Tories planned 
to carry General Schuyler off' to Canada. He 
was seated in his front hall, with doors open 
on account of the extreme heat, when he 
was apprised of the fact that some one wished 
to see him at the rear gate. Doors and win- 
dows were immediately barred, having reason 
to fear trouble, and, because of the suspicious 
character, the family proceeded to rush up- 
stairs. Discovering that the infant Catherine 



36 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



was sleeping- on the main floor, Mrs. Schuyler 
ran back to save her ; but the General inter- 
cepted, and the child's sister Margaret, who 
later married Patroon Stephen \'an Rensse- 
laer, rescued the babe, and while mounting- 
the stairs barely escaped the flying tomahawk, 
which lodged in the balustrade. By a subter- 
fuge of the General, calling to imaginary 
armed men to hasten, the band of marauders 
was scared away. 

General Philip Schuyler married, at Clav- 
erack, Columbia county, New York, Septem- 
ber 17, 1755, Catherine Van Rensselaer. She 
was born at Claverack, New York, November 
4, 1734: died in the Schuyler Mansion, Al- 
bany, March 7, 1803, daughter of Johannes 
\'an Rensselaer, of Claverack (born Jan, 11, 
1708) who married (Jan. 3, 1734) Engeltje 
(Angelica) Livingston, who was baptized 
July 17, 1698. Children of General Philip 
Schuvler and Catherine Van Rensselaer : 

1. Engeltje (or Angelica), baptized at Al- 
bany. February 22, 1756: married John Bar- 
ker Church. 

2. Elizabeth, born at Albany, August 9, 
1757: died at Washington, D. C November 
7, 1854: married, in the Schuyler Mansion 
at Albany, December 14, 1780, Alexander 
Hamilton, first Secretary of the U. S. Treas- 
ury under appointment by President Washing- 
ton. He was born on the island of Nevis, in 
the West Indies, January 11, 1757, and was 
mortally wounded in a duel fought with Aaron 
Burr, at Weehawken, New Jersey, on the 
morning of July 11, 1804, dying at his home, 
"The Grange," in New York City, July 12th. 
His father was a proprietor planter in the 
West Indies, named James Hamilton, the son 
of Alexander Hamilton, of Grange, Scotland. 
He and his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, are bur- 
ied in the graveyard of Trinity Church in 
New York City, 'to the south of the edifice 
She lived to be ninety-seven years old, and 
when she died her husband's last letter to her 
was found in a receptacle worn attached to 
her neck. They had the following issue: (a) 
Philip, born January 22, 1782, killed in a 
duel at Weehawken, New Jersey, November 
24, 1801. (b) Angelica, born September 25, 
1784, died February 6, 1857. (c) Alexander, 
born May 16, 1786, died August 2, 1875. (d) 
James Alexander, born April 14, 1788, died at 
Irvington, New York, September 24, 1878; 
married, Brooklyn, October 17, 1810, Mary 
Morris (b.Dec. 25, 1790; d.May 24, 1869). 
(e) John Church, born August 22, 1792; died 
Long Branch, New Jersey, July 25, 1882. (f) 
William Steven, born August 4, 1795, died at 
Sacramento, California, August 7, 1850. (g) 
Eliza, born November 26, 1799. (h) Philip, 



born June i. 1802, died at Poughkeepsie, New 
York, July 9, 1884 ; married Rebecca McLane, 
and had Allan McLane Hamilton, born Brook- 
lyn, October 6, 1848. 

3. Margarita, born at Albany, September 
19, 1758, baptized September 24, died at Al- 
bany, March 14, 1801 : married at Schuyler- 
ville, New York, June 6, 1783, General Ste- 
phen Van Rensselaer, who was born in New 
York City, November i, 1764; died in the 
Van Rensselaer Manor House at Albany, Jan- 
uary 26, 1839, and was the son of 7th Pat- 
roon, Stephen Van Rensselaer, who married 
(New York, Jan. 23, 1764) Catherine Living- 
ston, daughter of Philip Livingston, the 
Signer of the Declaration ; by whom : Cather- 
ine Schuyler (Van Rensselaer), born in July, 
and baptized August 9, 1784, died at Albany, 
April 26, 1797; Stephen (\^an Rensselaer), 
born at Albany, June 6, 1786, died in 1787; 
General Stephen (\^an Rensselaer), born at 
Albany, March 29, 1789, tlie 8th Patroon, died 
in the Manor House at Albany, May 25, 1868, 
married. New York City, January 2. 1817, 
Harriet Elizabeth Bayard. 

4. Cornelia, born at Albany; baptized there, 
August I, 1761 : died young. 

5. John Bradstreet, born at Albany ; bap- 
tized October 8, 1763 ; died young. 

6. John Bradstreet, born in the Schuyler 
mansion, Albany; baptized there, July 23, 
1765 ; died at Schuylerville, New York, Au- 
gust 19. 1795 : married, Albany, September 18, 
1787, Elizabeth \'an Rensselaer, who was 
born in the Manor House at Albany, August 
15, 1768, died at Albany, March 27, 1841, 
daughter of 7th Patroon, Stephen \^an Rens- 
selaer and Catherine Livingston : to whom : 
Philip, Iwrn in Albany, October 26, 1788, died 
at Pelham, New York, February 12, 1865, 
was member of assembly and United States 
consul to Liverpool, England, married. New 
York City, September 12, 181 1, Grace Flunter, 
daughter of Robert Hunter, of Edinburgh, 
Scotland, and sister of Hon. John Hunter, of 
Hunter's Island, in Long Island -Sound. John 
Bradstreet Schuyler's other child was Stephen 
Van Rensselaer, born at Albany, Mav 4, 1790; 
died when three weeks old. \\nien a widow, 
Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (Schuyler") married, 
Albany. November 17, 1800, John Bleecker. 

7. Philip Jereiniah, born January 20, 1768; 
died in New York City, February 21, 1835; 
married. May 31, 1788, Sarah Rutsen (who 
died October 24. 1805) ; by whom five chil- 
dren; married (second), January 21, 1807, 
Mary Anna Sawyer, of Newburyport, Massa- 
chusetts (b. September 2, 1786, d. March 25, 
1852), by whom six children. Issue: (a) Phil- 
ip, born April 5, 1789, died May 22, 1822, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



37 



married Rosanna Livingston, (b) John Rut- 
sen, died June 22, 1813. (c) Catherine, died 
November 20, 1829: married, January 27, 
1816, Chief Justice Samuel Jones (b. March 
26, 1770. d. August, 1853). (d) Robert, born 
September, 1798: died, 1855. (e) Stephen 
Van Rensselaer, born April, 1801 ; married, 
December 11, 1831, Catherine Morris, and he 
died in 1859. (f) William, born December 6, 
1807; died when twenty-two years old, un- 
married, (g) Sybill, born May 16, 1809; died 
January 26, 1813. (h) George Lee, born June 
9, 181 1 ; died July 31, 1890; married (first), 
February 18, 1835, Eliza Hamilton (b. Oct. 8, 
1811; d. Dec. 20, 1863), granddaughter of 
Alexander Hamilton; married (second), April 
15, 1869, Mary Morris Hamilton, born Janu- 
ary I, 1818: died May 11, 1877. 

8. Rensselaer, born at Albany. January 29, 
1773; died December 16, 1847: married Eliza 
Ten Broeck (b. Aug. 25, 1772; d. Apr. 10, 
1848), daughter of Gen. Abraham Ten ijroeck 
and Elizabeth Van Rensselaer; no issue. 

9. Cornelia, born at Albany, December 22, 
1776; died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 
5, 1808; married Washington Morton. 

10. Cortlandt, born at Albany, May 15, 
1778 ; died young. 

11. Catherine Van Rensselaer, born at Al- 
bany, February 20, 1781 ; died at Oswego, 
New York, August 26, 1857: married (first), 
Samuel Malcolm, son of General Malcolm of 
the Revolution; married (second). Major 
James Cochran, son of Surgeon-General John 
Cochran. 

(Arent Schuyler's Line). 

This is the line of descent of Arent Schuy- 
ler, son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, the pro- 
genitor of the family in America. 

(H) Arent Schuyler, son of Philip Pie- 
terse Schuyler and Margarita Van Slechten- 
horst. was born at Rensselaerswyck (Albany, 
N. Y.), June 25, 1662, and died November 
26, 1730. The codicil of his will was dated 
October 30, 1730. 

In July, 1684, being shortly after attaining 
his majority, and having fitted himself for 
the life of a merchant or trader, also possess- 
ing a sufficient sum of money to embark, he 
began preparations for marriage and house- 
keeping by buying a house on Pearl Street, 
"where the eagle hangs out," from his mother, 
paying her two hundred beavers in two instal- 
ments. Instead of door-plate, in order to 
represent his name by its significance, he hung 
outside a live eagle in a cage. 

He selected for his wife, Jenneke Teller, 
the daughter of William Teller, who had come 
to Fort Orange in 1639, and Margaret Don- 
chesen, and he married her in Rensselaers- 



wyck, November 26, 1684, two years before 
the city received its charter as Albany. A 
few months after their marriage they ap- 
peared before a notary to make a joint will. 
It was filed in Albany, and written in Dutch, 
read in part as follows: "The worthy Mr. 
Arent Schuyler and Jenneke Teller, lawfully 
wedded husband and wife, living here in Al- 
bany, both sound in body and mind, able to 
walk and stand, memory and speech unim- 
paired, who together having met and moved 
by their mutual affection and love, and to- 
gether having meditated on the certainty of 
death, and the uncertainty of the hour of it, 
have directed, without being persuaded or in- 
fluenced by anybody, to have their last will 
and testament drawn up. They first and above 
all commend their souls to God Almighty, and 
their bodies to a Christian burial." 

His wife died in the year 1700, and he mar- 
ried, at Albany, January 2, 1703. Swantje Van 
Duyckhuysen. It is recorded in one family 
narrative (Taylor's Annals), that he married 
a third wife. l\Iaria Walter, in 1724, who was 
living in Belleville, New Jersey, in 1734. 

Arent Schuyler continued to attend to his 
thriving business for the first five years of 
his married life, and then was called more 
and more into public service. He served on 
a committee for providing fuel and other 
comforts for the houses occupied by Indians 
when on their trading expeditions to Albany. 
He was also on the committee to raise funds 
to erect fortifications, and he participated en- 
ergetically in the proceedings of the Albany 
convention in opposition to the pretensions of 
Jacob Leisler. After the Indians alid French 
had accomplished the destruction of Schenec- 
tady in 1690, he joined the party of Captain 
Abraham Schuyler, who were directed to pro- 
ceed to Otter Creek and remain four weeks 
to watch the lakes and surrounding country 
in case of attack. He volunteered to lead 
a scouting party into Canada at this time, 
and although it consisted of eight Indians and 
he, the only white man, he was undaunted. 
They went through the wooded wilderness 
and through the lake, down the Sorel river 
to Fort Chambly, and under its walls killed 
two and took one Frenclunan a prisoner. By 
this exploit he was the first man of the Eng- 
lish or Dutch to lead a hostile party from this 
province into Canada. He was thereafter 
widely known as a courageous man, and was 
commissioned captain. 

In August, 1692, the acting governor, In- 
goldesby, was apprised of the fact that a 
delegation of southern Indians, who had been 
at war with the Five Nations, was on the 
way to visit their enemies and sue for peace. 



38 



HUDSON AND :\IOHAWK VALLEYS 



They liad arrived at the Delaware river and 
were waiting- for permission to continue their 
journey. 

The gjovernor and his council considered 
this an important business, requiring un- 
usual wisdom in its management. They con- 
cluded that Captain Arent Sckuyler, then in 
New York, was exactly suited to the delicacy 
of the undertaking, and decided to despatch 
him to meet the Indians, that he might con- 
duct them to the governor and council. He 
was furnished with the proper instructions 
and given wampum belts to use. Considering 
the mode of traveling in those days, he was 
decidedly expeditious, for only six days aft- 
erward he returned with the "far Indians, 
called Shawanoes. and some Senecas, who had 
been traveling together for nine years." His 
expense account is of peculiar interest, and 
sets forth that on August 13th it was neces- 
sary to pay for ferriage at Elizabethtown ; 
on the 14th, lodging and horse-hire : on the 
15th. for horse-hire to (Trenton) Falls and 
a guide to the Indians; on the i6th, for two 
Holland shirts to be given to Indian chiefs ; 
expenses at Raritan and Woodbridge : on the 
17th, horse-hire from Benjamin Cluet's to 
Elizabethtown : on the 18th, expense at the 
same place and ferriage from Davitt's ; at 
New York, charges for "butcher's meat, 
crackers and peas" furnished the Indians, and 
on arrival, for the comfort and keeping of 
the Indians, "fourteen gallons single beer, 
fish, bread and oysters," the expenses for the 
entire trip, for all, amounting to but little 
more than twelve English j)ounds. He pre- 
sented a belt at the end of each proposition, 
addressing them as "brethren," and they him 
as "Corlaer." 

On account of so many and frequent de- 
mands made upon him to treat with the In- 
dians or engage in campaigns, .\rent Schuy- 
ler's business had been seriously neglected. 
His brother lirandt and his sister Gertrude 
were both married and had settled in New 
York, .'\lbany w-as then a frontier town and 
exposed to attack, so considering everything, 
he departed for New York about February, 
1694, determined to resume business as a 
merchant. 

It w^as determined at a council held Febru- 
ary 3. 1694. by Governor Fletcher, that as 
there were one hundred Frenchmen and fifty 
French Indians coming into the ]\Iinisink 
coimtrv to debauch the Minisink Infliaiis, that 
a trustworthy messenger must be despatched 
to seek out their intent. Arent Schuyler was 
again selected. He started the afternoon of 
the day he was told of the mission, and the 
day after reached the Indian village, eight 



miles beyond the Hackensack. His confer- 
ence was favorable, and after an absence of 
six days among dangerous tribes, returned to 
New York City. 

On June 6. 1695, Arent Schuyler and An- 
thony Brockholst purchased of the Indians 
4,000 acres of land at Pequannock. On No- 
vember II, 1695, they purchased the title of 
the East Jersey Proprietors to the same tract 
for one hundred pounds. On May 20, 1697, 
he received from Governor Fletcher a patent 
for land in the Minisink country, called by 
the Indians Sankhekeneck, alias Maghawaem ; 
also a parcel of meadow called Waimsagsk- 
meck, on the Minisink river, containing one 
thousand acres. 

He removed from New York to Pompton 
Plains, New Jersey, about 1702, where he 
remained until 17 10, when he removed to a 
large farm which he had purchased from 
Edmund Kingsland, on New Barbadoes Neck, 
on the east side of the Passaic river, the deed 
dated April 20, 1710; amount, 330 pounds. 

A negro slave belonging to him accident- 
ally found a copper deposit while he was 
plowing. He had turned up a peculiarly 
greenish and very heavy sort of stone. He 
took it to his master and it was sent to Eng- 
land to be analyzed. The reply was that it 
contained 80 per cent, of copper, and this 
opened a means for Arent Schuyler to obtain 
wealth. Desiring to reward the slave, he told 
him that he might make three requests, to 
which the fellow replied ; first, that he might 
remain with his master so long as he lived ; 
second, that he might have all the tobacco 
he could smoke : third, that he might be given 
a dressing-gown, with big. brass buttons, like 
his master's. Schuyler told him to consider 
and ask for something less tritling, and the 
answer was that for the fourth request he 
might have "a little more tobacco." Before 
his death he had shipped to the Bristol copper 
and brass works, England, 1,386 tons. In 
1 76 1, on receipt of an engine from England, 
the mine was extensively operated for four 
years. 

Three miles above the present city of New- 
ark and opposite the old town of Belleville, 
on the Passaic river, Arent Schuyler erected 
his mansion. It was built by him in 1710, 
and is standing, in excellent condition, this 
day. It is believed that he had to send to 
Holland for the brick that composed the front, 
and formed the other walls of brownstone 
found at Belleville. It has been the residence 
of generations of the Schuyler family since 
that tiine, and in its simple, substantial ar- 
chitecture is a noble type. In the olden times 
there was a magnificent deer park about the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



39 



Tiouse. stocked with no less than 130 animals 
■of that kind. 

While living. Arent Schuyler was most lib- 
eral. He was an officer of the Reformed 
Dutch church, and soon after he settled on 
the Passaic he assisted in organizing it at 
Belleville. He gave it 150 pounds in 1729, 
.as a commencement of a fund for the pastor's 
•salary, and shortly added 300 pounds. After 
his death in 1730, his widow and five chil- 
■dren, in respect to his memory, contributed 
50 pounds apiece, and in 1739 John added 150 
pounds, arranging for the right to vote on 
calling a minister, as also the privilege of 
signing the call, and the consistory bound it- 
self and successors not to invite a clergyman 
of another denomination to occupy the pulpit 
without his or their consent, provided always 
that they were members of the Dutch church. 
Colonel Schuyler, however, withtlrew from 
the church because of a difference, and, while 
leaving the fund, he united with tiie Episco- 
palians, and built a church for them in the 
■same place. 

The children of Captain Arent Schuyler 
and his first wife, Jenneke Teller, are the 
first seven named ; the later five by his second 
wife, Swantje \'an Duyckhuysen. Dispute or 
confusion possible to arise over the list pre- 
sented here, will be benefited by the plain 
statement that Mr. George W. Schuyler, in 
his "Colonial New York," ("Scribner's, 1885, 
vol. H., p. 196). does not furnish the name 
of the fourth child. Olivia, and Charles H. 
Winfield, in his "History of Hudson County, 
New Jersey," 1874, page 535, does not fur- 
nish (what Schuyler does) the names of the 
first child, Margareta : of the third child, 
Maria, died young: of fifth child, Judik, died 
young: nor of the seventh chikl, Wilhelmus. 
died young. Considerable research leads to 
the conclusion that no one has yet placed in 
type the birth dates of Arent Schuyler's last 
five children, all born after he left Albany, 
Swantje Van Duyckhuysen their mother. 
Children : 

1. Margareta, baptized in Albany. Septem- 
ter 27, 1685 ; marriage license with Charles 
Oliver issued November 7, 1704. 

2. Philip, baptized in .Albany, September 
II, 1687: married Hester Kingsland, daugh- 
ter of Isaac Kingsland, of New r)arbadoes 
Neck, New Jersey, and his wife, Elizabeth: 
member of assembly of New Jersey in 1719 
and 1721 : inherited the tract of land at Pe- 
quannock, which his father owned jointly 
with Samuel Bayard of Hoboken and the heirs 
■of Anthonv Brockholst, which included Pomp- 
ton. New Jersey. 

The children of Philip (Arentse) Schuyler 



and Hester Kingsland were : Johannes, born 
September 2, 1713, married, June 24, 174I, 
Isaac Kingsland : Arent, born February 23, 
1715, will proved December 15, 1806, married 
(first), October i, 1741, Helena \'an Wage- 

nen, married (second), Rachel : Isaac, 

born April 26, 1716, died in infancy; Philip, 
born December 23, 17 17, married and had 
Philip and Garret : Isaac, Ix>rn September 8, 
1719, married and had Major Schuyler; Eliza- 
beth, born February 22, 1721, married (bond 
dated), November 9, 1748, Rev. Benjamin 
\'an der Linde ; Pieter, born June 7, 1723, 
died without issue (wife Mary) October 18, 
1808: Hester, born April 12, 1725, married 
Teunis Dey ; Maria, born September 11, 1727: 
Jenneke, born October 26, 1728, married 
Board, and resided at Wesel : Jo- 
hannes, born June 4, 1730, died in infancy; 
Casparus, born December 10, 1735. married 
and had one child, Hester, who married Gen- 
eral William Colfa.x, of Pompton, New Jer- 
sey, grandfather of Schuyler Colfax, vice- 
president of the United States. 

3. Maria, baptized in Albany, October 6, 
1689 : died young. 

4. Olivia, mentioned in her father's will, 
but dead at that time, and leaving issue. 

5. Judik, baptized in x\lbany, March 11, 
1692 ; died young. 

6. Casparus, baptized in New York City, 
May 5, 1695 ; received from his father a deed 
for land in Burlington, New Jersey, at Lossa 
or Wingworth's Point. 

7. Wilhelmus, baptized in New York City, 
June 2, 1700; died young. 

8. John, died before proving of will on 
February 12, 1773; married Anne \'an Rens- 
selaer, born January i, 1719 (see forward; 
also, see \'an Rensselaer family). 

9. Pieter, born probably at New Barba- 
does Neck, opposite Belleville, New Jersey, 
about 1710; died at his home, then called Pe- 
tersborough, on the east bank of the Passaic, 
a short distance above Newark, March 7, 
1762 ; married Mary, daughter of John Wal- 
ter, a man of great wealth residing on Han- 
over Square in New York City. By his 
father's will he received 760 acres of land in 
Elizabethtown, near Rahway river. When it 
was proposed to invade Canada in 1746, he 
was authorized to recruit, then placed in com- 
mand of 500 men ; embarked at Perth Am- 
boy. September 3rd. for Albany, where he ar- 
rived on the 9th, when, through failure of the 
home government to send forces from Eng- 
land, the expedition was abandoned. While 
located there the soldiers complained from ac- 
tual winter suft'ering. were denied their pa)', 
and made threats to leave. He wrote on Feb- 



40 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ruary 26, 1747, to the authorities in New Jer- 
sey, that his men needed a surgeon, medicines, 
shirts, flints, colors, bread and peas. On May 
II, 1747, Governor Hamilton, of New Jer- 
sey, complimented Colonel Schuyler on his 
zeal, and authorized each man to receive "two 
speckled shirts and one pair of shoes." It 
was necessary for Schuyler to do more to 
quiet his men, and he advanced several thou- 
sands pounds from his own pocket. Later he 
marched his regiment to Saratoga, to garrison 
the fort. When warfare broke out in 1754 he 
was placed in command of the New Jersey 
forces, and his regiment moved up the Mo- 
hawk from Schenectady early in July, reach- 
ing Oswego July 20th, but because of defeats 
in New Jersey was called back hurriedly. In 
August, 1755. he was again returned to engage 
in the defense of Forts Oswego and Ontario. 
He was captured by Montcalm's men and 
taken to Montreal, and from there to Quebec, 
where he remained a prisoner until paroled, 
October, 1757. When he arrived in New 
York City, November 19th. there was a gen- 
eral illumination in his honor and a bonfire 
of proportions on the campus. When he 
reached his home he was welcomed with a sa- 
lute from thirteen pieces of cannon. His pa- 
role over and no exchange effected, he sur- 
rendered himself to Montcalm at Ticonderoga, 
July 23, 1758, and sent to Montreal: but on 
November i, 1758, he was exchanged for 
Sieur de Noyau, commandant at Fort Fronte- 
nac, and brought back with him eighty-eight 
prisoners, many of whom he had paid for 
highly, some of whom he had supported in 
captivity. Peter Schuyler and Mary Walter 
had one child, Catherine, who married Archi- 
bald Kennedy. Earl of Casselis, who married, 
as widower, Anne Watts. 

ID. Adonijah, born in 1717; died before 
May 28, 1762, when his will was proved ; re- 
ceived by his father's will two tracts of land 
at Elizabethtown Point. New Jersey : married 
Gertrude \'an Rensselaer, who was born at 
Rensselaerswyck. October i, 1714. daughter 
of 4tli Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and 
Maria Van Cortlandt ; by whom : Van Rens- 
selaer : Mary ; Swan, married November 2, 
1772, .-Xrent Schuyler, and died May 20, 1801, 
(see forward) : John, married February 16, 
1769, Mary Hunter; Peter; .Adonijah, when 
aged twelve years entered the British navy 
under Captain St. John, became lieutenant, 
married Susan Shields, of Plymouth, Eng- 
land, where he settled ; Philip, died without 
issue, will proved September 26, 1795. 

11. Eve, married Peter Bayard, died in 

1737- 

12. Cornelia, married Pierre De Peyster. 



By their father's will these two last daughters 
received two lots of ground on Broadway, in 
New York, Eve receiving an Indian slave, 
Molly, and Cornelia one named Nanny. 

(HI) John Schuyler, son of Arent Schuy- 
ler and Swantje \'an Duyckhuysen, was born 
about 1708, and died at Belleville, New Jer- 
sey. January 12. 1773. 

By his father's will, he received the home- 
stead farm and the very valuable copper 
mines situated at New Barbadoes Xeck. New 
Jersey. He was a colonel of the regiment 
of militia and also of the regiment of horse 
in Bergen county. New Jersey. Governor 
Cosby recommended him to a seat in the 
New Jersey council, September 5, 1735, to 
which he was appointed, and in 1746 he re- 
signed. His will was signed December 22, 
1772, and was probated February 12. 1773. 

John Schuyler married, at Albany. Anne 
Van Rensselaer, who was born there January 
I, 1719, died in 1791, daughter of the 4th 
Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Maria 
Van Cortlandt. (See Van Rensselaer family). 
Children: i. Arent John, born October 10, 
1746. at Belleville, New Jersey; died there, 
October 28, 1803 ; married, November 2, 1772, 
Swan Schuyler (see- forward). 2. Mary, 
born about 1762 ; died unmarried. 

(IV) Arent John Schuyler, son of John 
Arent Schuyler and Anne \'an Rensselaer, 
was born in the family homestead at Belle- 
ville, New Jersey, October 10, 1746. and died 
there October 28, 1803. He was a member of 
the standing committee of correspondence of 
the county of Bergen. N. J. 

He married, November 2. 1772, Swan 
Schuyler, daughter of Adonijah .Schuyler and 
Gertrude \'an Rensselaer, therefore his 
cousin, and she died May 20, 1801, aged sixty 
years. Children: i. Anne, died July 20, 
1783, aged seven years eight months. 2. John 
Arent, born at Belleville, New Jersey, April 
12, 1779: died there October 12. 1817; mar- 
ried (first) Eliza Kip. (second) Catherine 
\'an Rensselaer (see forward). 

(V) John .Arent Schuyler, son of Arent 
John Schuyler and Swan Schuyler, was born 
April 12, 1779. and died at Belleville, N. J., 
October 12. 1817. 

He married (first), in 1800. Eliza Kip, 
daughter of James H. Kip, by whom his first 
two children. She died November 17, 1805, 
and he married (second) in 1807, Catherine 
Van Rensselaer, daughter of General Robert 
Van Rensselaer of Claverack, New York, son 
of John \'an Rensselaer, and she died Febru- 
ary 2. 1867. by wliom lie had five children; 

I. .'\rent Henry, born November 25. 1801 ; 
married. April 24, 1828, Mary Caroline 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



41 



Kingsland, and died May 19, 1878 (see for- 
ward). 

2. Harriet Ann. born January 31, 1803; 
baptized February 17. 1803 : married, Decem- 
ber 19. 1822. Smith W. Anderson. 

3. Angelica Van Rensselaer, died March 
30. 1864. 

4. John Arent, died November 21, 1855; 
married Frances Elizabeth Bleecker, daughter 
of Alexander Bleecker. of New York City. 

5. Robert \'an Rensselaer, born June 4, 
1813 ; died at Jersey City, New Jersey, Feb- 
ruary 17, 1856; married, September 9, 1851, 
Kate Manchini, daughter of Angelo Man- 
chini ; by whom one child, Van Rensselaer, 
who was born at Brooklyn, New York, July 
27, 1852, married, at Buffalo, N. Y., June 26, 
1899, Ethel Cornelia Paul, born at Evanston, 
Tils., August 10, 1876, daughter of Cornelius 
Danforth Paul. Kate Manchini (Schuyler), 
when a widow, married her husband's nephew, 
John Arent Schuyler (see forward). 

6. Jacob Rutsen, born in 1816; died Feb- 
ruary 4, 1887: married, November 18, 1847, 
Susanna Edwards, daughter of Timothy Ed- 
wards. She was born in 1826, and died Janu- 
ary 23, 1870. 

7. Catherine Gertrude, born in 1818; died 
October 8, 1887; married, October 4, 1838, 
Henry S. Craig. 

(VI) Arent Henry Schuyler, son of John 
Arent Schuyler and Eliza Kip, was born at 
Belleville, New Jersey, November 25, 1801, 
and died there. May 19. 1878. 

He married, at Belleville, New Jersey, April 

24, 1828, Mary Caroline Kingsland. She was 
born at Kingsland, New Jersey, June 21, 
1804; died at Newark, New Jersey, July 21, 
1894, daughter of Henry W. Kingsland and 
Sarah Jauncey. Children, all born in Belle- 
ville, New Jersey: 

1. Henry Kingsland, born March 5, 1829; 
died there. August 10, 1896: married, Decem- 
ber 15, 1858, Ellen Valentine, daughter of 
Anthony P. \'alentine. of Spottswood, New 
Jersey ; by whom : Arent, born September 

25, i860, died 1908 ; Campbell Valentine, born 
July 2, 1864 : Henry Kingsland, born August 
29, 1876. 

2. John Arent, born February 19, 1831 ; 
died June 15, 1870; married, Jersey City, New 
Jersey, January 14, 1863, Kate Manchini 
(Schuyler) (see forward). 

3. Smith Arent, born November 18, 1832; 
died at Newark, New Jersey, July 26, 1870; 
married Elizabeth Kneeland, and had Cort- 
landt Van Rensselaer, Frank Herbert, Smith 
Anderson. 

4. Edwin Nesbit, born June 15, 1834; died 
there, September 13, 1835. 



5. Harriet Anderson, born August 29, 
1836- died at Newark, New Jersey, February 
17, 1882 ; married, September 15, 1858, Sidney 
Augustus Schieffelin, and had Caroline Schuy- 
ler,'"' Henry Hamilton, Alice Van Rensselaer, 
Harriet Augusta and Schuyler. 

6 Sarah Jauncev, born June 22, 1838, mar- 
ried, BelleviHe, October 6, 1858, Stephen \ an 
Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, son of John \_an 
Rensselaer, and had one son, Stephen Van 
Cortlandt, who died young. 

7. Arent Henry, born August 8, 1840; died 
there, September 20, 1863. 

8 Richards Kingsland, born June 24, 1842 ; 
married Brooklyn, New York, December 3, 
1879, Lucretia Kellogg, and had John Arent, 
died young: Walter Kellogg; Philip \ an 
Rensselaer; IMary Kingsland, and Clarence 
Richards. 

9. Mary Caroline, born February 16, iS45 '. 
died, August 9, 1845. 

10. Catherine Gertrude, born, August 17, 
1846: died, December 16, 1866. 

(VH) John Arent Schuyler, son of Arent 
Henry Schuvler and ^lary Caroline Kings- 
land was born at Belleville, New Jersey, Feb- 
ruary 19, 1831, and died at Jersey City, New 
Jersey, June 15, 1870. 

He married, at Jersey City, January 14, 
1863, Kate Manchini, widow of Robert Van 
Rensselaer Schuvler. She was born at New 
York, New York, April 15, 1831, and was 
the daughter of Angelo IVLinchini and Anne 
Eaton, "issue: Sidney Schieffelin, born at 
Jersev Citv, August 25, 1864 (see forward). 

(\ill) Sidney Schieffelin Schuyler, son of 
John Arent Schuyler and Kate Manchini 
V Schuyler), was born at Jersey City. New 
Jersey, August 25, 1864. He is a member of 
the New York Stock Exchange, senior mem- 
ber of firm of Schuyler, Chadwick & Burn- 
ham, 100 Broadway, and resides in Plainfield, 
New Jersey. 

He married, at Bayonne, New Jersey, De- 
cember 12, 1894, Cora Anderson. She was 
born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, September 
29, 1866, died at Kingsland, New York, June 
16, 1898, daughter of John Joseph Anderson, 
of St. Louis, Missouri, and Emma Dyer. By 
this marriage one child, Marion Van Rensse- 
laer, born at Bayonne, New Jersey, January 
14, 1896. He married (second), at Cranford, 
New Jersey. Julv 15, 1903- Helene Gladys 
Abry. She was born at Cranford, July 10, 
1886, daughter of Charles Leo Abry. of New 
York City; by whom two children: Van 
Rensselaer, born at Plainfield. New Jersey, 
April 29, 1905 : John .Arent, born at Plain- 
field, November 23, 1910. 

CUYLER REYNOLDS. 



42 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



This is an ancient and 
LIVINGSTON noble family of Scottish 

origin, more remotely de- 
scended from Leving, a Hungarian noble, 
who came to Scotland in the train of Mar- 
garet, queen of King Malcolm of Scotland, 
about 1068. This once powerful family of 
Livingston through their romantic attachment 
to a "lost cause" suffered a complete down- 
fall in Scotland, and is now represented in the 
female line only. Sir William de Livingston, 
foimder of the House of Callendar, served 
under Sir William Douglass at the siege of 
Sterling Castle in 1339. King David, son of 
Robert the I'.ruce, granted him the forfeited 
Callendar estates. Sir William afterward 
married the daughter and heiress of Sir Pat- 
rick de Callendar. In America the family 
name is an honored one. and above one of 
the dormer windows in the state capitol at 
Albany their armorial bearings are sculptured, 
a mark of public honor. The arms of the 
American family are the quartered arms of 
Livingston of Callendar and date back to 
the fourteenth century. Chancellor Living- 
ston stands chief among the chancellors of 
New York state and is honored with a bronze 
full figure statue in the state capitol. William 
Livingston was the famous "war governor" 
of New Jersey during the revolution. At 
the battles of Saratoga, eight Livingstons 
were in command of troops, three of them led 
their regiments at critical points of the bat- 
tles. The history of the family is a history 
of over a century and a half of the most 
exciting and important years of American 
life. The name is found everywhere in hon- 
orable position and all are descended from 
Robert Livingston whose line is traced here- 
in ; Robert Livingston, "the nephew," and 
James Livingston, whose descendants left the 
Hudson valley, settling in the Schoharie val- 
ley and along the upper Susquehanna. 

The immediate English ancestor is Rev. 
John Livingston, son of Rev. William Living- 
ston, minister of Lanark, Scotland. Rev. 
John Livingston was born at Kilsyth in Stirl- 
ingshire, Scotland, June 21, 1603, He was 
for a time chaplain to the countess of Wig- 
toun, and was shortly afterward installed over 
the church of Killinchie in Ireland. I>eing 
persecuted for non-conformity, he determined 
to emigrate to America, actually embarking 
for that puriiose in a vessel bound for Boston, 
but being driven back by contrary winds, he 
abanfloned his purpose and settled in 1638 at 
Stranraer in Scotland. In 1648 he removed 
to .Ancurm in Tevintdale, where his son Rob- 
ert was born. In March, 1650, he was sent 
as a commissioner to P.rede to negotiate terms 



for the restoration of Charles II. After that 
event the persecution against him being re- 
vived, he went to Rotterdam, Holland. Here 
he began to publish an edition of Bible which 
he did not live to complete. He died at Rot- 
terdam, Holland, in August, 1672. He mar- 
ried, at Edinburgh, in the West church. June 
23, 1635, Janet, eldest daughter of Bartholo- 
mew Fleming, of the old Scottish family of 
that name, of which the then head was the 
Earl of Wigton, who with his eldest son, 
Lord Fleming, was present at the wedding. 
She was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, No- 
vember 16, 1613, died at Rotterdam, Holland, 
February 13, 1693-94, and was buried in the 
French church in that city. Children, fifteen 
in number, all born in Scotland, except John, 
the eldest, who was born at Melton, Ireland, 
June 30, 1636. The youngest son, Robert, is 
the ancestor of the American family of Liv- 
ingston Manor. James, the ninth child, is 
the father of Robert Livingston, "the 
nephew". 

(The American Family), 
fl) Robert Livingston, youngest son and 
fourteenth child of Rev. John and Janet 
(Fleming) Livingston, was born at .\ncrum, 
Scotland, December 13, 1654, died October i, 
1728 (some authorities say at Boston, Massa- 
chusetts), and is buried in the family vault 
at Livingston Manor, town of Livingston, Co- 
lumbia county. New York, over which the 
Livingston Memorial church has been erected 
in recent years. It is supposed he accompa- 
nied his father to Holland as he was familiar 
with the Dutch language. He was eighteen 
years of age when his father died and he was 
left dependent upon his own resources for 
support. His thoughts naturally turned to 
the New \\\irld which his father had before 
him made an attemjit to reach. He returned 
to Scotland with his mother where he made 
but a short stay. April 28, 1672, he sailed 
from Grenock, Scotland, a passenger on the 
ship Catherine of Charlestown, Captain John 
Phillips, master, bound for Charlestown. New 
England. The exact date of his arrival in 
New England is unknown. He was soon, 
however, at New York, which was now under 
English control. Not being suited in New 
York, he proceeded to Albany, the next larg- 
est city in the colony and an important trad- 
ing point. His knowledge of the Dutch lan- 
guage here was of great advantage to him 
and he was appointed in February, 1676, sec- 
retary of the commissaries who then superin- 
tended the affairs of .-\lbany, Schenectady and 
adjacent territory, which office he held until 
July, 1686, when Albany being made a city, 
the board of commissaries was dissolved. He 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \*ALLEYS 



43 



was appointed with his brother-in-law, Peter 
Schuyler, to proceed to New York to obtain 
the charter of the city from Governor Don- 
^an, under which he was afterwards made 
town clerk, to which annexed the additional 
-office of farmer of the excise. He was also 
secretary for Indian affairs and collector of 
'Customs. 

As early as 1675 he became a lot owner in 
Albany, owning the lot at the corner of State 
and North Pearl street, where he lived until 
his removal to the Manor. On July 18, 1683, 
"he made a purchase of tracts along the east 
side of tlie Hudson containingg 2,000 acres 
of land from four Indian chiefs, a purchase 
which was later confirmed by Governor 
Thomas Dongan. 

His purchases were continued and on July 
26, 1686. Governor Dongan issued a patent 
■erecting a vast territory of not less than 125,- 
000 acres into a lordship and manor to be rec- 
ognized as the Lordship and Manor of Liv- 
ingston, the only requirement being the an- 
nual payment to the government of Great 
Britain of twenty-eight shillings sterling, to 
be paid at the city of Albany, March 25, of 
each succeeding year. The land included, 
•commenced about five miles north of the city 
■of Hudson, running twelve miles on the 
Hudson, extending back to the Massachusetts 
line, widening as it receded from the river, 
so as to embrace not less than twenty miles 
on the boundary of the latter colony. The 
patent allowed the proprietor the privilege of 
holding a court seat and court baron with the 
advowson and right of patronage of the church 
within the manor. The tenants also had the 
privilege of assembly together to choose as- 
sessors to defray the public charges of cities, 
counties, and towns within the manor, in the 
same manner as those within the province. 
It granted the riglit of fishing, hawking, hunt- 
ing, and fowling, the possession of mines, min- 
erals ( silver and gold mines excepted ) , and 
the right to fish in the Hudson along the 
boundary of said Manor. In 1715. however, 
the grant being confirmed by royal authority, 
the additional privilege of electing a repre- 
sentative to tlie general assembly of the col- 
ony and two constables were conferred upon 
the tenants. In 1710 more than 5.000 acres 
were taken to constitute a settlement for the 
Palatinates, which was called Germantown. 
This tract was purchased by the crown for 
this purpose, for the sum of 200 pounds sterl- 
ing. The Manor of Clermont, comprising 
about 13.000 acres was severed from the up- 
per manor by the will of Robert, the first lord 
of the Manor, and bequeathed to his youngest 
son, Robert (grandfather of Chancellor Liv- 



ingston), to reward him for having discov- 
ered and frustrated a plot which had been 
formed by negroes on the estate to murder 
all the whites. In 1689 the tide of prosperity 
turned and he became involved in the troubles 
with Leisler, taking sides as did most of the 
prominent families against the Dutch gover- 
nor. His party being beaten, he retired to 
one of the neighboring provinces probably to 
avoid the fury of his enemies. He made a 
trip to England during this period and 
brought back with him his nephew, Robert 
Livingston. His fortune ebbed and flowed 
alternately; in 1702 his estates were confis- 
cated and he was suspended from the council 
board. But the tide again turned in his favor, 
and February 2, 1703. he once more obtained 
possession of his estates and in September, 
1705, received from Queen Anne a commis- 
sion reinstating him in all his former appoint- 
ments. A mansion was erected on the Manor 
as early as 1692, but he did not reside there 
until 171 1. In that year he was elected a 
member of assembly from the city and county 
of .Albany, and in June, 1716, a representative 
from his Alanor. In 1718 he was chosen 
speaker of house of assembly, which position 
he retained until 1725, when ill-health com- 
pelled his retirement from public life. 

He married, July 9, 1679, in the Pres- 
byterian church at Albany. Alida. daugh- 
ter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and his wife, 
Margarita Van Schlechtenhorst. only daugh- 
ter of the director of Rensselaerswyck and 
widow of Rev. Nicholas Van Rensselaer. She 
was born February 28. 1656. died March 27. 
1729. Children: i. Colonel John, born April 
26, 1680, died February 19, 1720: mar- 
ried (first), at New London, April i, 1701, 
Mary (died Jan. 8, 1713). only child of.Fitz 
John Winthrop. governor of Connecticut. He 
married (second) October, 1713. Elizabeth, 
daughter of Mrs. Sarah Knight, who died 
]\larch 17, 1735. No issue by either wife. 
2. Margaret, born December 5, 168 1 : married, 
December 20, 1700, Colonel Samuel \'etch, 
first English governor of Annapolis Royal. 
She died June, 1758. 3. Johanna Philippina, 
born February i, 1683-84, died January 24, 
1689-90. 4. Philip, of whom further. 5. Rob- 
ert, born July 24, 1688, died June 27. 1775. 
He was first proprietor of Clermont. He 
married, November 11, 1717, New York City, 
at the Reformed Dutch church, Margaret 
Howarden. 6. (lilbert (or Hubertus), born 
March 3, 1689, died April 25, 1746: married, 
December 22, 171 1. Cornelia Beekman. 7. 
William, born iSIarch 17, 1692, died Novem- 
ber 5, 1692. 8. Johanna, born December 10, 
1694; married Cornelius Gerrit \'an Home. 



44 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



9. Catherine, born May 22, 1698, died De- 
cember 6. 1699. 

(II) Philip (second lord of the Manor), 
second son and fourth child of Robert and 
Alida (Schuyler- Van Rensselaer) Livingston, 
was born July 9, 1686, died February 4, 
1748-49. He was named for his maternal 
grandfather, Philip Schuyler. He studied law 
and was admitted to the New York bar, De- 
cember 31, 1719. In the following year he 
was appointed one of the commissioners of 
Indian affairs and succeeded his father as 
secretary of that board. He was an appointed 
member of the legislative council, 1715, and 
the following year was despatched on a mis- 
sion to the French governor of Canada to 
prevent the French proceeding further with 
the erection of a fort at Niagara. On the 
death of his father he succeeded to the en- 
tailed and largest portion of the Manor estate 
and for many years the new lord of the Man- 
or took a prominent part in the political af- 
fairs of the province. His family connections 
and personal attractions made him a person 
of note in New York City, where '"he lived 
in a style of courtly magnificence". He be- 
came involved in a quarrel with Admiral 
George Clinton, the English governor of the 
province, who made serious charges against 
him and endeavored to have him dismissed 
from the council but failed, Philip holding the 
office and continued to take a leading part 
in the affairs of his native province until his 
death. His funeral was a most elaborate and 
expensive one and was the occasion of gen- 
eral comment. He married, September 19, 
1707, Catherine V'an P)rugh, baptized Novem- 
ber, 1689, died February 20, 1756, daughter 
of Peter and Sarah (Cuyler) \'an Brugh. Of 
their seven sons. Peter \'an Brugh, Philip "the 
signer," and \\'illiam, became prominent in 
the war of the revolution. The fourth son, 
John, was the only important member of 
the family who adhered to the king during 
the war for independence. Children, all bap- 
tized in Albany: i. Robert, of whom fur- 
ther. 2. Peter \'an Brugh. baptized Novem- 
ber 3, 1710, died 1793. He was a member 
of the committee of one hundred, 1775, a 
member of provincial congress, 1775, presi- 
dent of the same, 1775. and treasurer, 1776. 
He was a merchant of the city of New York. 
He married (first), Mary Alexander, (sec- 
ond), a widow, Mrs. Rickctts. Twelve chil- 
dren by first wife. 3. Peter, baptized April, 
1712, died young. 4. John, baptized April 11, 
1714, died 1788: married, December 3, 1742, 
Catherine, daughter of Abraham de Puyster 
and Margaret Van Cortlandt. 5. Philip, born 
January 15, 1716; member of committee of 



one hundred, 1775, president of the provincial 
convention, 1775 ; member of continental con- 
gress, 1774-78; signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, 1776; member of provincial 
congress, 1776-77. He died at York, Penn- 
sylvania, June 12, 1778. He married, April 
14, 1740, Christiana Ten Broeck, born Decem- 
ber 30, 1718, died June 29, 1801, daughter of 
Dirck Ten Broeck, recorder and mayor of 
Albany, and Margarita Cuyler. They were 
the parents of nine' children, of whom two 
served as officers in the war of the revolu- 
tion. 6. Henry, baptized April 5, 17 19, died 
in Jamaica, West Indies, February, 1772. 7. 
Sarah, baptized May 7, 1721, died October, 
1722. 8. William, born November 8, 1723, 
died at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, July 25, 
1790. He was a member of continental con- 
gress, 1774-76, brigadier-general New Jersey 
militia, 1775-76, governor of the state of New 
Jersey, 1776-90, signer of the federal consti- 
tution, 1777. He married, about 1745, Su- 
sanna, daughter of Philip and Susanna 
(Brockholst) French. She was baptized at 
New York, June 19, 1723, died at Elizabeth- 
town, New Jersey. July 17, 1789. They were 
the parents of thirteen children, one of whom, 
Sarah \'an Brugh, married John Jay. chief 
justice of the supreme court of the United 
States. Another daughter, Susanna, married 
John Cleve Symmes, of New Jersey, asso- 
ciate justice of the supreme court of New 
Jersey and a judge of the supreme court of 
the new Northwest Territory in 1786. 9. 
Sarah, baptized November 7, 1725 ; married, 
March i, 1748, William Alexander. Earl of 
Stirling, major-general in the continental 
army. His right to this title was never rec- 
ognized by the British government, but as a 
matter of courtesy he was always addressed 
during the war as Lord Stirling. She died' 
March. 1805. 10. Alida, baptized July 18, 
1728: married (first), September 26, 1750, 
Henry Hansen, of Harlem; married (second), 
Colonel Martin Hoffman, September 26, 1766. 
She died February, 1790. 11. Catherine, bap- 
tized Ajiril 18, 1733: married, April 18, 1759, 
John Lawrence, alderman of New York City. 
(Ill) Robert, third lord of the Manor, eld- 
est son of Philip and Catherine (\'an Brugh)- 
Livingston, was born in Albany, New York, 
December 16, 1708, died November, 1790. 
He inherited the vast estates entailed to the- 
eldest son, and although he filled no official 
position himself during the revolutionary war, 
he proved his loyalty to the cause by placing 
his iron mines and foundry at the disposal of 
the New York committee of safety. His 
seventy years, no doubt, was the cause of his 
not taking a more active part. He was elected" 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



45 



representative from his Manor to the twenty- 
iirst New York assembly, 1737, and during 
the next twenty years he sat uninterruptedly 
through seven general assemblies, returned at 
every election by the Manor Freeholders. 
"When the elections were being held for the 
twenty-eighth assembly he retired in favor of 
liis younger brother, William, then coming 
into prominence as a leader of the Presbyter- 
ian party. He married (first). May 20, 1731, 
]\Iaria, daughter of Walter Tong and grand- 
daughter of Rip \'an Dam, president of the 
council. He married (second), Gertrude, 
daughter of Killaen \'an Rensselaer, and his 
wife, Maria Van Cortlandt, and widow of 
Adonijah Schuyler, born October i, 1744. 
Children, all by first marriage: i. Catherine, 
born August 4, 1732, died in infancy. 2. 
Philip, born February 9, 1733, died unmar- 
ried April 3, 1756. 3. Sarah, born April 23, 
1735, died September 4, 1745. 4. Peter R., 
born April 27, 1737, died 1793: he was a 
member of the provincial convention, 1775, 
member of the provincial congress, 1775-76, 
president of provincial congress, 1776-77, 
member of assembly, 1780-81 ; colonel of mi- 
litia during the revolutionary war. He was 
the last of the representatives returned to 
to the New York assembly under the patent 
of 17 1 5 and with him ends the political his- 
tory of the old Colonial Manor of Livingston, 
which became by the new order of events ab- 
sorbed into the electoral district of Albany. 
He married Margaret Livingston. 5. Maria, 
born October 29, 1738. died May 6, 1821 ; 
married, October 21, 1759, James Duane, aft- 
erwards one of the New York delegates in the 
continental congress. 6. Walter, born No- 
vember 27, 1740, died May 14, 1797; he was 
a member of the provincial congress 1775, 
member of the assembly, 1777-78-79, speaker 
of the assembly, 1778, commission of United 
States treasury, 1785, deputy commissioner- 
general of the northern department. 1775. 
He married, in 1769, Cornelia, daughter of 
Peter and Gertrude (Schuyler) Schuyler. 
She was baptized July 26, 1746, died 1822. 
Walter Livingston built and resided in his 
mansion "Teviotdale" in Columbia county. 
New York. 7. Robert (better known as Rob- 
ert Cambridge, because he was a graduate of 
Cambridge University, and to distinguish him 
from numerous other Roberts), born Decem- 
ber 26, 1742, died August 23, 1794. He mar- 
ried, November 12, 1778, Alice, daughter of 
John Swift. 8. Catherine, born December 22, 
1744, died May. 1832; married, 1766, John 
Paterson. 9. Sarah, born February 16. 
1745-46, died May 11. 1749. 10. Alida. born 
December 15, 1747, died September, 1791 ; 



married Valentine Gardiner. 11. Margarita, 
born February 16, 1748, died June 22, 1749. 
12. John, of whom further. 13. Hendrick or 
1 leiiry, born January 8, 1752, died unmarried, 
May 16, 1823. 

(IV) John, twelfth child and fifth son of 
Robert and Maria (Tong) Livingston, was 
born at New York, February 11, 1749, died 
at Oak Hill, Columbia county, New York, 
October 24, 1822. He built the family man- 
sion. "Oak Hill," the only Livingston man- 
sion, except "Clermont," now owned by a Liv- 
ingston, and lived there the life of a country 
gentleman. He married (first). May 11, 1775. 
Rlary Ann, daughter of Jacob and Cornelia 
(Rutgers) LeRoy : married (second), Novem- 
ber 3, 1796, a kinswoman, Catherine, daugh- 
ter of \\'illiam Livingston, the "War Gover- 
nor of New Jersey," and widow of Matthew 
Ridley. Children, all by first marriage: i. 
Cornelia, born October 23, 1776; married 
Nicholas G. Rutgers. 2. Robert Le Roy, of 
Claverack, New York, born October 10, 1778; 
married Maria Diggs, of Washington, D. C. 
3. Jacob, of Cherry Valley, New York, born 
July 13, 1780: married (first), Catherine De 
Puyster ; married (second), Levantia White 
and had issue by both wives. 4. John G., born 
January 29, 1782, killed in a duel, unmarried. 
5. Child, born November 30, 1783. 6. Daniel, 
of New York City, born June 3, 1786; mar- 
ried Julia Oothout. 7. Philip Henry, born 
November 17, 1787. 8. Anthony Rutgers, of 
Tarrytown, New York, born .\pril 27, 1789; 
married Anna Hoffman. 9. Henry, of Clave- 
rack, New York, born September 2, 1791 ; 
married Ann Eliza \'an Ness. 10. Herman, 
of whom further. 

(V) Herman, son of John and Mary Ann 
(LeRoy) Livingston, was born August 2, 
1793. died May 9, 1872. He inherited "Oak 
Hill," where he maintained an open-handed 
hospitalitv for forty-five years until the death 
of his wife. He was a Republican and mem- 
ber of the Dutch Reformed church. He mar- 
ried Sarah Lawrence Hallett, who died Sep- 
tember 10, 1868. Children : John Henry, born 
September 8, 1822, died October 7, 1846; 
Cornelia, born February 29, 1S24, died Sep- 
tember 21, 1851, married Clermont Living- 
ston : Herman Tong, of whom further. 

(VI) Herman Tong, youngest child and 
second son of Herman and Sarah Lawrence 
(Hallett) Livingston, was born at "Oak Hill." 
Columbia county. New York, June 12, 1827, 
died October 20. 1899. He continued in the 
ownership and occupancy of "Oak Hill" and 
adjoining estates, bequeathing same to his son 
Herman, the present owner (1910). He was 
an active business man the most of his life. 



46 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



As a merchant and ship owner in New York 
City, first in the firm of Livinjiston & Croch- 
ero'n. owning a hne of steamers plying be- 
tween New York, New Orleans and Havana; 
later the head of the firm of Livingston, Fox 
& Company, when they added the Savannah to 
their line with the others. Their vessel, com- 
manded by Captain P.ullock, was the last to 
enter New Orleans before the war. It was 
seized by the rebel government and after- 
wards released by order of JetT Davis, on the 
grounds that they were not fighting private 
interests. Captain IJullock was formerly of 
the United States navy, but resigned and ac- 
cepted a position with this firm. Later joined 
the confederacy, and was sent to England, 
where later he fitted out the Florida and the 
Alabama. 

Herman T. Livingston spent the latter part 
of his life in his home on the Hudson. 
He was a strong Republican, and a member 
of the Episcopal church. He married. De- 
cember 6, 1853. Susan Bard, daughter of Ar- 
chibald and 'Anna (Pendleton) Rogers, of 
Hyde Park, New York. Children: Herman, 
of whom further; Edmund Pendleton, born 
September 21. 1857, died December 10, 1888; 
John Callendar, born May 8, 1862; Anna 
Pendleton, born January 6. 1866; Archibald, 
born November 23, 1868; Sarah, born Au- 
gust 22, 1 87 1. 

(MI) Herman (2). son of Herman Tong 
and Susan P.. (Rogers) Livingston, was born 
in New York City, June 24, 1856. He was 
educated in private schools in New York City, 
entered Yale university and w'as graduated 
A. M., class of 1879. He is now (1910) en- 
gaged in the operation of his oil properties in 
Virginia. His home is the old Livingston 
mansion at Oak Hill overlooking the Hudson, 
which was built by his grandfather. He is 
the fourth generation of the family to own 
and occujiy the fine old mansion. He is a 
Republican and has taken quite an interest in 
local politics, holding minor offices, attending 
state and county conventions as delegate, and 
was presidential elector when Harrison was 
defeated. 

He was married. November 9, 1882, to 
Emmeline C, daughter of Henry and Mary 
Elizabeth (Cornell) Hopkins. Children: i. 
Plerman. born .August 18. 1883: graduate of 
Williams College, now engaged in the insur- 
ance business in Boston ; married, .\pril 24, 
1909, Alga Kobbe. of New York. 2. Henry 
Hopkins, born February 5. 1887; graduate of 
Yale I'niversity, now engaged in the oil busi- 
ness in West Virginia. 3. Edmund Pendle- 
ton, born October 23, 1889, student at Yale 
University. 



The familv name of 
VAX ALSTYNE Van Alstyne is derivedl 
from the Dutch, and 
signifies from the old or high stone ; doubt- 
less those w'ho first bore the name dwelt 
upon the top of a rocky eminence, or near tcx 
some boulder which for years had been a 
prominent landmark among all the families- 
of that neighborhood. The early records- 
show that it was also spelled Van .Aelsteyn, 
Van Aalsteyn, \'an Alstyn, Van Alstein and 
Van Alstine; but in 1900 these forms were 
reduced to Van Alstine, Van Alstyne and Al- 
styn. one family having eliminated the Dutch 
prefix. 

It is claimed with reason, following the 
preserved records in Holland, that the fam- 
ily may be traced back to the year 936. at 
the crowning of Otho. The family name 
first appears under the name of Ralsko, which 
it abandoned in order to take that of War- 
temberg, which it bore for several centuries. 
Jean Ralsko, who died in Flanders in 1236, 
had built there the Chateau de \\'aldstein. the 
name of which he took to distinguish himself 
from his brother, who bore that of Wartem- 
berg. The family has been traced under the 
name of Balstein in Spain, \'allenstein in 
France, Halsteyn in Flanders and \"an Al- 
stein in Holland. From Waldstein. the name 
changed to Wallenstein, Walstein, \'alstein, 
and finally became Van Alstein. Those who 
located in Flanders were loyal to the church 
of Rome, and those living in Holland allied 
themselves to the Reformation of Martin 
Luther, and displayed the courage of their 
convictions. Those who came to America 
have particularly demonstrated their courage 
of independent thought and action, and were 
w^ell represented in the war of American in- 
dependence as well as in the civil war. In- 
variably they have been men of middle ground, 
neither acquiring vast riches nor suffering 
poverty, freed both from the worries of life 
and the cares of wealth. In the same meas- 
ure they have been prominent in politics and 
religion, as well as the professions. 

(I) The progenitor of the family in .Amer- 
ica was Jan Martense \^an .Vlstyne, son of 
Marten \'an .Alstyne, of Holland. There is 
record of his being in New Amsterdam (New 
York City), as early as 1646, where one 
finds an entry on the date December 11, 1646, 
being a bill of sale, Thomas Hall and Jan 
Peterson to Hendrick Jansen and Jan Alar- 
tense, of a yacht. It is not known just how 
long he remained in that place; but he is re- 
corded, in 1657, as owning a lot in .Albany, 
on the east side of Broadway and north of 
Columbia street, which he held as late as 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



47 



1693, and in the meantime had become pat- 
entee of two tracts of land in Ulster county. 
He likewise purchased a large tract of land 
"behind" Kinderhook, New York, not many 
miles from Albany. This became the real 
home of the family, and the locality was then 
given the name because in the Dutch it sig- 
nified "Children's Point," thought to have 
been bestowed because of the great number 
of Indian children who ran out on the point 
of land the better to observe Hudson pass 
in his "Half Aloon," or else because the In- 
dians living there had an unusual number 
of children in their families. The first pro- 
prietor resided there until his death, about 
1698, and the land continued for more than 
two centuries in the possession of the de- 
scendants of his son, Abraham, to whom he 
conveyed the farm in 1695, conditioned on 
his paying the other heirs certain sums of 
money as provided explicitly. He married 
Dirckje Harmense, a woman endowed with 
all the characteristics necessary to make her 
a fitting helpmate for a pioneer husband. 
Children : Marten : Abraham ; Lambert, see 
forward : Isaac, and possibly others. 

(II) Lambert Janse, son of Jan Martense 
and Dirckje (Harmense) Van Alstyne, emi- 
grated to this country in 1665, and settled 
in Kings county, but no record has been 
found of his birth. About 1684 he came into 
possession of a tract of land lying on the 
east side of Kinderhook creek, and adjoining 
the lands of his father. This he acquired by 
purchase of the patent, or lease, from the 
heirs of Peter \'an Alen. He held it until 
his death, wdiich occurred October 13, 1703. 
About 1682 he married Jannetje, daughter of 
Thomas and Marritje Abrahamse (\'os- 
burgh) Mingael, she and her husband being 
first cousins, once removed, as her father and 
her husband were first cousins. There is no 
record of her birth ; but she was doubtless 
much younger than he, for following his de- 
mise, she married. February 2, 1713, Jochem 
Lambertse \'an \'alkenburgh and had five 
sons. As all their children excepting the first 
born were baptized in Kinderhook, it is safe 
to believe that the eldest was born in Kings 
county. New York, and all the others after 
his removal, about 1684, in Kinderhook. Chil- 
dren : Catharine, born about 1683, married 
Bartholomeus \'an \"alkenburgh ; Marritje, 
baptized December 27, 1685 ; Thomas, bap- 
tized August 22, 1688, see forward : Johan- 
nes, baptized August 11, 1691 ; Dirckje, bap- 
tized May 26, 1695. married Peter Vosburgh ; 
Antje, baptized January 16, 1698, died young; 
Annetje. baptized July 28, 17CXD; Pieter, bap- 
tized August 9, 1702. 



(HI) Thomas, son of Lambert Janse and 
Jannetje Mingael, Van Alstyne. was baptized 
in Kinderhook, New York, August 22, 1688. 
On the death of his father in 1703. he came 
into possession of the homestead lying along 
Kinderhook creek, adjacent to the farm of 
his grandfather, the pioneer settler. He was 
a member of the Dutch church of Muitzeskill, 
where were baptized most of his offspring, 
although one of them, Maria, was baptized 
in Albany. In 1752 he bought a tract of land 
in the district of Claverack, described in the 
records kept at Hudson, New York, as lying 
between the Claverack and Kinderhook 
creeks. His will, dated November 15, 1760,. 
and on file in Albany, devises the farm oc- 
cupied by William, and his big gun to that 
son, provided that he pay off the debt on it 
amounting to one hundred pounds, and di- 
vided his property among five children after 
providing for the support of his wife during 
life, and to Peter his bouwery or whole farm, 
with all belongings thereto, provided that he 
pay his brother, Lambert, four hundred 
pounds in current money within six years of 
the testator's death. He died in August, 1765, 
at Kinderhook. He married, December 12, 
1718, Maria Van Alen. She was baptized 
June 21, 1695, ''"d was the daughter of Wil- 
liam and Alarritje (Van Patten) Van Alen. 
Children : Jannetje, baptized March 6, 1720, 
died young ; William, baptized December 10, 
1721, see forward; Lambert, baptized October 
4, 1724, married (first) Alida Conyn, mar- 
ried (second) Aletteka Osterhout ; Maria,, 
baptized September 10, 1727, died young; 
Catharine, baptized January 17, 1731, mar- 
ried Petrus Hoffman : Maria, baptized No- 
vember 18, 1733, married Dr. Johannes Pat- 
terson; Pieter, baptized May 16, 1736, mar- 
ried Marritje Conyn, 

(IV) William, son of Thomas and Maria 
( \'an Alen) \'an Alstyne, was baptized in 
Muitzeskill. December 10, 1721. In 1752 he 
and his wife were members of the Dutch 
church of Kinderhook, He probably settled 
upon the farm which had just come into pos- 
session of his father by purchase of the patent 
from John \'an Rensselaer, and which was 
bequeathed to him outright on his father's 
death, situate between Kinderhook and Clav- 
erack creeks. One or two records are of in- 
terest. On May i, 1772, he leased a house, 
shop and a fulling mill, with dam and two 
acres, to Thomas Avery, and as much wood 
as he required for burning. In August, 1791, 
he bought a farm in Hillsdale from John 
Collier. A document bearing date October 
19' 1793- deeds a negro boy named Tom to- 
his son, Lawrence. July 12, 1799, he sold 



48 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



to the same son the farm he had bought of 
Nicholas and Philip Hoffman a few years 
before. He was commissioned a captain in 
Colonel Jeremiah Hogeboom's regiment, 
which served in the revolutionary war ; his 
commission, signed by Governor Cadwalader 
Colden, preserved by the Holland Society, 
bears date Ajiril 4, 1770. He died May 
22, 1802, and his tombstone was found 
a century later on the farm which he had 
bought from the Hoffmans. He married 
(first) in 1744, Christina \'an Alen, who was 
"baptized June 16, 1723, daughter of Steph- 
anas and Mary (Muller) \'an Alen, by 
whom he had five children; married (second) 
September 17, 1762, Catharine Knickerbocker, 
who was baptized October 19, 1731, daughter 
of Lawrence and Catharine (Van Home) 
Knickerbocker, by whom he had four chil- 
•dren. Children: Maria, baptized March 23, 
1745, married Richard Esselstyn ; Hilletje, 
baptized January 25, 1746, died young; Jan- 
netje, baptized February 29, 1749, married 
William Winne, Jr.; Albertina, born in 1754, 
married John DeForest ; Thomas, born Feb- 
ruary 18, 1765, see forward; Lawrence, born 
June 22, 1767, married Mary Murdock ; Wil- 
liam, born January 31, 1770, married Maria 
Vosburgh ; Mary, born January 6, 1773, mar- 
ried John Leggett. 

(V) Thomas (2), son of William and Cath- 
arine (Knickerbocker) Van Alstyne, was bom 
February 18, 1765. In the Columbia county 
records, under date of May 7, 1795, it is 
stated that he and his wife, together with 
other ownership claimants, deeded the farm 
which was apparently the property of the first 
Thomas \'an Alstyne secured from John Van 
Rensselaer in 1752, to Thomas Goldthwait. 
He died September 10, 1838. He married 
Mabel Butler, born January 3, 1768, died Jan- 
uary 10, 1832, daughter of Ezekiel and Ma- 
bel (Jones) Butler. Her father displayed so 
much zeal in the American cause for liberty 
that the British offered a reward for his head, 
dead or alive, and it is probable that he died 
before the close of hostilities because he was 
privately buried for fear that his body would 
be disinterred for the sake of the reward. 
Mabel Butler was a lineal descendant of Col- 
onel John Jones, one of the regicides of 
Charles the First, whose wife was Henrietta 
Cromwell, sister of Oliver Cromwell. Chil- 
dren: I. William, born November 12, 1791 ; 
married Polly Ostrander ; died October 12, 
1867. 2. Maria, married February 14, 1815, 
Martin Barton. 3. Catharine, married, March 
13, 1819, Scovil Martin. 4. Thomas Butler, 
born July 27, 1797, see forward. 5. John 
Thomas, born September 28, 1800; married, 



Februarj' 8, 1826, Jane Ackerman ; died Feb- 
ruary 10, 1876. 6. Temperance, born in 1802, 
died October 29, 1877. 7. Jane, born March 
4, 1805 ; married, December 27, 1827, Dr. 
Levi B. Skinner; died December 18, 1886. 8. 
Lawrence, born February 16, 1807; married, 
March 28, 1829, Eliza Van Hoesen ; died 
Januar)- 18, 1835. 9. Sally, married John 
Van Bramer. 10. Ezekiel Butler, born No- 
vember 6, 181 1. II. Louisa, born Novem- 
ber 2^, 1813; married, December 14, 1839, 
Rev. Nicholas Van Alstine ; died February 
II, 1871. 

(\T) Dr. Thomas Butler Van Alstyne, son 
of Thomas (2) and Mabel (Butler) Van Al- 
styne, was born in Ghent, Columbia county, 
New York, July 27, 1797. He was a well- 
known physician of Richmondville, Schoharie 
county. New York. Having completed 
a common school education, he began as a 
clerk in a general merchandise store in Hud- 
son, but not finding this occupation at all 
congenial to his tastes, he prepared for the 
profession of his real choice, that of medi- 
cine, commencing his studies under Dr, 
Samuel White of the same place, then grad- 
uated from the Fairfield Medical College in 
]8i8. and, following his advice, located the 
following year at Richmondville, where he 
continued to practice for over forty years. 
He met with considerable success, and be- 
came widely known in that section, and 
although often summoned elsewhere for con- 
sultation in critical cases and oft'ered a medi- 
cal college professorship, he favored his work 
and declined. He was a forceful advocate 
of the abolition of slavery and not only prac- 
ticed but frequently preached abstinence from 
intoxicants as a beverage. He died Octo- 
ber 26, 1867. Dr. Van Alstyne married, Au- 
gust ID, 1820, Eliza Shepard Giles, born Oc- 
tober 28, 1799, died May 13, 1877. Children: 
I. Jane Ann, born May 22, 182 1 ; married, 
October 8, 1839, Rev. Joseph Kingsley Bar- 
ry ; died December 4, 1853. 2. Thomas W., 
born December 12, 1822, died April 25, 1825. 
3. Thomas Jefferson, born July 25, 1827, see 
forward. 4. Sylvester Memford, born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1833 ; married. July 9. 1855, Cyn- 
thia E. Whitney: died October 28, 1882. ' 5. 
Fayette Edgar, born June 15, 1837, died Sep- 
tember 30, 1905 ; married, August 19, 1857, 
Rose M. Markel. 6. John Lawrence, born 
Octoljer 8, 1840 ; married, October 8, 1868, 
Carrie A. Shults. 7. Mary Eliza, born March 
18, 1846; married, November 7, 1873, J. Les- 
lie Multer. 

(VH) Hon. Thomas Jefferson \'an .Al- 
styne, son of Dr. Thomas Butler and Eliza 
Shepard (Giles) Van Alstyne, was born in 





y%<^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



49 



Richmondville, Schoharie county. New York, 
July 25, 1827, where his father was then a 
practicing physician. He first studied at the 
pubhc schools, until, by his natural inclina- 
tion for serious application and a strong de- 
sire for knowledge, he had prepared him- 
self thoroughly for a higher education. At 
the age of thirteen, while visiting the house 
of his brother-in-law, a Baptist in Cayuga 
county, he conceived the purpose of acquir- 
ing an education which should fit him to make 
his own mark in the world, so he entered the 
Moravia Academy. After that he completed 
his preparation for college by attending 
Hartwick Seminary. With six of his com- 
panions he matriculated at Hamilton College, 
from which he was graduated in 1848, re- 
ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and 
in 185 1 that of Master of Arts. In the 
college course his class standing was good, 
and he excelled especially in mathematics. 
'So assiduous was he at this age. on entering 
upon maturity, that he applied himself at the 
same time to a course in law, under instruc- 
tion from Professor Theodore W. Dwight, 
who subsequently became eminent in the law 
department of Columbia College. After grad- 
uation he entered the law office of Harris 
& Van Vorst of Albany, then a well-known 
legal firm of the Capital city. By diligent 
attention to the business of this office, he 
was enabled, with his knowledge of the prin- 
ciples of law which he had previously ac- 
quired, to pass a most satisfactory examina- 
tion before the close of the year, the exam- 
ining committee for the court consisting of 
Hon. John H. Reynolds, Hon. John K. Por- 
ter and Orlando Meads. He was admitted 
on March 6, 1848, and continued his studies 
in the same law office until the year 1850, 
when he opened his own office, continuing 
to practice alone until 1853, when he formed 
a partnership with Matthew McMahon, which 
association continued through four years. In 
1858 Mr. Van Alstyne formed a partnership 
with Mr. Winfield Scott Hevenor, of Al- 
bany, and had its office in the Douw Build- 
ing, Broadway and State street, until the 
death of Mr. Van Alstyne. 

His political life was notable. He was ever 
a Democrat of the staunchest kind. He was 
elected judge of Albany county in 1871, and 
presided for twelve years. He was elected 
congressman in 1882. after a hard-fought 
contest in the political arena, where his foren- 
sic powers shone brilliantly and his sturdi- 
ness of character combined with a manly posi- 
tiveness won for him a notable victory. The 
city was at that time considerably stirred in 
politics. . The mayoralty contest of that pe- 



riod, Swinburne vs. Nolan, will remain in 
local history as a political battle waged with 
fearful animosity and an unpleasant degree 
of venom exhibited on both sides. On tak- 
ing his seat in the forty-eighth congress, he 
was appointed a member of the committee 
on claims, and also on the committee on 
expenditures of the department of justice. He 
was credited with being thoroughly attentive 
to his duties as the public's representative, 
and his term will be remembered by his con- 
stituents as one giving abundant satisfaction 
to political friends and foes alike, for he arose 
above his party strife once he was elected. 
His party renominated him at the end of two 
years : but the dissension in his party pre- 
vented his chance for being elected, and his 
opponent. Dr. John Swinburne, known as the 
"Fighting Doctor," with an enormous follow- 
ing among the poor, was chosen. He was 
nominated for mayor of Albany and elected 
November 2, 1897, and served from Janu- 
ary I, 1898, to 1900. He had as opponents 
General Selden E. Marvin, Hon. George H. 
Stevens, Robert H. Moore and George Du 
Bois. His vote was 8,172; that of General 
Marvin, 6,014, and of George H. Stevens, 
6,012. 

He was a Mason of prominence, associated 
with the fraternity for many years and when 
a young man actively concerned in all its 
affairs, officiating frequently on committees 
because of the value of the services he could 
render through able advice. Entered Mount 
\'ernon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, 
October 4, 1855 ; Master Mason, November 
19, 1855 ; master, 1858-61 ; marshal. 1865. 
He was a prominent member of the Emman- 
uel Baptist Church, and a life member of the 
Young Men's Association, in which he had 
shown great concern, as his interest seemed 
to center naturally in the welfare of young 
men of the city. Often he found it a pleas- 
ure to converse and consult with them, and 
in this particular trait his genial character 
was seen at its ver>' best. He was a member 
of The Albany Institute and one of the most 
aggresive in the movement which resulted in 
the combination of the two bodies forming 
the Albany Institute and Historical and Art 
Society. As a trustee he was the most reg- 
ular of all upon the board in attending meet- 
ings and his keen interest was felt decisively. 
Whenever discussion of important business 
showed tendency to delay, he was ready be- 
fore the tabling of a motion with a resolu- 
tion, in which he forcefully, cogently and 
sagaciously pointed the solution, thus bring- 
ing matters to a direct issue by his terse 
amendment, uttered in phraseology as one 



50 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



would present salient features of a legal brief. 

Judge \"an Alstyne was fond of travel, and 
was wont to bring back with him rare sou- 
venirs of countries visited, and in this way 
nia(Je a collection of rare, old china. Friend- 
ly intercourse with him was a source of pleas- 
ure, as his intellectuality lent a decided charm 
and made the moments pass worthily. He 
was a man of unusually large physique, 
broad-shouldered, and giving an appearance 
of unusual strength throughout his bearing. 
His features bore the stamp of ruddy health ; 
his eyes were ever bright and sparkling as 
with ready wit actuating his thoughts, and 
he walked with a firm, elastic step, which 
was a noticeable characteristic. 

Mr. \'an Alstyne died at his home, No. 289 
State street, in the early morning of October 
26, 1903, of heart failure. He had never 
missed regular attendance at his office until 
that time and in all sorts of weather might 
have been seen taking his afterncxjn recrea- 
tion in driving about the country roads, a 
habit which no doubt gave him his large 
share of health. So soon as Mayor Gaus re- 
ceived intelligence of the death, he ordered 
that the flags on the City Hall, police stations, 
schools and fire houses be lowered, and the 
first to call a meeting for action on his de- 
mise was the Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons 
of the Revolution. The Fort Orange Club, 
of which he was charter meinber, lowered 
its flag, and the Albany Institute and His- 
torical and Art Society held a special meeting 
that afternoon. The Albany County Bar As- 
sociation assembled in the supreme court on 
October 29, President William P. Rudd in 
the chair, and an address was delivered by 
Judge D. Cady Herrick, a hfe-long friend, 
while the committee prepared resolutions. He 
said in part: "My acquaintance with him 
dates back to the time when, after I began 
the practice of law, I became located in an 
adjoining office, where I had excellent op- 
portunity to study his remarkable personalitv, 
and up to the time of his death our relations 
were always close and sometimes intimate. 
Eminence in his profession did not fill the 
measure of his honorable ambition. He ref>- 
resented his home constituency in the Legis- 
lative halls of the Nation, and as the crown- 
ing event of his political career, rendered 
efficient service to his fellow citizens as their 
chief magistrate. Honest and faithful in the 
discharge of every trust, public or private, 
attentive and conscientious in the performance 
of every duty, official or self-imposed, his in- 
tegrity was manifest at all times and in all 
places, and on every occasion. He was strong 
mentally, strong morally, and strong physic- 



ally — there was no hypocrisy in his nature, 
and as time rolled on and I grew to under- 
stand him better, I liked him more. A pe- 
culiarity in his nature which no doubt many 
of you have observed, wjnen we were assem- 
bled here on such sad occasions as this, was- 
the tenderness with which he spoke in mem- 
ory of those with whom he had had many 
conflicts in life. In private life, a man of 
domestic habits, literary tastes and scholarly 
attainments, a student of books and a lover 
of nature. In his conversation and public 
utterances he was frank and candid, adopting 
the honest and forcible manner of stating 
plain truths rather than the methods of po- 
lite insincerity. He was a good citizen and 
neighbor, an affectionate husband and pa- 
rent, and a true friend." Mayor Gaus and 
the heads of departments of city government 
assembled previous to the funeral and drew 
up resolutions. 

Judge Van Alstyne married (first), A1-' 
bany, September 3, 185 1, Sarah, born Feb- 
ruary 29, 1832, died September 25, 1859, 
daughter of Reuel Clapp, of the Albany firm 
of Clapp & Townsend, and Sarah (Coon) 
Clapp, of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mar- 
ried (second) N. Louisa Peck, of Albany, 
born July 14, 1842, died November 12, 1884, 
daughter of Samuel S. and Eliza M. (Col- 
lum) Peck. Married (third) February 17, 
1886, Laura Louisa, daughter of William 
and Lydia (Van Derbilt) Wiirdemann, of 
Washington, D. C, the former of whom was 
a prominent manufacturer of astronomical and 
mathematical instruments. Children of first 
wife: I. Thomas Butler, born June 3, 1852; 
married. May 7, 1879, .\nna Richards, of 
Washington, D. C, daughter of Lysander and 
Content (Clapp) Richards. 2. Charles Ed- 
win, born July 18. 1855, died July 10, 1858. 
Child of third wife: 3. William Thomas, 
born July 28. 1887: educated in .\lbany .\cad- 
emy and Yale University, graduating in class 
of 1910, after which he entered Columbia 
Law School of New York Citv. 



The family name of Sanders 
S.VXDFRS is to be found in English rec- 
ords earlier than the year 
1500, where it is also frequently spelled Saun- 
ders ; but those who have taken special in- 
terest in following the history of the branch 
of the family which came among the early 
settlers to America, declare that it is an al- 
teration or abbreviation by the Hollanders for 
the .Scottish name .Mexander, whence they 
originally emigrated, going first to Holland 
at the time of religious persecution. The 
name is derived from the Greek, and signi- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



51 



fies an aider or benefactor of men, from 
the words meaning "to aid" and "man." It 
betokens a powerful auxiliary. If derived 
from the somewhat similar surname, Sand 
or Sands, it would then signify sense, or wit. 
The Sanders Arms — Shield : Sable, a chev- 
ron ermine, between three bull's heads, ca- 
bossed, argent. Crest : A demi-bull erased, 
gules. 

The family occupied a prominent position 
before coming to this country, and the rec- 
ords show that the men were not alone thor- 
oughly educated, but possessed a determina- 
tion of character which could lead them to 
suffer death for a cause in which they believed 
themselves to be in the right. Laurence San- 
ders, who died a martyr, was the son of 
Thomas Sanders, of Harrington, Siebertoft, 
Northamptonshire, England, by his wife, 
Margaret Carr, daughter of Richard Carr. 
He was elected in 1538 from Eaton, Scholar 
of King's College, Cambridge, and graduated 
B..^. in 1541 ; M.A., in 1544, and later, it is 
said, became B.D. 

Laurence Sanders was cited to appear be- 
fore the vicar-general for having married 
March, 1553-54. He was born in Oxford- 
shire, where his father owned considerable 
land. He entered holy orders toward the 
end of the reign of Edward VL and became 
one of the famous preachers of the earliest 
Reformation period. While fearless in de- 
nouncing the corruption of the men who pro- 
fessed to represent the pure principles of the 
ancient Christian church, he was not one of 
the class of preachers who disgust the 
thoughtful by violence and religious hysteria. 
He was summoned before the crown authori- 
ties on trumped-up charges, and when it was 
found that he fearlessly continued his work 
and preached for reformation, he was im- 
prisoned and finally burned in Coventry in 
1555- His widow and his son and daughter 
escaped to Holland. Reliance is placed in 
this line of descent because the coat-of-arms 
on an ancient tablet in AUhallows Church in 
London is identical witii that on old pieces 
of silver and other family heirlooms handed 
down in the Sanders family in this country. 

(I) Thomas Sanders was the progenitor of 
this family in America. He was a silversmith 
in Amsterdam. Holland, and it is on record 
that he was in this country in 1640, for he 
married Sarah Cornelise Van Gorcum in New 
Amsterdam (New York City) in December, 
1639. He received a patent from Kieft, the 
Dutch governor, for a house and twenty-five 
morgens of land on Manhattan Island : but 
in 1654 removed to Beverwyck, where he 
bought a house and lot, which he sold later 



on to Jan Van Aecken. It is probable that 
he returned to New Amsterdam. Children: 
Robert, baptized in New Amsterdam, Novem- 
ber 10, 1641, see forward; Cornells, baptized 
in New Amsterdam, November 25, 1643; Cor- 
nells, baptized in New Amsterdam, Novem- 
ber 17, 1644; Thomas, baptized in New Am- 
sterdam, July 14, 1647. ■^^■as a lx)lter of New 
York, and his children were born there, name- 
ly : Robert, October 4, 1696; Styntjc, De- 
cember 26, 1697; Robert, January i, 1700; 
Jacob, October 19, 1701 ; Elsje, October 27, 
1703: .'\nneke, January 30, 1706; Maritje, 
May 13. 1708; Jacob, June 9, 1712; Beatrix, 
September 25, 1715. 

(II) Robert, son of Thomas and Sarah 
Cornelise (Van Gorcum) Sanders, was bap- 
tized in New Amsterdam, November 10, 1641. 
He attained considerable prominence as a 
man of wealth and through his dealings with 
the Indians in public matters. He was a 
great land owner before his death. He came 
to Beverwyck, (Albany, New York), before 
1654, with his father. In 1667 he was a 
silversmith, as his father was before him, 
probably serving apprenticeship under his gui- 
dance, and in 1692 was a merchant. He was 
admitted a "Freeman" in 1698. 

Robert Sanders acted an invaluable part in 
the colonists' dealings with the Indians, and 
the Dutch settlers always gave him a most 
prominent part because they realized his abil- 
ity to transact matters amicably. Whenever 
there was a disturbance the inhabitants relied 
on him to take a major share in bringing 
peace out of threatening trouble. When, on 
Julv I, 1689, authentic news reached Albany 
that \\'illiam and Mary had succeeded to the 
throne of England, Mayor Pieter Schuyler 
called a meeting of the council, and it was 
voted to proclaim their majesties without de- 
lay. The proclamation was made at the fort 
in English and Dutch, amid the firing of 
cannon. All went well for the space of near- 
ly a month, when there was a rumor that 
Jacob Leisler intended to establish authority 
over the city, and to turn out the officials. 
War was proclaimed between England and 
France, and a convention was held m Aliiany 
on August I, to consider the situation so as 
to prepare. Fifty persons were required, each 
to hang a gun, powder and balls in the church, 
and new palisades were erected to keep out 
the* enemy expected to come from Canada, 
where the French had their strongholds. 
There was great excitement. Men were sent 
out to procure fighters, and Robert Sanders 
was selected to enlist Indians along the Hud- 
son river and at Esopus to serve as scouts, 
knowing the trail to the north. A subscrip- 



52 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



tion provided pay for one hundred men, and 
only three hundred and sixty-seven pounds, 
English money, was pledged. A few months 
later it was announced that "ambassadors 
from Onondaga and Oneida" were on their 
way to Albany, desiring to be heard in con- 
vention so as to determine on which side the 
Five Nations were to be allied, and at the 
Indian council to be held it was necessary for 
somebody of ability to come and represent the 
province. It was decided that some of the 
wisest Mohawks should represent the city in 
conjunction with Robert Sanders, because he 
understood the language and could act as a 
fair interpreter. 

In iCigo, Robert Sanders and Colonel Pieter 
Schuyler were commissioned to attend an- 
other important council of the Five Nations, 
which should decide about the return of all 
prisoners taken to France. On February 8, 
1693, .\lbany was startled by the report that 
the French had fallen on the Mohawk cas- 
tles, and Lieutenant Johannes Schuyler was 
despatched to Schenectady with a troop of 
cavalry ; but Albany could not spare any 
quantity of its soldiers as it feared attack 
from the French who designed to take the 
city as part of the program to capture the 
province for France. Lieutenant Sanders was 
sent out with Lieutenant Schuyler to locate 
the enemy and reported that they had oc- 
cupied the two lower villages. Major In- 
goldesby sent several hundred men to Al- 
bany, who proceeded to Schenectady, and 
Governor Fletcher arrived there with two 
hundred and eighty men from New York. In 
this campaign the French lost thirty-three, 
with twenty-six wounded, and were driven 
back to Montreal. 

Robert Sanders acquired land a mile square 
in Dutchess county, the tract including the 
site of Poughkeepsie. Governor Thomas 
Dongan on June 2, 1688. issued a patent of 
confirmation to Colonel Pieter Schuyler, the 
first mayor of Albany, for two tracts on the 
east side of the Hudson river, for which a 
patent had been previously granted by Gov- 
ernor Lovelace, tlie first being just south of 
the Livingston Manor : the second, a long 
reach on the Hudson bounded on the south 
and east by Wappinger creek, and Colonel 
Schuyler sold the tract on the long reach, Au- 
gust 30, 1699, to Robert Sanders and Myn- 
dert Harmense (Van der Piogert), who owned 
the tract adjoining north, on which site the 
city of Poughkeepsie now stands. 

That Robert Sanders also acquired other 
important tracts at other localities in New 
Netherland is shown by the following peculiar 
record signed by Harmen Vedder at Albany, 



August 21, 1670: "Appeared before me, Lu- 
dovicus Cobes, Secretary of Albany, etc., in 
the presence of the honorable Heeren com- 
missaries, etc., Mr. Jan \'erbeeck and Mr. 
Abraham Staats, Herman Vedder, who de- 
clares that in true right, free ownership, he 
grants, conveys and by these presents makes 
over, to and for the behoof of Robert San- 
ders, the half of the land called Stone Arabia 
with all his title thereto, free and unencum- 
bered, with no claims standing or issuing 
against the same, save the lord's right, with- 
out the grantor's making the least pretension 
thereto any more, also acknowledging that he 
is fully paid and satisfied therefor, the first 
penny with the last, by the hands of Robert 
Sanders, and therefore giving plenam action- 
em cessam and full powers to said Robert 
Sanders, his heirs and successors or assigns, 
to do with and dispose of said portion of land 
as he might do with his patrimonial estate 
and effects." 

Robert Sanders married Elsje Barentse. 
Children: i. Helena, born June 23, 1674; 
married, September 20, 1704, Johannes Lan- 
sing, born January i, 1675. died August 10, 
1771, son of Gerrit and Elsje (Van Wyth- 
horst) Lansing. 2. Barent, born IMay 8, 1678; 
see forward. 3. Maria, married, >Jovember 
24, 1689, Gerrit Roseboom, son of Hendrick 
Janse Roseboom, who was sexton of the 
Dutch church before 1674. 4. Sara, married 
Hendrick Greefraadt. 5. Elsje, baptized July 
13, 1683: buried December 31, 1732; married 
Evert Wendell, Jr., born in 1660, son of Evert 
Janse Wendell, who came from Emden, Hol- 
land. 

(Ill) Barent, son of Robert and Elsje (Ba- 
rentse) Sanders, was born May 8, 1678, bur- 
ied in the old Dutch church, June 22, 1738. 
It was during his lifetime that the ancient 
Glen-Sanders house at Scotia, Schenectady 
county. New York, was built, which became 
the Sanders homestead for six generations, in 
fact, it was erected when he was thirty-five 
years old, in 1713. This house but replaced 
the older, almost upon or near the same site, 
and of the self-same material, but half a 
century later. It is, in 19 10, in admirable 
condition throughout, and attracts visitors 
daily to it despite the fact that it is at least 
a mile from the city of Schenectady. The 
original mansion was built about 1659 by Al- 
exander Lindsey Glen, founder of that family 
in America, who was one of the original 
"Fifteen Proprietors" of Schenectady. He 
was born about 1610, near Inverness, Scot- 
land, and when he crossed to Holland because 
of religious persecution, the Dutchmen called 
him Sander Leendertse. He was a partisan 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



53 



in the days of Charles I, and had to flee to 
Holland to protect himself, where he was 
warmly received. He later emigrated with 
his wife, Catherine Dongan (Catalyn Doncas- 
sen), and the early Dutch settlers to New 
Netherland. He was a man of liberal educa- 
tion, which he received in Scotland, and pos- 
sessed a large fortune ; was typical in physique 
and temperament of his native heath, and was 
known as a strong man. He was the agent 
of the Dutch West India Company at Fort 
Nassau on the Delaware river, in 1643, and 
in 1646 was granted land at Graves End 
on Long Island. In 1658 he removed to Sche- 
nectady, where he commenced building his 
stone mansion. 

This was the first house built upon the 
north bank of the Mohawk river for the 
entire one hundred and thirty-five miles of 
its length. It was constructed close to the 
water's edge and against the side of a steep 
slope leading to the broad, sandy plateau on 
which the village of Scotia stands. It was 
located about three-quarters of a mile west 
of the old Glenville bridge leading across the 
Mohawk to Schenectady. Herein for genera- 
tions were deposited important colonial docu- 
ments. It stood about one hundred feet south 
of the present Sanders edifice, and had to be 
taken down because each spring the high wat- 
er was an inconvenience and a serious men- 
ace, so in 1713 much of the same material 
was used in the construction of the one now 
occupied by the Sanders family, and the in- 
roads of the river have obliterated even the 
outline of where stood the foundations, fill- 
ing the same in with silt. Between the two 
sites was the place where the Indians en- 
joAcd burning their white victims at the stake. 
On the flats to the east the savages grew their 
corn, as set forth in the title as their '"corn- 
field." He named the place Scotia in mem- 
ory of the land of his birth. The title was 
from the Mohawk Indians from 1658 to 1665, 
and then he obtained a patent from the crown. 
He was a religious man, and finding it irk- 
some to drive the seventeen miles to Albany 
every Sabbath morn, in 1682 built the Dutch 
Church which was also used as the town hall. 
Mr. Glen also owned a town lot in Schenec- 
tady, with two hundred feet frontage on 
Washington avenue, the residence thereon oc- 
cupied by his descendants until burned in 
1819. He died in 1685, and was buried un- 
der the church beside his wife, who had died 
tlie previous year. 

The reason why the house was neither at- 
tacked nor burned during the great massacre 
of 1690 is interesting. It was Major John 
Alexander Glen, son of the former, who built 



the present mansion in 1713, and who was 
alive at the time of the massacre. The Glens 
were very friendly with the Indians, alive 
also to rescue a white captive from the sav- 
ages. One day a party of Mohawks brought 
to the original house a Jesuit priest who 
had come down from Canada, where were 
the French, intending to have him locked up 
by Major Glen until the following day, when 
they proposed to torture him before taking 
his life. Glen pretended to fear the magical 
powers of the priest, and having two keys 
to his cellar door told the Indians that they 
might lock the priest in there, and on hand- 
ing one key to the redskins remarked that 
he would have nothing to do with the matter, 
for he did not believe a key would hold a 
priest confined so long as there was a key- 
hole through which he was doubtless able to 
send his spirit and body likewise. Earlv the 
next morning. Major Glen placed the priest 
in a cask and despatched it in his cart for 
Albany. This act had its important bearing. 
It gratified the French of Canada, so when 
Schenectady was attacked on the bitterly cold 
night of February 8, 1690, by the French 
and their savage allies under Seignior Le 
Moyne de Sainte Helene, it was ordered that 
no harm be done to the house of the Glens 
or to any relative. Glen undertook to per- 
suade the Indians that he had many relatives 
in Schenectady, whom he wished spared ; but 
the number increased so extensively that he 
had to desist or the Redmen, perceiving the 
ruse, would spare none, as they began to 
have doubts. In this massacre, now a feature 
in colonial history, about eighty houses were 
burned to the groiuid and some three hundred 
souls w'ere slain. 

The present house is charming in its co- 
lonial quaintness. The walls are unusually 
thick and the timbers massive. The latter 
were cut from trees so large that they were 
first cut into lengths, and these split into four 
timbers each two feet square. Tliey are won- 
derfully dovetailed together and fastened with 
wooden pins. The doors are wide, and what 
is peculiar they are made of one mammoth 
piece of wood, while those leading out are 
divided in the middle, the upper portion set 
with small lights of glass. Across the ex- 
terior, beneath the eaves, are to be seen the 
large iron letters and numerals, "A O i 7 i 3." 
The furniture, silverware and crockery in this 
house have been in use for generations, and 
attract much attention by their beauty. In the 
attic were stored countless documents from 
which a history might be written ; but un- 
fortunately at the time of the civil war, when 
paper was in great demand, about a ton was 



S6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



river Severn, eleven miles north by west of 
Bristol, England. Its length is about one 
hundred and thirty miles, navigable to Here- 
ford, and the stream is noted for its pic- 
turesque scenery, in fact so beautiful is the 
river Wye, made attractive by its castellated 
shores, that it is well called "the Rhine of 
England." It was appointed the boundary 
between England and Wales by Athelstan in 
the year 939. 

The early owners of the land were, before 
the days of surnames, known as "Eustace" 
or "Baldwin," or "Robert of Whitney," as the 
Christian name might be. Written in the style 
of those times, "of" was "de" and after a 
while, "De Whitney," or "De Wytteneye," as 
it was usually spelled, came to be regarded 
as the family name. Finally the letter "h" 
was introduced and the "De" was dropped, so 
that throughout four centuries the present 
form has been the established one. It also 
shows on old English records as Witney, 
Wittney, Witnenie, Witeney, Witteneye, Wyt- 
ney, Wyttneye, Wyteney, W^ytteneye, Whit- 
eneye and Whittenye. 

The Whitney Arms — Shield : Azure, a 
cross chequy or and gules. Crest: A bull's 
head couped sable, armed argent, the points 
gules. Motto : Magnanimiter crucem sus- 
tene ; "Gallantly uphold the cross." As reg- 
istered in the College of Arms, and probably 
originating during the early crusades, remain- 
ing unchanged up to the time of emigration 
of John Whitney, in 1635. 

Regarding the origin of the family and its 
location, as it leads towards the departure of 
a member in direct descent who became the 
progenitor of the family in America, there is 
much of interest, and it must necessarily be 
expressed in brief. At the present day, there 
is a tract in England known as "Whitney 
Wood," probably identical with the one re- 
ferred to in a writ of the seventeenth year of 
Henry III (1233), wherein the sheriff of 
Hereford was commanded "to cause a good 
breach to be made through the woods of 
Erdelegh, Bromlegh and \Vitteneye. so that 
there may be safe passage between the City of 
Hereford and Maud's Castle." This castle 
was built by William le Braas, Lord of 
Brecknock, about 1216, in the reign of King 
John, and so named in honor of his wife. 
The Domesday Book mentions Whitney in 
the year 1086, at which time the land was 
scarcely under cultivation, as follows : "In 
Elsedune hundred, the King holds Witenie, 
Aluuard held it in the time of King Edward, 
and was able to go where he pleased. There 
is half a hide yielding geld. It was and is 
waste." 



Rolf, or Guy, has the credit of being the 
first of whom there is undisputed, authentic 
trace. He had a son, Turstin de Wigemore, 
the Fleming, who was living in 1086, and 
married Agnes, daughter of Alured de ]\Ierle- 
berge, of Ewias Castle. Their son was Eu- 
stace, who, "at the request of my mother, 
Agnes, have given to St. Peter and the 
brothers of Gloucester a hide of land in Pen- 
combe which is called Suthenhale (Sydnal), 
free and clear from any encumbrance : and 
through this deed, I have placed it on the 
altar of Saint Peter of Gloucester." 

Eustace had a son, also named Eustace de 
W^'tteneye, Knight, who confirmed this deed 
of gift, by a document so signed and delivered 
to "the monks and Lord Reginald, Abbot of 
Saint Peter's at Gloucester, and to the con- 
vent of that place." Thus, while there may 
be no record showing that Eustace, the elder, 
used the name in full, his son, in the days 
of Reginald the Abbot, or 1263-84, wrote 
himself as "Eustace de Wytteneye," and it 
is therefore proved that he was third in de- 
scent from Turstin the Fleming, son of Rolf, 
who owned the land on^ the river Wye, the 
home of the Wytteneyes, later changed to 
Whitney in records. 

That the Whitney family was represented 
in the Crusades seems more than likely, for 
a cross on a coat-of-arms wliich is known 
positively to date to that period is quite gen- 
erally understood by the most careful students 
of ancient heraldry to indicate that it once be- 
longed to a crusader, and in the \\'hitney 
arms the chief, in fact, the only, solitary sym- 
bol is a cross. 

Nearly every writer dealing with the his- 
tory of this family has given the following 
explanation : "Sir Randolph de Whitney, the 
grandson of Eustace, accompanied Richard 
Coeur de Lion to the Crusades, and distin- 
guished himself greatly by his personal 
strength and great courage. On one occasion 
he was sent by Richard on a mission to the 
French conunander, and, as he was leaving 
the British camp, the brother of Saladin 
(whom he had twice before defeated) fol- 
lowed him with two Saracens in his company, 
and, riding around a small hill, made a furious 
attack upon De Whitney, who defended him- 
self with the greatest vigor; hut his assailants 
were gaining upon him, when a furious Span- 
ish bull, which was feeding near the field of 
conflict, was attracted by the red dresses of 
the Saracens, and becoming angry at the color 
flitting before him, made so vigorous an at- 
tack upon them that they were diverted from 
their intended prey, and sought safety in flight. 
Sir Randolph soon succeeded in wounding his 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



57 



single assailant, whom he left for dead, and 
then, overtaking the two Saracens, dispatched 
them and proceeded upon his mission from 
the King." 

To carry the entire line, even by name and 
date from the time of Turstin, son of Rolf, in 
1086, to the time of John Whitney, who emi- 
grated to America in 1635, more than two 
and one-half centuries ago, would require 
much space ; but in brief it perfects the fam- 
ily history. 

Sir Robert de Whitney, of Wliitney, 
Knight, living in 1242, had son, Sir Eustace 
de Whitney, Knight, who was granted Free 
Warren by King Edward I, in 1284, and 
was summoned to military service beyond the 
seas in 1297, and summoned to the Scotch 
war in 1301. His son was Sir Eustace de 
Whitney, of Whitney, who was knighted by 
Edward I, in 1306, and was member of par- 
liament for Herefordshire in 1313 and 1352. 
His son was Sir Robert de Whitney, Knight, 
one of two hundred gentlemen, who in 1368 
went to Milan in the retinue of the Duke of 
Clarence, and was member of parliament for 
Herefordshire in 1377-79-80. His son, Rob- 
ert, was sent abroad to negotiate a treaty 
with the Count of Flanders in 1388; was 
member of Parliament in 1391 ; was sent to 
France to deliver castle and town of Cher- 
bourg to the King of Navarre, in 1393; was 
Knight Marshal at the Court of Richard H; 
was killed, with his brother and relatives, at 
the battle of Pilleth, in 1402. 

His son, Sir Robert Whitney, of Whitney, 
Knight, was granted the Castle of Clifford 
and lordships of Clifford and Glasbury, by 
Henry I\', in 1404, on account of his serv- 
ices : was member of parliament, 1416-22; 
fought in the French war under Henry V, 
was captain of Castle and town of Vire, in 
1420, and died March 12, 1441. 

His son, Eustace de Whitney, Knight, 
born 141 1, was head of the commission sent 
to Wales by Henry \'l, in 1455 ; member of 
parliament for Herefordshire. 1468; married 
Jenett Russell, daughter of Sir Thomas. 

His son, Robert, probably also a knight, 
was an active participant in the War of the 
Roses ; attainted as a Yorkist by Lancastrian 
parliament, in 1459 ; probably was at battle 
of Mortimer's Cross, in 1461, and was the 
subject of a poem by Lewis Glyn Cothi, on 
his marriage to Constance, the great-grand- 
daughter of Sir David Gam. 

His son, James Whitney, was appointed re- 
ceiver of Newport, part of the estate of the 
Duke of Buckingham, confiscated by Henry 
yill, in 1522. 

His son, Robert, of Icomb, was placed in 



charge of Brecknock, Hay and Huntington, 
the confiscated estates of the Duke of Buck- 
ingham, in 1523; was nominated Knight of 
the Bath by Henry VHI, at coronation of 
Anne Boleyn, in 1531, and died in 1541. He 
furnished forty men to put down rebellion in 
1536. He married Margaret, daughter of 
Robert Wye. of Gloucestershire, England. 

His son. Sir Robert Whitney, Knight, was 
dubbed in October, 1553, the day following 
Queen Mary"s coronation ; was summoned be- 
fore the Privy council in 1555-59; member 
of parliament for Herefordshire, 1559, and 
died August 5, 1567. 

His son. Sir James Whitney, born in 1544, 
was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Wind- 
sor, in 1570; was sheriff of Herefordshire, 
1574-86-87: died May 31, 1587. 

His brother, Robert Whitney, married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Morgan Guillims, or 
Duglim, who had a son, Thomas Whitney, of 
Westminster, Gentleman, see forward. 

Thomas Whitney, son of Robert and Eliza- 
beth (Guillims) Whitney, was a native of 
Westminster, England, and was buried in St. 
Margaret's, April 14, 1637. It is recorded 
that in 161 1 he paid the subsidy tax, and on 
December 6, 1615, on the probate of the will 
of his father-in-law, John Bray, he was ap- 
pointed executor, lie apprenticed his son, 
John, on February 22, 1607, and his son, Rob- 
ert, on November 8, 1624. At the time of 
his death, in 1637, his oldest surviving son, 
John, being out of the country, administra- 
tion of his estate was granted. May 8, 1637, 
to his remaining sons, Francis and Robert. 
Of the other six children, he having had nine, 
all six were then dead. He obtained, May 10, 
1583, from the Dean and Chapter of West- 
minster, a license to marry Mary Bray, in 
which document he is mentioned as "Thomas 
Whytney of Lambeth Marsh, Gentleman," 
and the marriage took place on May 12, at 
St. Margaret's Church. She was the daughter 
of John Bray, of Westminster, and she was 
buried in St. Margaret's on September 25, 
1629. "Lambeth Marsh" is the name still ex- 
isting, and denotes a locality near the Surrey 
end of the Westminster bridge. Children: 
Margaret, born 1584, died 1604: Thomas, 
1587, died 1587: Yienry, 1588, died 1589; 
John, 1589, see forward; Arnwaye, 1590, died, 
1591 ; Nowell, 1594, died 1597: Francis, 1599, 
died at Westminster, 1643 ; Mary, 1600, died 
1600: Robert, 1605, died in parish of St. 
Peter's, Cornhill. London, England, 1662. 

(I) John Whitney, son of Thomas and 
Mary (Bray) Whitney, was born in West- 
minster, England, 1589: was baptized in St. 
Margaret's church, July 20, 1592, and com- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



ing to America in 1635, died at Watertown, 
Massachusetts, June i, 1673. He was re- 
corded "Gentleman" in his marriage license 
taken out in England, and it is presumed that 
his education in the famous "Westminster 
School" now known as St. Peter's College, 
was a good one. When fourteen years old, 
he was apprenticed by his father. February 
22. •1607, to \Mlliam Pring, of the Old Bailey, 
London, who was a "Freeman" of the Mer- 
chant Tailors' Company, then the most fam- 
ous and prosperous of all the great trade 
guilds, numbering in its membership distin- 
guished men of the professions, the nobility 
and the Prince of Wales. On March 13, 1614, 
when twenty-one years of age, he became a 
full-fledged member. He made his residence 
at Isleworth-on-Thames, eight miles from his 
^\'estminster home, and about 1618, married 

Elinor , who was born in England, 

1599, and six children were born to him be- 
fore sailing for America, three afterwards. 
His father apprenticed to him his youngest 
brother, Robert, November 8, 1624, who 
served seven years. He removed, about 1631, 
to London, where entries in the register of 
St. Mary Aldermery indicate that he resided 
in "Bowe lanne," near Bow church, where 
hang the famous bells. Early in April, 1635, 
he registered with his wife, Elinor, and their 
sons, John, Richard, Nathaniel, Thomas and 
Jonathan, as passengers in the ship "Eliza- 
beth and Ann," Roger Cooper, master. They 
arrived at W'atertown, Massachusetts, in 
June, and settled there, where their son, 
Joshua, was born July 15. John Whitney 
purchased a sixteen acre homestall, which had 
been granted to John Strickland, who had 
been dismissed from the Watertown church, 
May 29, 1635, and was one of that colony 
to remove and plant Wcthersfield, Connecti- 
cut. This homestead was the permanent 
home of John Whitney. It was situated a 
short distance north of Belmont street and 
east of Common street. In 1668 he requested 
his youngest son, Benjamin, who had settled 
in York, Maine, to return and live with him 
at the homestead, assuring him that it should 
be his after his death. \Vith the father's con- 
sent, Benjamin conveyed his rights for forty 
pounds, in 1671, to his brother. Joshua, and 
when the father died, Joshua returned to Gro- 
ton, and October 29, 1697, sold the home- 
stead to Deacon Nathan Fiske. John Whit- 
ney was admitted freeman, March 3, 1635-36, 
was appointed constable of \\'atertown, June 
I, 1641, by the general court; selectman, 1638 
-to 1655, inclusive, and town clerk, 1655. 

He married (first) in England, Elinor 
' , born in 1599; died at Watertown, 



Massachusetts, May 11, 1659; married (sec- 
ond), Judah Clement, who died before his 
death in 1673. Children: Mary, baptized in 
England, May 23, 1619, died young; John, 
born in England, 1620, died at Watertown, 
October 12, 1692, freeman of Watertown, 
Alay 26, 1647, selectman, 1673-80. married, 
1642, Ruth, daughter of Robert Reynolds, of 
\\'atertown, Massachusetts ; Richard, born in 
England, 1626, see forward ; Nathaniel, born 
in England, 1627, nothing further known ; 
Thomas, born in England, 1629, died Sep- 
teirber 20, 1719, married, Watertown, Jan- 
uary II, 1654. Mary Kedall or Kettle: Jona- 
than, born in England. 1634, died in Sher- 
born, 1702, married, \\'atertown, October 30, 
1656, Lydia, daughter of Lewis Jones ; Dea- 
con Joshua, born in Watertown, July 5, 1635, 
died at Watertown, August 7, 1719. married, 

(first) Lydia , (second) Mary , 

who died at Groton, March 17. 1671, (third) 
September 30, 1672. Abigail Tarball : Caleb, 
born at Watertown, July 12, 1640, buried De- 
cember 5, 1640 ; Benjamin, born at Water- 
town, June 6, 1643, died in 1723, married 

('first) probably at York, Maine, Jane , 

who died November 14, 1690. married (sec- 
ond) April II, 1695, i^Iary Poor, of Marl- 
boro, Massachusetts. 

(II) Richard, son of John and Elinor 
Whitney, was born in England in 1626, and 
came to Watertown, Massachusetts, with his 
parents, arriving in June, 1635. He was ad- 
mitted freeman, May 7, 1651: was proprietor 
of Stow, June 3, 1680, whither he probably 
removed when it was a part of Concord or be- 
longed to it. On April 7, 1697, being seventy 
years of age, he was released from training 
by the court. lie married, March 19, 1650, 
Martha Coldam, and their eight children were 
born in Watertown. Massachusetts. Chil- 
dren: Sarah, born March 17. 1652; Moses, 
August I, 1655, married Sarah Knight; Jo- 
hannah, January 6, 1656; Deborah, born Oc- 
tober 12, 1658; Rebecca, December 15, 1659, 
died February, 1660; Richard, January 13, 
1660, see forward; Elisha, August 26, 1662; 
Ebenezer. June 30, 1672, at Concord, Massa- 
chusetts, died .August 5, 1727. married 
Anna . 

(III) Richard (2), .son of Richard (i) and 
Martha (Coldam) Whitney, was born at 
Watertown, Massachusetts, January 13, 1660, 
died at Stow, Massachusetts, December 15, 
1723. He had land granted to him at that 
place, October 24, 1682, whither he removed 
from his native town. He married Eliza- 
l^eth, born February 3, 1668, died November 
24, 1723, daughter of Jonathan Sawtell, of 
Groton, Massachusetts. Children : Richard, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



59 



born at Stow, Massachusetts, in 1694, see for- 
ward ; Jonathan, born at Stow, February 26, 
1699, died November 8, 1773, married, at 
Lancaster, Massachusetts, January 29, 1718, 
AHce Willard, born December, 1699, died 
February' 19, 1792, daughter of Simon Wil- 
lard; Sarah, born 1703, married, 1723, Cap- 
tain Hezekiah Hapgood ; Ruhamah, born 
1705; Joshua, born at Stow, 1706, married 

Zerviah ; Hannah, married Samuel 

Farr; Elizabeth, married, December 29, 1722, 
John Wetherby; Hepzibah, born 1710, mar- 
ried, October 12, 1732, Seth Sawyer. 

(IV) Richard (3), son of Richard (2) and 
Elizabeth (Sawtell) Whitney, was born at 
Stow, Massachusetts, in 1694, died April 27, 
1775- He married (first) Hannah, daughter 
of Josiah Whitcomb, of Lancaster, Massa- 
chusetts, who was born in 1693, died Novem- 
ber 17, 1743; married (second) October 26, 
1745, Mrs. Hannah Ayers, born in 1704, died 
September 27, 1775. Children: Mary, born 

November 24, 1715, married Gates; 

Dorothy, April 13, 1718, married Tay- 
lor; Daniel, February 13, 1720, died in 1782, 
married, November 9, 1744, Dorothy Goss, 
of Lancaster, Massachusetts ; Hannah, May 
29, 1723, married Wetherbee ; Rich- 
ard, horn at Stow, July 31, 1725, died May 4, 
1798, married, Sudbury, December 10, 1747, 
Mary Perry; Elizabeth, July 23, 1728, died 
before 1775, married, April 15, 1748, Joseph 
Wetherbee: Josiah. born in Stow, October 12, 
1731, see forward; Sarah, married, December 
23, 1769, Captain Hezekiah Whitcomb, of 
Harvard, Massachussetts. 

(V) Brigadier-General Josiah Whitney, son 
of Richard (3) and Hannah (Whitcomb) 
Whitney, was horn in Stow, Massachusetts, 
October 12, 1731, died in Albany, Mas'sa- 
cjmsetts, January 24, 1806. He was the cit- 
izen of Harvard, Massachusets, who held the 
highest military rank during the revolution, 
and was at one time the town's most noted 
and influential citizen, being the leader in 
town politics. His mother was a near rela- 
tive of the veteran military leaders. Colonel 
Asa and General John Whitcomb. On Sep- 
tember 2, 1746, his parents deeded to him land 
in Harvard, which he occupied soon after his 
marriage, his dwelling standing nearly oppo- 
site the almshouse, until torn down in 1869. 
He inherited a fondness for military affairs, 
and when about his majority, he entered upon 
what proved a most brilliant military career. 
In the spring of 1755 he was a member of the 
company commanded by Captain William 
Pierce, that marched in Colonel Whitcomb's 
regiment against the French and Indians at 
Crown Point. He was in the notoriously 



bloody battle at Lake George, September 8, 
1755. where the gallant General Dieskau was 
defeated by the New England yeomanry. 
From August 13 to 26, 1757, he was a mem- 
ber of the foot company commanded by Cap- 
tain Israel Taylor that marched on the late 
alarm for the relief of Fort Henry, as far as 
Springfield, and on September 26, 1774, he 
was chosen commander of a company. \Vhen, 
on December 19, 1774, the Continental Re- 
solves were read before the town, a commit- 
tee was appointed to prepare a covenant to 
be signed by the inhabitants, pledging adher- 
ence to independence, he was one of ten 
named to inspect breaches of the covenant. 
Colonel Asa \\"hitcomb, having been author- 
ized to raise a regiment at the time of the pro- 
vincial congress, April, 1774, he did so, and 
on May 25 announced that Josiah Whit- 
ney, of Harvard, was lieutenant-colonel. 
That regiment contained five hundred and 
sixty volunteers, mustered into eleven com- 
panies, and was the largest of the twenty- 
six Massachusetts regiments before Boston. 
He was appointed to take command of a bat- 
talion of men raised by the state, April 10. 
1776, and on October 29 wrote from Camp 
at FIull, "though the pay of the state was 
small, yet my zeal for the liberties of my 
country was so great that I cheerfully under- 
took it." When the continental army de- 
parted for New York, his regiment went with 
the Massachusetts militia to the defense of 
the coast. When General Burgoyne was 
marching toward Albany from the north, he 
ordered, on July 27, 1777, a draft of one-sixth 
of the training bands and alarm lists in his 
regiment to march at once to Bennington, and 
on August 2, ordered one-half of the mili- 
tia to follow. On January 13, 1778. he was 
made chairman of a committee which the town 
had appointed "to take into consideration the 
.Articles of Confederation and Perpetual 
L'nion of the United States of America Con- 
certed on by Congress." He was commander 
of the Second Worcester Regiment of militia, 
as colonel, when it took part in the opera- 
tions in Rhode Island, when in August and 
September, 1778. an attempt was made to 
wrest that colony from the others. He was 
chosen one of two delegates to be sent to the 
convention for the state constitution. He 
was made brigadier-general in 1783 ; but re- 
signed the ofifice before the breaking out of 
Shay's insurrection. In 1782 the governor 
appointed him a justice of the peace in and 
for the county of Worcester. In 1783-84-87- 
88-89. he was a member of the board of se- 
lectmen, and during this period one of the 
most popular moderators at the deliberations 



6o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



of the town voters. He was the delegate from 
Harvard to the convention held to ratify the 
federal constitution, in Boston. January 9, 
1788, and voted with the minority in opposi- 
tion but would support it nevertheless. He 
was representative in legislature, 1780-81-87- 
88-89. \\ith church matters he was promi- 
nently identified. 

He married (first) in Stow, Alassachusetts, 
September 9. 1751, Sarah Farr, born January 
19, 1735, died in Harvard,. Massachusets, 
April 21, 1773; married (second) at Har- 
vard. February 3, 1774, Sarah Dwelly, of 
Bridgewater, who died at Whitingham, Ver- 
mont. February 18, 1817. Children: Josiah, 
born at Harvard, Massachusetts, February 25, 
1753, died January 2, 1827, married. Harvard. 
January 10, 1776, Anna Scollay, baptized 
April 18, 1756, died. Nelson, New Hampshire, 
j\larch 8, 1824; Elizabeth, born May 7, 
1755, married, April 28, 1796, Phineas Bar- 
nard, he married (second), her sister, Mrs. 
Burgess: Stephen, born. Harvard, May i, 
1757, died, Lynn, Massachusetts, married, 
February 6, 1783, Persis Locke, born 1757, 
died in Deerfield, June 25, 1806; infant, died 
June 4, 1761 ; infant, died May 10, 1762: in- 
fant, died March 16, 1763: infant, died Feb- 
ruary, 1766; infant, died February 18, 1768; 
Sarah, born April 11, 1755, married (first) 
December 14, 1791, Laomi Burgess, born 
March i, 1770, married (second) September 
27. 1827, Phineas Barnard, of Harvard, and 
she died May 23, i860: Oliver, born January 
9, 1777, reported to have died at sea; Ar- 
temas Ward, born November 17, 1778, sim- 
ilar report as on Oliver ; Susanna, born Oc- 
tober 2, 1780, married, November 8, 1803, 
John Adams, of Ashburnham, and died in 
North Adams, Massachusetts, May 5, 1866; 
Dwelly, born August 2, 1782, similar report 
as Oliver ; Lemuel, born Harvard, Septem- 
ber 19, 1784, died July 9, 1853, Ashburnham, 
Massachusetts, married, December 4, 1804, 
Elizabeth Hall, born February 6, 1788, died 
April 30, 1852: Daniel, born Octol>er 25, 1786, 
see forward : John Hancock, born December 
13, 1788, married and resided at Cazenovia, 
New York; Aloses Gill, born February 4, 
1791, married Ann Shields. 

(VI) Daniel, son of Brigadier-General 
Josiah and Sarah (Farr) Whitney, was born 
in Massachusetts, October 25, 1786, died 
April 18, i86g. He was a master mason build- 
er, and moved with his family from Boston, 
in 1825, on a sloop, with all his goods and 
a family consisting of ten children, to New 
York City, the trip consuming one week. 
There he resided until he died at the age of 
eighty-two. He had presentiments the year 



previous to his death that it was to be his last, 
as it proved, and accordingly named his eight 
pall-bearers. He was most active in building 
circles after the great fire of 1835. He mar- 
ried, March 10, 1808, Hannah Shedd, of Wal- 
tham, Massachusetts, where he had resided in 
younger days. Children : Daniel J., born Feb- 
ruary II, 1809, died in San Francisco, Feb- 
ruary 10, 1850: Hannah Maria, October 10, 
1810, died, unmarried, December 25, 1859; 
George, October 30, 1812, died at sea; 
Josiah Marshall, Boston, January 19, 1814, 
married, at Astoria, New York, May 16, 1839, 
Mary Jane Ayers, born September 8, 1820; 
Edward Oliver, December 24, 1816, married 
Eliza Lawrence; Lucy Jane, December 16, 
1818, died January 11, 1861, married, Octo- 
ber 19, 1854, George B. Revere, born January 
26, 1823, died December 11, 1882; Susanna, 
February 24, 1821 : Benjamin Shurtliff, No- 
vember 5. 1822, died August 6. 1850: Abigail, 
November 21, 1824, married Theodore Cro- 
well, and removed to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania ; 
William Minott, Boston. January 2, 1827, see 
forward : Warren Webster, New York City, 
March 12, 1829, married in New York City, 
February 4, 1856, Jenny A. Bord. born in 
Troy, New York, February 10, 1836; Sarah 
Louisa, September 26, 1831, died August 14, 
1832. 

(VH) William Minott, son of Daniel and 
Hannah (Shedd) Whitney, was born in Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts, January 2, 1827, died at 
his residence. No. 156 Washington avenue, 
Albany, New York, Alay 10, 1905. He re- 
sided with his parents in Boston until they 
removed by lx)at trip in 1828 to New York 
City. At the start of his career, he found 
employment in a metropolitan dry goods es- 
tablishment, and then in a wholesale dry goods 
house. He soon became recognized as an 
expert in the buying of goods, and from 1852 
to 1859 was chief buyer for various large 
houses. The large store, Nos. 43-45-47-49 
North Pearl street, Albany, to which he was 
to devote the larger share of his life, was 
opened in 1859 by Ubsdell, Pierson & Com- 
pany, and in i860 he came to Albany as their 
manager. In 1862. when James T. Lenox 
purchased the business. Mr. Whitney contin- 
ued to represent the new management. In 
1865 he formed a partnership with John G. 
Myers by the purchase of the Lenox store, 
and the place became widely known as the 
"New York Store." Its business increased 
until it became the most extensive of its kind 
between the metropolis and Chicago. This 
arrangement continued until 1870, when Mr. 
Myers retired, and Mr. Whitney continued 
the business alone until 1877, when he admit- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



6i 



ted William H. Pangburn and S. M. Van 
Santvoord as partners. Twelve years later 
this firm was dissolved, and Mr. Whitney con- 
tinued the business with his son, U'illiam M. 
Whitney, Jr. In 1896, he admitted his other 
son, Charles L. A. Whitney, as a partner, 
which resulted in its continuation as one of 
the most enterprising and successful concerns 
in this part of the country. Mr. Whitney 
was a Mason, a member of the Universalist 
church, and a member of the Fort Orange 
and Albany clubs. He was a director of the 
First National Bank, and in 1886, by appoint- 
ment of the mayor, served as chairman on the 
committee of public celebration which ar- 
ranged the Bi-Centennial of Albany as a 
■ chartered city. 

For many years IMr. Whitney resided in 
his handsome home. No. 5 Lodge street, but 
removed to a larger residence. No. 156 Wash- 
ington avenue, where he died at 5 o'clock on 
the morning of May 10, 1905, having suffered 
a stroke of apoplexy the previous day. 

William M. Whitney married, in New York 
■City, June 16, 1856, Amelia Cook, born in 
New York City, January 31, 1831, and in 1910 
was living in Albany. Her parents were Wal- 
ter and Marj' (Munro) Cook. Children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Whitney: i. Leila, born in New 
York City, May 17, 1857; married, Albany, 
New York, November 25, 1879, William 
Henry Stott, born at Stottville, September 12, 
1855, died at Albany, August 22, 1888, son 
of Charles Henry and Catherine (Oakley) 
Stott : children : Leila Vanderbilt, born at Al- 
bany, November 25, 1880; a son, born and 
died at Stottville, Columbia county. New 
York, July 3 1882; Helen Munro, Stottville, 
New York, June 18, 1883 ; Jonathan Whit- 
ney, Stottville, May 5, 1885 ; Whitney, Stott- 
ville, March 20, 1887. 2. William Minott, 
Jr., born in New York City, December 3, 
1858, died there, December 21, 1858. 3. Wil- 
liam Minott, Jr., born in New York City, 
August I, 1861, died at Albany, February 
■6, 1899; married, Stottville, New York, June 
9, 1886, Jessie Douglas Stott; children: Leila 
Douglas, at Albany, May 3, 1887 : William 
Minott, 3rd, at Albany, June 5, 1888; Pru- 
dence, at Albany, October 15, 1890. 4. Vir- 
ginia Belle, born in New York City, January 
8, 1865, died there December 8, 1865. 5. 
'Charles Lee Anthony, born at Albany, New 
York. September 19, 1870. see forward. 6. 
Mabel, born at Albany, December 4, 1874; 
married, Albany, December 29, 1897, Charles 
Hamilton Sabin, born at Williamstown, Mas- 
sachusetts, August 24, 1868, and in 1910 was 
located in New York City as the vice-presi- 
dent of the Guarantee Trust Company; child. 



Charles Hamilton Sabin, Jr., born Albany, 
New York, July 4. 1902. 

(VIH) Charles L. A., son of William Mi- 
nott and Amelia (Cook) Whitney, was born 
in Albany, New York, September 19, 1870. 
He received his education at the Albany 
Academy and at Phillips Academy, Andover, 
Massachusetts. Immediately afterward he en- 
tered the large store of his father, and in 1896 
he was admitted to the firm as a partner. When 
his father died, in 1905, he assumed the re- 
sponsible position of manager of the estab- 
lishment, and has been thoroughly successful. 
He has traveled abroad, is a man of refined 
tastes, and is particularly fond of outdoor 
sports, more particularly polo. His home in 
Loudonville, to the north of Albany, is named 
"\\'yebrook Farm," because of the original 
settlement of the family several centuries ago 
at Whitney on the Wye river, in England. 
He has furnished it in most attractive man- 
ner with rarest of antique material, and de- 
votes personal attention to the cultivation of 
his handsome estate. He is a member of St. 
Peter's Episcopal Church, a director of the 
Albany City Savings Institution, and a mem- 
ber of the Fort Orange and Albany Country 
clubs of Albany, of the Loudon Hunt Club, 
the Albany Academy Alumni Association, the 
Remsen Polo Club and the Remsen Coun- 
try Club of New Jersey. He married, at Mon- 
mouth Beach, New Jersey, September 27, 
1893. Grace Niles, born in New York City, 
July 3, 1874, and was educated at Briarly's. 
Her father was Lucien Hanks Niles, born in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, September 14, 1841, and 
in 1910 was a resident of New York City. 
Her mother was Mattie A. (Bradford) Niles, 
born at North Yarmouth, Maine, September 
4, 1 84 1, died in New York City, April 24, 
1897; their marriage took place at Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, September 30, 1863. 
Child of Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. A. Whit- 
ney, Marjorie, born at Albany, September 
26, 1894. 



The Melville-Melvill family 
MEL\'ILLE is distinguished in the civil, 

religious and literary history 
of Scotland. The branch here traced de- 
scended from the Melvilles of Fife, a branch 
of the noble and ancient family later repre- 
sented by the Earl of Leven and Melville, one 
of the sixteen peers of Scotland in 1806. 
The original Melville was a Norman warrior 
who came to England with William the con- 
queror. He was not pleased with the treat- 
ment he received and withdrew in wrath to 
Scotland, where he came into the favor of 
King Malcolm, who granted him lands and 



62 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



favors. He received lands in Lothian and his 
descendants established themselves on lands in 
Angus and Fife. The name of Melville of- 
ten appears in Scottish charters and records 
as early as the twelfth century. The name 
was early written Melvill. The great-grand- 
father of the American ancestor is : 

(I) Sir John Melville, who was knighted 
by James VL of Scotland, and in 1580 raised 
to the peerage with the title Baron of Gran- 
ton. 

(II) Thomas, son of Sir John Melville, 
married and had sons, Rev. Thomas and Rev. 
Andrew Melville. A son of Rev. Andrew, 
General Robert Melville, became a distin- 
guished officer in the English army, rendered 
efficient service to his country, and at the 
time of his death was the oldest general but 
one in the British army. 

(III) Rev. Thomas (2), son of Thomas 
(i) Melville, was a highly educated and re- 
spected minister of Scoonie in the Levan, 
county of Fife, Scotland. He was pastor of 
the church at Scoonie from 171 8 to 1764, 
when he resigned in favor of Rev. David 
Swan. He died in 1769. greatly beloved and 
universally regretted. His children were: i. 
John, married Deborah Scollay, and died in 
London, alxjut 1798. 2. Allan, see forward. 
3. Margaret, married Captain Lindell. 

(I\') Allan, with whom the American rec- 
ord begins, was the second son of Rev. Thom- 
as (2) Melvill, of Scoonie. He was born 
in Scoonie, county of Fife, Scotland, in 1728, 
died in Boston, Massachusetts, January 2, 
1761. He arrived in Boston in 1743, where 
he established himself in commercial business. 
He was distinguished for his enterprise, in- 
dustry and rectitude of life. In 1750 he mar- 
ried Jean, daughter of David and Mary (Ab- 
ernethy) Cargill. She died in 1759, leaving 
an only child and son, Thomas. 

(V) Major Thomas (3), only son of Allan 
and Jean (Cargill) Melvill, was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, January 16, 175 1. 
Losing his mother at the early age of eight 
years, his care and education devolved upon 
his maternal grandmother, iNlary (Abernethy) 
Cargill. She was a sister of the noted Dr. 
Abernethy. and was a woman of great intel- 
ligence. Her memory was ever warmly cher- 
ished by her grandson during life. At the 
age of fifteen he entered Princeton College, 
where he was graduated in ijC^C). He was 
destined for the ministry and devoted more 
than a year to the study of theology, but find- 
ing his health impaired and his constitution 
too frail for that arduous profession, he 
changed his plan of life. In 1771 he visited 
Scotland, the home of his ancestors, on busi- 



ness as heir-at-law to his cousin, General Ro- 
land Melvil, and was received with marked 
attention, receiving a degree from the St. 
Andrews College, Edinburg, together with the 
freedom of the city. He remained in Scotland 
and England two years, returning to Boston 
in 1773. From this period the cause of civil 
liberty engaged his attention and its progress 
was marked with deep interest to the termina- 
tion of his life. He took part in many of 
the important and stirring events preceding 
the revolution. He was one of the youthful 
disciples and confidential associates of Samuel 
and John Hancock, whose friendship and in- 
timacy he ever retained. He was one of the 
band of Indians, who. on the night of De- 
cember 16, 1773, held the famous "Tea Party" 
in Boston Harbor. Some of the tea that he 
found in his shoes after his return home that 
night he preserved, and in after years exhib- 
ited it to such a distinguished visitor as Gen- 
eral Lafayette as a precious souvenir of that 
memorable party. He was selected by Gen- 
eral Warren as one of his aides a short time 
previous to the death of the latter at the 
battle of Bunker Hill. In 1776 he was com- 
missioned captain by the state of Massachu- 
setts in an artillery regiment commanded by 
Colonel Thomas Crafts, and in 1777 was- 
promoted major of the same regiment. For 
a time he was on garrison in and about Bos- 
ton. When the British evacuated that city 
in 1776, a portion of their fleet was left in 
Nantasket Roads to prevent any British ves- 
sels from entering the harlx)r and falling in- 
to tiie hands of the patriots. Major Mel- 
vill commanded a detachment of artillery sent 
to drive them from their station. A battery 
was erected under heavy fire from the British 
ships and Major Melvill aimed and fired the 
first gun which, followed by others equally 
well aimed, soon drove the enemy to sea. He 
served with Colonel Craft's regiment in 1777 
in Rhode Island, under General Spencer, and 
was with the regiment in 1779 at the battle 
of Rhode Island under General Sullivan. He 
also served on the committee of correspon- 
dence and on the town committee to obtain 
its (]uota of troops for the continental army. 
Prior to the organizations of the general gov- 
ernment. Major Melvill, in 1787, was chosen' 
three years in succession by the Massachu- 
setts legislature as naval officer of the port 
of Boston. His first election was from fifteen 
candidates, one of them, Mr. Otis, being a 
member of the legislature, and brother of the 
speaker. Upon the adoption of the federal 
constitution the a])]:)ointment of custom house 
officers was transferred to the president of 
the United States. For the port of Boston 



HUDSON AND AIOHAWK VALLEYS 



63 



President Washington appointed General Lin- 
coln, collector ; James Lowell, naval officer ; 
and Major Melvill, surveyor and inspector. 
He held this office until the death of James 
Lowell, when he was appointed naval officer 
by President Madison. This office he con- 
tinued to hold under successive presidents un- 
til 1829, when he fell a victim to the perni- 
cious doctrine "To the victors belong the 
spoils," and was removed from office by Pres- 
ident Andrew Jackson. There was no pre- 
tence that he was incapable or unfaithful to 
the duties of his office. The victorious party 
wanted the office and took it. The old hero 
bitterly resented his removal and often re- 
ferred to it as the "bitterest insult" of his 
long life. At the first state election held af- 
ter his removal from office he was chosen 
one of the representatives from Boston in 
the state legislature, and held by successive 
reelections during the remainder of his life. 
In 1779 he was chosen one of the fire war- 
dens of Boston and continued to be reelected 
until the reorganization of the fire department 
in 1825, a period of forty-seven years. For 
twenty-five years he was chairman of the 
board. On his retirement he was presented 
with a silver pitcher as a token of personal 
respect and a public testimonial of his faith- 
ful services. One of the engines and com- 
panies bore his name and ever honored his 
memory. The Massachusetts legislature ap- 
pointed him a director of the State Bank and 
other public institutions, and he was chosen 
as delegate to the convention that revised the 
state constitution. He had many warm friends 
among the military and public men of his 
day. He was known among these as "the last 
of the cocked hats," from the fact that until 
his death he always wore a three-cornered 
cocked hat and knee breeches. Being once 
asked why he did not add a finel e. to his 
name, the reply was : "My father did not." 
The leading and prominent traits of his char- 
acter were a sound judgment, a quick discern- 
ment, firmness and decision in time of danger 
and pressing emergency ; a strong sense of 
justice ; the strictest fidelity to engagements, 
public and private ; an ardent attachment to 
personal friends ; great tenderness and the 
most considerate regard for his familv and 
those depending on him. Notwithstanding an 
intense aversion to the disclosure of religious 
feeling, it was manifest to his intimate 
friends that the highest of all obligations were 
daily and habitually remembered. He died 
peacefully at his home in Boston, September, 
16, 1832, in his eighty-second year. 

He married, in Boston, August 20, 1774, 
Priscilla, daughter of John Scollay, grand- 



daughter of James Scollay, who came from 
Orkney Island to America, and great-grand- 
daughter of ^lalcolm Scollay, of Scotland, 
born 1648, died 1746, at the great age of 
ninety-eight years. The name is perpetuated 
in Boston by "Scollay Square" and other me- 
morials. Priscilla (Scollay) Melvill sun'ived 
her husband with whom she spent a congen- 
ial, happy life, continuing fifty-eight years. 
Children: i. Thomas (2), born June 26, 
1776, educated at Boston Academy, was 
a merchant in Boston, was sent to 
Paris by his employers at the age of 
eighteen, became a banker of note, and re- 
mained in France fourteen years, except two 
years spent in Spain ; married a French girl 
of Spanish mother, Frangoise Raymonde Eu- 
logue Marie des Doulouers Louise Fleury, 
eldest daughter of Frangois Lamie Fleury and 
his wife, Raymonde Gavisa. His home in 
Paris was the scene of a great deal of hos- 
pitable entertainment. General Lafayette be- 
ing a frequent guest. He returned to the Uni- 
ted States in 181 1 ; during the war of 1812-14 
was apjxiinted commissary of prisoners ; was 
with General Dearlx)rn when he selected the 
grounds in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where 
the "Cantonment" for prisoners was located, 
and occupied with his family a cottage on the 
grounds. April, 18 14, his wife died, followed 
in a few weeks by two of his children. He 
married (second) November 21, 1815, a 
daughter of Dudley Hobart, of Maine. In 
1832 was elected to the Massachusetts legis- 
lature. In 1836 removed to Galena, Illinois, 
where he died at the age of seventy-six, the 
father of fourteen children. 2. Mary, born 
1778, died October 22, 1809; married (Zaptain 
John De Wolf. 3. Nancy W., born March 22, 
1780, died July 8, 1813. 4. Allan, see for- 
ward. 5. Priscilla. born February 2. 1784. 
6. Robert, born July 4, 1786, died June 19, 
1795- 7- Jean, born IVIarch 6, 1788, married 

< ^^'right. 8. John Scollay, born March 

23. 1790. died May 10. 1815. 9. Lucy, born 
August 22, 1793, died in infancy. 10. Lucy 
(2), born February 11. 1795; married (first) 
Justin Wright Clark; (second) Dr. Nurse. II. 
Helen, born January 14, 1798; married Levitt 
Souther. 

(\'I) .Allan (2), second son and fourth 
child of Major Thomas and Priscilla (Scol- 
lay) Melvill, was born in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, April 7. 1782. He was well educated 
and became an importer of silks and French 
goods of rare and superior quality. In pursuit 
of his business he spent a great deal of time 
in journeying at home and abroad : was with 
his brother Thomas in the French Capital. 
Between the brothers, though not con- 



64 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



nected in business, existed a warm and 
commendable intimacy. He first went to 
Europe in 1800, and made his last visit in 
1822. He visited the principal capitals and 
manufacturing centres in search of attractive 
and saleable goods for his trade and made 
heavy purchases. Once during the second 
war with England the vessel on which he 
was a passenger was captured by a British 
frigate and all made prisoners. He was soon 
released and returned to the United States. 
He was a most methodical man and a daily 
record of all his travels, home and abroad, at 
sea or on land, was faithfully kept and is 
carefully preserved. It records travel by sea 
of forty-eight thousand four hundred and six- 
ty miles in the twenty-two years. He closed 
up his Boston business and for a time was 
in the wholesale dry goods business in Al- 
bany, New York, but about 1818 located at 
123 Pearl street, New York City, where he 
dealt in wholesale imported silks and dry 
goods ; also, as his advertisement says : "Act- 
ing as commission merchant for others." He 
was one of the early importers of French 
goods and prospered. He kept up a constant 
correspondence with his distinguished father, 
whose advice and counsel he sought and fol- 
lowed. His letters to his wife, man;/ of which 
are preserved, show the deepest devotion and 
love, breathing an exquisite tenderness that 
charms the reader, although a century has 
elapsed since some of them were written. He 
died about 1835. He was a man of deep re- 
ligious sentiment, as shown by his letters, and 
constantly invoked the Divine blessing upon 
his beloved wife and children to whom he was 
devoted. He married Maria, daughter of 
General Peter Gansevoort, Jr., of revolution- 
ary fame. She was born 1791, died 1872. 
Children: i. Gansevoort, born December 6, 
1815, died in I^ndon, England, May 2, 1846. 
He was an accomplished scholar, possessed of 
unusual powers of oratory, a gift that was 
employed with good result by the Democratic 
party, particularly during the campaign that 
resulted in the election of James K. Polk to 
the presidency. He was appointed secretary 
of legation at the Court of St. James, dying 
in London, 1846. His body was returned to 
his native land and buried with honors in 
the Albany Rural Cemetery. He was a young 
man of great ])romise and brilliant prospects. 
2. Helen Maria, lx)rn August 4, 1817; mar- 
ried, January 8, 1854, George Griggs. 3. Her- 
man, born 1819. married, .August 5, 1847, 
Elizabeth, daughter of Chief Justice Shaw, of 
Boston. 4. .Augusta, born 1821. 5. Allan, 
born 1823, married (first) September 22, 1847, 
Sophia E. Thurston; (second) Jane Dempsey. 



6. Catherine, born 1825 ; married, September 
15, 1853, John C. Hoadley. 7. Frances Pris- 
cilla. born, 1827. 8. Thomas, born 1830. 

Melville Arms: "Bears gules three cres- 
cents argent with a bordure of the last, 
charged with eight roses of the first. A small 
crescent of the second in chief for difference." 
Crest: "A crescent argent." Motto: "De- 
nique Coelum." 

Rliss Charlotte Hoadley, of Chicago, a de- 
scendant of the Melville family, savs, after 
reading the above sketch: "The family tradi- 
tion has always been that Fanny Fleury was 
an adopted daughter of Madame Recamier 
and that she was married to Thomas Melville 
from Madame Recamier's salon. I have in 
my possession Fanny Fleury's miniature in an 
exquisitively carved tortoise-shell box, with 
her monogram wrought in the carving. I also 
own the miniature pin painted by Copley 
of Deborah ScoUay. It was sent to David 
Swan and many years after returned to the 
Melville family in Boston. The little paper 
which accompanies it reads, 'Deborah Scollay 
was the eldest sister of Priscilla Scollay.' 
She married John Melville, uncle of the 
Thomas Melville who married Priscilla Scol- 
lay." 

The following is a sketch of "Broad Hall," 
now the Country Club of Pittsfield, Massa- 
chusetts, taken from "The Historv of Pitts- 
field," by J. E. A. Smith, Springfield, 1876. 
The place was formerly owned bv Major 
Thomas Melville and later hv his son Robert: 
"Broad Hall was built by Henry Van Schaack 
in 1781, with extraordinary care and liberal 
expenditure, and was for many years much 
the best built edifice in the town. The wood- 
en walls were lined with brick, and the car- 
pentry exhibits a perfection of skill which 
excites the admiration of modern workmen 
who are called upon to make alterations in 
it. It is little changed except by the remo- 
val of the broad chimney and the old-fash- 
ioned balustrade which surrounded the roof. 
Mr. Ya.n Schaack removing to his native 
place, Kinderhook, New York, in 1807. sold 
his house in Pittsfield to Elkanah Watson, 
a gentleman of very similar tastes, and the 
founder of the Berkshire Agricultural So- 
ciety, who occupied it until his removal to 
Albany in 1816. It was then purchased by 
Major Thomas Melville who resided in it un- 
til 1837 and was succeeded by his son Robert 
Melville. For some years previous to its pur- 
chase by Mr. J. R. Morewood in 185 1, it wa§ 
kept as a boarding house and numbered 
among its guests Henry W. Longfellow, 
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and 
President John Tyler." 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



65 



Mr. J. R. Morewood sold Broad Hall to 
his brother, George Morewood, and his son 
sold it to the Pittsfield Club about 1900. 



The original ancestors 
GANSEVOORT the Gansevoort fami- 
lies of the Hudson and 
Mohawk \'alleys in New York state lived in 
a town called Ganzfort, which was situated 
on the borders of Germany and Holland. Wes- 
selus Gansefortius, otherwise known in his 
own day as Wessel Gansevoort and also as 
John Wessel Gansevoort, was born at Gronin- 
gen, Holland, in the year 1419, in a house 
standing in the Heerestraat, near the Caroli- 
weg, and which can be recognized by the 
family arms which remain to this day in the 
front stone. The arms themselves appear to 
present an emblem of agriculture and com- 
merce, from which it may be assumed that 
the Gansevoorts of early times were engaged 
in those avocations. And besides the family 
name of Gansevoort (doubtless derived from 
4he \illage of Ganzfort, in Westfalen), he 
bore in later times among men of eminent 
learning the name of Basilius, and the title 
of Lux Alundi (light of the world), and also 
the name of M agister Contradictionis (Mas- 
ter of Contradictions or Debates). For this 
latter title he is probably indebted to his 
continued attacks against the errors and 
abuses of the church. He also has been re- 
ferred to and mentioned as the forerunner of 
Luther, and he favored the school of abso- 
lute nominalism in philosophy. He was a 
leader in the pre-Reformation movement in 
Holland, and ranked among the most learned 
men of his time: was an intimate friend in 
early life of Thomas a Kempis, studied at 
several of the great schools of Europe, and 
was offered and declined a professorship at 
Heidelberg. At Paris he was the instructor 
of two men who afterward achieved wide 
fame. Reuchlin and Agricola, and subsequent- 
ly he visited in Rome when Sixtus IV. was 
Pope. He had been on terms of intimacy with 
Sixtus when the latter was superior-general of 
the Franciscans. It is related that he was 
asked by Sixtus what favor he could do for 
him, and in answer Wessel asked for a Greek 
and Hebrew Bible from the Vatican library. 
■"You shall have it," said the Pope, "but what 
a simpleton you are ; why did you not ask for 
a bishopric or something of that kind?" "Be- 
cause I do not want it," replied Wessel, a 
reply truly characteristic of his high tone and 
independent spirit. On religious subjects his 
views were broad and deep, and he promul- 
gated with boldness the doctrines of the Ref- 
ormation forty years in advance of Luther, 



who held his character and attainments in 
high esteem and who published an edition of 
part of his works. His name, still retained by 
the family in this country, is reverenced in 
Groningen, his native city, where in 1862 
an ancient tablet to his memory was restored 
by the authorities of the city and placed in 
the large church with demonstrations of public 
regard. 

The Hon. Harmanus Bleecker, when minis- 
ter to The Hague, stated that there was no 
doubt of the descent of the family from this 
philosopher, and pai)ers in possession of the 
family of the late Judge Peter Gansevoort, 
of Albany, show the fact more clearly. In 
i860 his tomb at Groningen was visited by 
Judge Gansevoort and his son, and a few 
days previous to their arrival the remains had 
been disinterred and were lying in the cloister 
of the Holy Virgins, to which place they had 
been removed from the chapel of the Uni- 
versity to make room for modern improve- 
ments. His tomb also had been removed and 
was lying in pieces ready to be reerected. 
It was of the medieval style and surmounted 
by a bust of Wessel, such as was usually 
placed over tombs of that description. The 
bust was of marble, but, like that of Shake- 
speare at Stratford, it had been painted in 
dift'erent colors. It showed him to be a man 
of intellect and benevolence, and the inscrip- 
tion on the tomb was elaborate and magnilo- 
quent. The bones of the body were in per- 
fect preservation and were regarded by those 
in charge with great reverence, and they were 
reinterred with ceremony. It is a somewhat 
singular fact that at the time of the arrival 
there of Judge Gansevoort and his son, the 
house of their ancestor Wessel Gansevoort 
was being demolished to make room for a 
more modern building. It contained above the 
front door a marble slab on which was carved 
the same coat-of-arms as that I^orne by the 
family in America, viz. : 4 quarters, a ship 
and wagon. 

Wesselius Gansefortius died October 9, 
T489. ■ It is said that during his last sickness 
he complained that through various consider- 
ations and reflections he felt his belief in the 
great truths of the Christian religion shaken, 
but not long before his death he was heard 
to exclaim with great thankfulness, "I thank 
God, all these vain thoughts have gone, and 
I know nothing but Christ and Him cruci- 
fied." Such then are something of the quali- 
ties and characteristics of the great scholar 
and philosopher, who, without doubt, is the 
remote ancestor of the family of the Ganse- 
voort surname purposed to be treated in these 
annals. It is not known in what vcar the first 



66 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Gansevoort emigrated to the Low Country of 
Holland, but it is known that the first of the 
surname on this side of the Atlantic Ocean 
appeared in New Netherlands in the year 
1660. 

(I) Harme Van Ganzvort (he so wrote his 
name in all of his business and family tran- 
sactions so long as he lived) came to Amer- 
ica and settled at Catskill, on the Hudson riv- 
er, in 1660. There he had an extensive man- 
or, doubtless acquired from the Indians, but 
afterward his lands were granted to others. It 
is related by one chronicler of the family his- 
tory that Harme lived for some time at Cat- 
skill, on an estate more recently owned by 
the \'an \"echten family, and that he was 
unjustly deprived of his property by one of 
the Dutch governors who went by water from 
New Amsterdam to Albany and on his pas- 
sage up the river anchored his vessel opposite 
Catskill creek. There the governor went 
ashore with his secretary or aide, walked up 
to the Ganzvort dwelling, and was hospitably 
entertained by the proprietor. The secretary 
expressed his admiration of the estate, solici- 
ted a grant of it from the governor, and se- 
cured it. In consequence of this, Harme 
Van Ganzvort, who had no other title to the 
land than that of possession and the consent 
of the Indian owners, was compelled to leave 
and locate elsewhere. From Catskill he re- 
moved with his family to Albany, where, hav- 
ing been brought up to the trade of a brewer, 
he set up in that business and continued it 
so long as he lived. His home and brew 
house were at the corner of Market street and 
Maiden lane. This property has been kept 
in the familv and on the site now stands Stan- 
wix Hall. 

Harme Van Gansevoort (or Van Ganzvort) 
died July 23. 1710. He was a man of char- 
acter and ability, a member of the Lutheran 
church. Of his means he gave to the society 
of that church a lot of land on which to erect 
a house of worship, and beneath the pulpit in 
the church his remains were buried. The lot 
is on South Pearl street, where the market 
house was built in later years. His wife was 
Marritje Liendarts, who died in 1742. Chil- 
dren: I. Elsie, married, 1689, Francis Winne. 
2. Maria. 3. Aguitic. married, 1698. Tennis 
Williams. 4. Anna, married, 1692, Jacobus 
De Warrien. 5. Lysbeth, married, 1701, Jo- 
hannes De Wandelaer. 6. Hillitie, married, 
1706, .Albert \'an Derzee. 7. Catarine, mar- 
ried, 1 7 14. Asent Pruyn. 8. Leonard, horn 
1681 (see post). 9. Rachel, born 1686, mar- 
ried Teunis Hamerin. 10. Lydia, born 1690. 
II. Rebecca, 1693. 12. Hendrick, 1696. 

(II) Leonard Gansevoort (Liendart Van 



Ganzvort), son of Harme and iMarritje (Lien- 
darts) Van Ganzvort, was born in Albany, 
in 1 68 1, and died there November 30, 1763. 
He succeeded his father in the ownership of 
the brewery and its business, and continued it 
as his principal occupation. He is remem- 
bered as a man of small stature, of placid and 
serene countenance, and of upright character. 
He married, in 1712, Catherine De Wande- 
laer, who survived him, and it was in a large 
measure through her strong character and 
superior business abilities that her husband 
was enabled to accumulate a comfortable for- 
tune. One of her descendants writing of her 
said that "her activity of mind made her quite 
a business woman and rendered her a great 
blessing to her husband, who was a quiet, 
moderate man." Children : Harme, born 1712, 
(see post) ; Henry, born 1716, died 1746; 
John, died young; Sarah, born 1718, died 
1731 ; Johannes, born 17 19, died 1781, mar- 
ried (first) 1750, Marritje Douw (born 1725, 
died 1759), married (second) Elsie Beekman, 
daughter of Jacob; Maria, born 1723, died 
1739; Peter, born 1725, died 1809, married, 
1751, Garritje Ten Eycke; Elsie, born 1728, 
died 1753; Aguitie, born 1730, died 1731 ; El- 
sie, died 1761. 

(Ill) Harme, son of Leonard and Cather- 
ine (De Wandelaer) Gansevoort, was born in 
Albany, and baptized there April 20, 1712, 
and died there Alay 7, 1801. He was a mer- 
chant in Albany and carried on an extensive 
business, importing his goods from Europe. 
He inherited from his father the brewery 
property and continued it in connection with 
his other business interests. He also appears 
to have been somewhat engaged in public af- 
fairs, and it is evident that he was a man 
of excellent understanding and business ca- 
pacity. From September 25, 1750, to 1760, 
he was clerk of the county court and of the 
court of common pleas, clerk of the peace 
and of the sessions. In 1763 he purchased 
and caused to be brought over from England 
what probably was the second hand fire en- 
gine ever used in Albany, paying therefor the 
sum of $397.50. He married. May 29, 1740, 
Magdalena Douw, born August i, 17 18, died 
October 12. 1796, daughter of Petrus and 
Anna (\'an Rensselaer) Douw. Petrus 
(sometimes written Pieter) Douw, was born 
March 24. 1692, died August 21, 1775, son 
of Jonas \'olkertse Douw of Manor Rensse- 
laerwyck, who married (first) November 14, 
1683. Magdalena Picterse Quackenboss, and 
married (second) April 24, 1696, Catrina Van 
Witbeck. widow of Jacob Sanderse Glen. Jo- 
nas \'olkertse Douw was the eldest son of 
Captain X'olkert Janse Douw, who came from 




ftictrd M- C.Sllujt 



^>^>r^^7^-^^/^ 




HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



67 



Frederickstadt and was in Bevervvyck as early 
as 1638. He died in 1686. He had his house 
on the west corner of State street and Broad- 
way, which property is now owned by his de- 
scendants. He was a trader and brewer, and 
in connection with Jan Thomase he dealt 
quite largely in real estate. Their brewery 
was located on the east half of the Exchange 
block lot and extended to the river. This 
they sold in 1675 to Harmen Rutgers, son of 
Rutger Jacobsen. In 1663 they bought of the 
Indians, Schotack or Apjen's (Little Mon- 
key's) island and the main land lying east 
of it. Captain Douw also owned Constapel's 
island, lying opposite Bethlehem, half of 
which he sold in 1677 to Pieter Winne. In 
1672 he owned Schutter's island, below Beer- 
en island, which he sold to Barent Pieterse 
Coeymans. He married, April 19, 1650, Do- 
rotee Janse, from Breestede, Holland. She 
was a sister of Rutger Jacobsen's wife, and 
died November 2, 1681. He died in 1686. 
Anna Van Rensselaer, wife of Petrus Douw, 
was born January 4, 1719, daughter of Kil- 
lian and Maria (\'an Cortlandt) \'an Rens- 
selaer, granddaughter of Jeremias and Maria 
(\'an Cortlandt) Van Rensselaer, and great- 
granddaughter of Killian Van Rensselaer, 
merchant of Amsterdam, Holland, who mar- 
ried (first) Hillegonda Van Bylet and (sec- 
ond) Anna Wely. Killian Van Rensselaer, 
son of Jeremias, was the first lord of the 
Manor of Rensselaerwyck. Children of 
Harme and Magdalena (Douw) Gansevoort: 
I. Sarah, born 1741, married John Ten 
Broeck. 2. Peter, born 1742, died 1743. 3. 
Anna, born 1744, died 1794; married, 1778, 
Cornelius Wyncoop. 4. Catherine, born 1747, 
died 1749. 5. Peter, born 1749 (see post). 

6. Leonard, born 1751, died 1810, married, 
1770, Hester Cuyler, born 1749, died 1826. 

7. Henry, born 1753. died 1755. 8. Hen- 
drick, born 1757. 9. Catrina, died 1761. 

(I\') General Peter Gansevoort Jr., son 
of Harme and Magdalena (Douw) Ganse- 
voort, was born in Albany, in 1749, where 
Stanwix Hall now stands, and died in his 
native city, July 2, 1812, at the age of sixty- 
three years. On July 2, 1775, he was ap- 
pointed by congress a major in the Second 
New York regiment. In August of that year 
he joined the army which invaded Canada un- 
der Montgomery. In March, 1776, he was 
made lieutenant-colonel, and on November 21 
following became colonel of the regiment. In 
July, 1776, he was colonel commanding at 
Fort George, on Lake George. In April, 1777, 
he took command of Fort Stanwix (after- 
ward called Fort Schuyler), on the present 
site of the city of Rome, and made a gallant 



defence of the post against the Brit- 
ish under St. Leger, which was the first blow 
to their great scheme to sever New York 
from the residue of the confederacy, and by 
thus preventing the cooperation of that of- 
ficer with Burgoyne, contributed most essen- 
tially to the great and decisive victory at Sara- 
toga. For this gallant defence the thanks of 
congress were voted to Colonel Gansevoort. 
In the spring of 1779 Colonel Gansevoort was 
ordered to join General Sullivan in an expe- 
dition against the Indians in the western part 
of New York. At the head of a chosen party 
from the army he distinguished himself by 
surprising, by the celerity of his movements, 
the lower Mohawk castle, and capturing all 
the Indian inhabitants of the vicinity. In 
1781 the state of New York appointed him 
brigadier-general, and afterwards he filled a 
number of important offices, among which was 
that of commissioner of Indian affairs and 
for fortifying the frontiers. He also was mil- 
itary agent and a brigadier-general in the 
United States army in 1809, sheriff of Al- 
bany county from 1790 to 1792, a regent of 
the LTniversity of the State of New York 
from 1808 until the time of his death, and 
one of the first board of directors of the New 
York State bank in 1803. 

The foregoing account is hardly more than 
a very brief outline of the career of one of the 
bravest and most determined soldiers and pat- 
riots of the revolution, an officer whose cour- 
age never was doubted, whose achievements as 
a commanding officer were fully appreciated, 
but whose splendid service never was more 
than half rewarded. And it has remained 
for one of his descendants, a granddaughter, 
to cause to be erected an appropriate memorial 
of his noble record and unselfish patriotism ; 
and all honor is due Mrs. Catherine Ganse- 
voort Lansing for the gift which marks the 
place of old Fort Stanwix — "a fort which nev- 
er surrendered," and the fort from which the 
first Amerian flag- was unfurled in the face 
of the enemy. The "General Peter Ganse- 
voort Statue," in bronze, stands in the circle 
in the East Park, Rome, New York, facing 
the west. The figure is in full uniform, hero- 
ic in size, seven feet two inches tall, standing 
at ease in military position, the left foot 
slightly forward. In the right hand is held 
the letter of St. Leger demanding the sur- 
render of the fort, while the left hand rests 
on the hilt of the sword. The pedestal weighs 
nearly three tons and stands on a base weigh- 
ing twenty tons, and the whole rests on a 
solid concrete foundation nearly four feet 
thick. On the outer edge of the flag walk 
around the monument is a stone coping of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Barre granite, rock finish, the same material 
on which the statue rests, the coping being 
a foot wide and a foot thick. On the front 
tablet of the monvnnent appears this inscrip- 
tion : 

P.rigadier-General Peter Gansevoort, Jr., 
Colonel in the Continental Army. He served 
under Montgomery in Canada in the campaign 
against Quebec in 1775. and in 1777 he success- 
fully defended Fort Stanwix against the British 
forces and their Indian allies under St. Leger, 
thus preventing their junction with Burgoyne at 
Saratoga. He took part in the campaign of 
1779 under General Sullivan. He was in active 
command at the outbreak of the War of 1812, 
and died on the second day of July of that year 
at the age of 63. 

On the rear tablet this inscription appears : 

Erected near the site of 

FORT STANWIX 

at the request of Peter Gansevoort, 

Henry S. Gansevoort, U. S. A., 

and Abraham Lansing, all of 

Albany, N. Y. 

Presented to the City of Rome by 

Catherine Gansevoort 

Lansing. 

A. D. 1906. 

The designer of the statue was Edward L. 
Henry, N. A., the sculptor E. F. Piatti, and 
the architect D. N. B. Sturgis, all of New 
York City. The ceremony of unveiling was 
held on Thursday, November 8, 1906. The 
principal orator of the occasion was Hon. 
Hugh Hastings, then state historian, who said, 
in concluding his address: 

"In these days an heroic defense of such con- 
spicuous character would have met with the re- 
ward of a brigadier-general's commission at 
least. Upon the intrepid commander of Fort 
Schuyler, however, congress conferred the 
anomalous rank and empty honor 'Colonel Corn- 
mandant of Fort Schuyler,' an absurd compli- 
ment of the record, for Gansevoort had held the 
rank of colonel since November, 1776, and been 
in command of the fort since April, 1777. Gen- 
eral Gansevoort blocked the way of the tri- 
umphant invader like a wall of granite. His 
achievement is all the more creditable when we 
consider the delinquency of his superiors in 
estimating the true situation and the refusal of 
Tryon county to protect itself or to support 
him with reinforcements. The fall of Fort 
Schuyler would have been followed by the cer- 
tain defeat of Gates, whose left and rear would 
have Iicen absolutely unprotected before the New 
England troops could reinforce him. The de- 
feat of Gates would have given the enemy com- 
plete control of the valley of the Hudson, would 
have meant the severance of New England from 
the rest of the confederacy, led to a cessation of 
hostilities and the restoration of the colonies to 
the mother country. The victory at Fort 
Schuyler paved the way for the final triumph 
on the heights at Saratoga, or, as it has been 
so aptly expressed. 'Without Fort Schuyler there 
would have been no Saratoga.' " 



General Gansevoort married, January 12, 
1778, Catherine (Catrina) Van Schaick, bap- 
tized August 16, 1752, died December 30, 
1830, daughter of \Vessel Van Schaick, who 
was baptized February 10, 1712 and married, 
November 3, 1743, Maria Gerritse, who died 
January 31, 1797. Wessel Van Schaick was 
son of Anthony (or Antony) \'an Schaick, 
S}brant, filiiis, glazier, born 1681, married, 
October 19, 1707, Anna Catherine Ten 
Broeck, who died in December, 1756. In 1704 
Anthony Van Schaick's house lot was at the 
south corner of State and Pearl streets, Al- 
bany. He was a son of Sybrant Van Schaick, 
born 1653, who married Elizabeth Van Der 
Poel, and died about 1785. In 1678 his step- 
mother agreed to sell him her half of the 
brewery on the easterly half of the Exchange 
block for one hundred beavers. He was a son 
of Captain Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick, 
brewer of Albany. In 1664 he and Philip 
Pieterse Schuyler were granted permission to 
purchase Halve Maan of the Indians, to pre- 
vent "those of Connecticut'' from purchasing 
it. In 1664 also he bought of his stepfather, 
Ryner Elbertse, a lot on the north corner of 
Columbia street and Broadway, and in 1675 
he and Pieter Lassingh bought Harmen (or 
Harme) Rutger's brewery on the Exchange 
block. "In 1657, being about to marry his 
second wife, he made a contract in which he 
reserved from his estate 6,000 guilders for his 
four eldest children by the first wife, that 
being her separate estate ; and in 1668 he and 
his second wife made a joint will, he being 
about to depart for Holland." Captain Van 
Schaick married (first) in 1649, Geertie 
Brantse Van Nieuwkerk, who died about 
1656; married (second), 1657, Annatie Lie- 
vens, or Lievense. 

General Gansevoort's children: i. Herman, 
born 1779, died 1862; married, 1813, Cath- 
erine Ouackenboss, born 1774, died 1855. 2. 
Wessel, born 1781, died 1862. 3. Leonard, 
born 1783, died 1821 ; married, 1809, Mary 
A. Chandonette, born 1789, died 1851. 4. 
Peter, born 1786, died 1788. 5. Peter, born 
December 22, 1788, (see post). 6. Maria, 
born 1791, married, 1814, Allan Melville, born 
1782, died 1832. 

(\') Judge Peter Gansevoort, son of Gen- 
eral Peter and Catherine (Van Schaick) Gan- 
sevoort, was born in Albany, December 22, 
1788, and died at his home in that city, Jan- 
uary 4. 1876. His higher literary education 
was acquired at the College of New Jersey, 
Princeton, where he graduated, and afterward 
he attended the celebrated Litchfield Law 
School ; still later read law in the office of Har- 
manus Bleecker, and was admitted to the bar 




'/ <9^^:i^-<>?>/^^vi''''^'-:;^^tr:^^ — 




o-^^^^:^^2. ^ ^j'-i^^i^^iT-y-^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



about 1811. His practice for many years was 
very considerable, and he ranked among the 
prominent members of the profession. For 
some time he acted as private secretary to 
Governor DeW'itt Chnton, and then on his 
mihtary staff as judge advocate general from 
1819 to 1821. In 1830-31 he was a member 
of the assembly, and then a senator for four 
years, 1833 to 1836 inclusive. In all matters 
of public interest he took an active part, and 
was thoroughly attached to all that concerned 
his native city. He was a trustee of the Al- 
bany Academy for fifty years, and for twenty 
years was chairman of the board. In 1840 
he was one of a committee, with Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, John A. Dix and others, to or- 
ganize the Albany Cemetery Association, and 
to select grounds for the cemetery. He was 
a trustee of the cemetery until his death, and 
took a warm interest in arranging and beau- 
tifying the grounds. For many years he was 
a director of the New York State Bank, and 
occupied other positions of trust. Although 
his military service was short, he took a warm 
interest throughout life in military matters. 
Among the public positions held by Gener- 
al Gansevoort was that of first judge of the 
county court of Albany county from 1843 to 
1847, th^ duties of which office he discharged 
with great fidelity and to the entire satisfac- 
tion of the legal profession and the public. 
He carried marked traits of his ancestry with 
him through life, and was a most thorough 
representative of the Dutch element of his na- 
tive city. He was the very embodiment of 
high-souled honor and integrity, pure in pri- 
vate life, and devotedly attached to his coun- 
try and its institutions. On more than one 
occasion he visited the countries of the Old 
World in search of health and instruction, but 
always returned home with his love for his 
own government strengthened by comparison 
with those abroad. He was a man of courtly 
manners and commanding presence, and 
in society was very genial and engaging. His 
kind heart and generous impulses made him 
a favorite with all classes of men, and he lived 
without enemies, and no one is left of all who 
knew him who does not mourn his death and 
honor his memory. The illness of Judge Gan- 
sevoort was long and trying; but he retained 
his mental powers to the last and sank quiet- 
ly and peacefully to his rest, just as his coun- 
try had entered on the centennial year of its 
independence, in achieving which his father 
had rendered such important service. His 
funeral took place on Saturday, January 8, 
1876, and was very largely attended by public 
officers as well as by family friends and citi- 
zens. The officers of the Albany Burgesses 



Corps, with the patriotic spirit which always 
marked that organization, attended in military 
undress as a guard of honor; and the cadets 
of the Albany Academy, to the number of 
nearly one hundred, were also present in their 
drill uniform. Religious services were per- 
formed at the house by the Rev. Dr. Clark 
, of the North Dutch (Reformed) Church, of 
which church Judge Gansevoort was a mem- 
ber in communion ; and his remains were con- 
veyed to that cemetery for which he had done 
so much. 

In 1833 Judge Gansevoort married (first) 
Mary Sanford. born 1814, died 1841, daugh- 
ter of Hon. Nathan Sanford, chancellor of 
this state, and subsequently senator in Con- 
gress. He married (second) December 12, 
1843, Susan Lansing, who died in October, 
1874, daughter of Abraham G. Lansing, of 
Albany. Children: Henry Sanford (see 
post); Mary; Catherine, married Abraham 
Lansing, and survives him; Herman. 

(VI) Colonel Henry Sanford Gansevoort, 
U. S. A., son of Judge Peter and Mary (San- 
ford) Gansevoort, was born in Albany, New 
York, December 15, 1835, and died April 12, 
1871, on board the steamer "Drew," in the 
Hudson river, opposite Rhinebeck, on the pas- 
sage home from Nassau, New Providence. 
His earlier education was received at the Al- 
bany Academy and Phillips Andover Acad- 
emy, where he fitted for college, then entered 
the sophomore class at Princeton College, 
where he soon became a member of the same 
literary society to which his father had be- 
longed many years before, and was graduated 
in 1855, with distinguished honors; his col- 
legiate course having been highly successful, 
not alone in mere scholarship, but in having 
secured to him a fixed position among his as- 
sociates as the possessor of leading and bril- 
liant qualities of mind. This general success 
as a student culminated well at the close of 
his college life, when his display of oratorical 
ability at commencement was regarded as 
showing the possession of powers of a high 
order. Leaving college he entered Harvard 
Law School, and afterward became a student 
in the law office of Sprague & Fillmore, Buf- 
falo, New York, and still later with Bow- 
doin. Barlow & Larocque, New York City; 
and while with the latter firm he accompanied 
his father, mother and sister to Europe, and 
remained abroad about fifteen months. On 
his return he became law partner with George 
H. Brewster, in New York, and as a member 
of that firm engaged in active practice at the 
beginning of the civil war. 

Many incidents of his life thoroughly prove 
that while emulous of civil distinction he nev- 



yo 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ertheless had a strong inclination for the mil- 
itary service ; and with tastes and predilec- 
tions of this character it is not strange that 
in the public incidents at this time occurring 
his active mind should at once seek employ- 
ment in a new and congenial career. He had 
joined the Seventh Regiment of New York 
militia, which was among the first to be sent 
to Washington at the outbreak of the war, 
and at a time when that city was cut off from 
all communication with the North. He served 
as private with the regiment until its return ; 
but what was to some of his comrades the 
termination of a dangerous service was to him 
but the beginning of an active public duty to 
which he became solely devoted, and to which 
he finally gave up his life. He accordingly 
applied himself to obtaining a commission in 
the regular service, for which purpose he 
went to Washington, and after many delays 
and disappointments he was rewarded by re- 
ceiving a commission as second lieutenant in 
the Fifth Regiment of regular artillery, U. S. 
A. After receiving his commission and while 
General McClellan was moulding the material 
under his command into the Army of the Po- 
tomac, Colonel Gansevoort was under orders 
as second lieutenant in a camp of instruction 
at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, fitting himself 
for the duties of an artillery officer. He 
joined JMcClellan on the Peninsula, and was 
with the Potomac army throughout the penin- 
sular campaign after it left Yorktown. He 
was in the second battle of Bull Run, and 
afterward at Antietam, where his battery was 
placed in a position near the famous cornfield, 
by Hooker's orders, and sustained heavy loss 
in men and horses. He was with his battery 
throughout the battle, and for a time was in 
command. 

Obtaining a leave of absence from the reg- 
ular army to take a command in the volun- 
teers. Colonel Gansevoort was appointed by 
Governor Seymour, lieutenant-colonel of the 
Thirteenth Regiment New York X'olunteer 
Cavalry, took command of his regiment soon 
after his appointment, and was almost imme- 
diately ordered to take it to Washington. 
This was alxnit the time when Lee was ad- 
vancing to the Potomac and just previous to 
the battle of Chancellorsville. His command, 
new. undisciplined, and never before in the 
field, was put on duty in the defenses of 
Washington. It is stated in Colonel Ganse- 
voort's letters that after he had obeyed or- 
ders to report at Washington and had re- 
ported the strength of his command, he re- 
ceived an immediate reply that there were an 
equal number of horses and saddles awaiting 
them, and orders to go forward to the defense 



of the capital. In these embarrassing circum- 
stances, with a regiment secured in the ad- 
vanced period of enlisting, with untried and 
to a great extent turbulent and insubordinate 
soldiers. Colonel Gansevoort's conduct was 
worthy of the highest commendation. After 
Lee's retreat the Thirteenth was stationed in 
\'irginia and at other posts with troops en- 
gaged in watching the actions of Mosby, and 
in seeking to effect his capture, a feat at one 
time actually accomplished by a detachment 
acting under Colonel Gansevoort's immediate 
orders. The escape of Mosby after capture, 
by his feigning to be badly wounded and dy- 
ing, was an incident of peculiar interest 
among the many adventures that attended his 
sphere of service. At another time, through 
a well-conceived and successfully executed 
plan. Colonel Gansevoort was rewarded for 
his patience and energy by the capture of 
Mosby's artillery, which crippled him and in 
a measure defeated his further raids on the 
troops stationed in that vicinity. The duties 
of this service demanded constant vigilance 
and activity, and he discharged them with zeal 
and fidelity, at the time fully acknowledged 
by the government. His regiment was among 
the very last mustered out of service, and its 
condition at that time was not inferior to any 
other cavalry regiment in the volunteers. 

Colonel Gansevoort was brevetted briga- 
dier-general of volunteers and lieutenant- 
colonel in the regular service, and held at the 
time of his death the rank of captain of ar- 
tillery in the regular line of promotion in 
the United States army. After the close of 
the war he was ordered to Fortress Monroe 
and thence to Barrancas, Florida, and from 
the latter place to Fort Independence, 
Boston Harbor. During his long period of 
service he was several times prostrated with 
fever, the germs of which appeared to re- 
main in his system and to cause at intervals 
new attacks. He was thus prostrated anew 
in the fall of 1870, and when the fever had 
nearly abated he sought his home at Albany, 
wliere he arrived with a bad cough which con- 
stantly increased upon him. Not long after 
his return he insisted on going back to Bos- 
ton, and although his strength seemed not to 
warrant it he had so determinedly made up 
his mind to go that remonstrance was with- 
out avail; and it is evident that his chief pur- 
pose was to arrange such afifairs as he had 
been tmable to attend to during his illness. 
His visit to Nassau, New Providence, which 
failed to give him any hopes of a restoration 
to health ; his yearning for home and its com- 
forts and consolations ; his homeward jour- 
ney in company with his sister who could not 



HUDSOX AXD MOHAWK VALLEYS 



71 



be kept from his side; his gradually wasting' 
strength as he neared that home, the goal of 
his earthly hopes, on the bosom of his be- 
loved river ; his consciousness of the death 
soon to close over him ; and his readiness to 
meet his end, firm in his honor as a soldier 
and humble in his faith as a Christian — these 
scenes follow in sad but quick succession 
upon all that was earthly of the beloved ob- 
ject of this sketch. 

Colonel Gansevoort had taste in drawing 
and painting and was a devoted lover of his- 
tory ; and his inclination for oratory was very 
strong. He also had a taste for writing, and 
from boyhood he was distinguished for his 
readiness in debate and the facility with which 
he could express his thoughts. When he left 
Albany Academy he delivered the salutatory 
oration, and his address at Princeton when 
he graduated is remembered as conspicuous 
among the exercises of the day. On one oc- 
casion at Allentown, Pennsylvania, he deliv- 
ered an Independence Day address which was 
spoken of in terms of warm commendation. 
While in the army he was frequently called 
upon to act on courts-martial, where his pow- 
ers were thoroughly tested and his ability 
conspicuously exhibited, and he was unde- 
viatingly honorable, and the possession of this 
admirable trait was fully recognized by all 
who came in contact with him. Notwith- 
standing his decided political convictions, it 
"was a part of his creed tliat the duties of a 
soldier were incompatible with any active par- 
ticipation in political strifes ; and as he never 
was troubled with misgivings when the path 
of duty lay clear before him, the adoption 
of this article of faith without hesitation was 
followed by a strict adherence to its injunc- 
tions from which he never departed. 

(The \'an Schaick Line). 
Those islands formed by the spuytens or 
sprouts of the }iIohawk, and a large tract of 
land to the northward, including the present 
village of Waterford, originally called the 
"Halve Maan," or Half-AIoon, were granted 
by the Indian chiefs (permission having been 
obtained from Governor Nichols) to Goosen 
Gerritsen \'an Schaick and Philip Petersen 
Schuyler. September 11, 1665 (the original 
deed is still extant). The latter, on July 12, 
1674. conveyed his interests in the lands em- 
braced by the government to his associate, 
Van Schaick, who by will deeded the lands to 
bis wife Anetje. .After his death she conveyed 
them to his son Anthony for the consideration 
of five hundred and fifty good marketable 
beaver skins. This grant was confirmed by 
Governor Lovelace, Alarch 30, 1672, and af- 



terward Governor Thomas Dongan, then gov- 
ernor of the province of New York, by his 
patent dated May 31, 1687, confirmed in .An- 
thony \'an Schaick the sole title to said land 
in consideration of an annual quit rent of one 
bushel of winter wheat (both the Lovelace 
and Dongan patents are still in existence, and 
are in an excellent state of presen'ation). The 
Indian name of \'an Schaick Island was 
"Quahemesicos," and the names of the Indian 
proprietors at the time of the transfer to \'an 
Schaick and Schuyler were Itamonet, Amen- 
hasnet and Kishocasna. The Dutch called 
it "Long Island." In the early writings it 
was called "Whale Island." After the trans- 
fer it was called "Anthony's Island." It is 
also called "Isle Cohoes," or "Cohoes Isl- 
and." It was the first land cultivated north 
of the present city limits of Cohoes. 

(I) Captain Goosen Gerritsen \"an Schaick, 
born in 1630, died in 1676. He married, 
(first) in 1649, Geertje Brantse Peelen or 
Pealen, who died about 1656, married (sec- 
ond) in 1657, Annatie Lievens or Lievense. 
Captain Van Schaick was a brewer and a 
prominent man in Albany. Children by first 
wife: Genetic, married Johannes Lansing; 
Gerrit, born 1650, married Alida \'an Slich- 
tenhorst : Sybrant, see forward ; Anthony, 
born 1665. Children by second wife: Liven- 
ius, whose daughter Gerritje married .Andrew 
Drawyer, a Danish admiral in the Dutch ser- 
vice : Cornells ; Margareta. 

(II) Sybrant, son of Captain Goosen Ger- 
ritsen Van Schaick, was born in 1653, died 
in 1685. He married Elizabeth \'an Der 
Poel. Children : Goosen, born 1677, married 
Catherine Staats : Catherine, born 1679; An- 
thony, see forward : Gerrit, born 1685. 

( III ) Anthony, son of Sybrant and Eliza- 
beth (\'an Der Poel) \'an Schaick. was born 
in 1 68 1, died in 1756. He was a glazier, and 
lived in Albany. In 1717 he was commis- 
sioned cornet by Governor Robert Hunter. In 
an act passed December 22, 1717, there is 
provided for the payment of claims against 
the colony, "to Anthony \'an Schaick, his exe- 
ecutors or assigns the quantity of two ounces 
two pennyweight of plate (Spanish coin) 
aforesaid for mending of glass windows in 
his Majesty's garrison at Albany." There are 
many references to him in the records of his 
day. The family were in most everything in 
the way of business merchandising, trading 
with the Indians, agriculture. Deeds, inden- 
tures, conveyances, accounts, etc., in the fam- 
ily name, are numerous and interesting. He 
married, October 19, 1707, Anna Catherine 
Ten Broeck, who died in 1756. Children : 
Sybrant, born 1708; Wessel, see forward; 



72 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Elizabeth, born 1716; Jacob, born 17 18; 
Looniis, 1720; Goosen, 1722. 

(lY) Wessel, son of Sybrant and Anna 
Catherine (Ten Broeck) Van Schaick, was 
baptized February 16, 1712, died IMarch 13, 
1783. He married Maria Gerritse Van 
Schaick, who died January 31, 1797, aged 
seventy-nine years. Children: Anthony, born 
September 6. 1744; Maritje, Ixjrn July 25, 
1746. died AugTist 16. 1813 ; Jan Gerse, born 
September 24, 1748, died July 7, 1828, mar- 
ried Anna Van Schaick; Cattrina (Cathe- 
rine), born August 16, 1752, see forward; 
Gerrit, born May 22, 1758, in Albany, died 
December 14, 1816, in Lansingburg. 

(\") Catherine, daughter of Wessel and 
Maria G. \'an .Schaick, was born August 
16, 1752. She married, December 17, 1778, 
General Peter Gansevoort (see Gansevoort). 
With this marriage the relationship between 
the Lansing. Van Schaick and Gansevoort 
families is established. 



The American ancestor of this 
LANSING fine old Dutch family, famed 
in the early and subsequent 
annals of the Hudson Valley, was Gerrit 
Frederickse (termination sc has force of son), 
son of Frederick Lansing, of the town of 
Hasselt. in the province of Overyssel. The 
name is found in the early records as Lan- 
singh, Lansinck (Lansinck family has dif- 
ferent coat-of-arms. See De Rietstap's "Arm- 
orial Bearings" — the De Brett of the conti- 
nent) — and Lansing. They settled early in the 
Hudson (later in the Mohawk) Valley, where 
they had large land grants and were traders, 
farmers and mechanics. One of the family, 
Abraham J., had land granted him along the 
Hudson, on which he founded the town of 
Lansingburg, now a part of the city of Troy, 
New York. 

(I) Gerrit Frederickse Lansing came to 
New Amsterdam with three sons and three 
daughters, all born before leaving Hasselt, and 
settled in Reiisselaerwyck, probably about 
1650. The date of the death of Gerrit Fred- 
erickse Lansing, the emigrant ancestor, is 
only determined as being prior to October 3, 
1679, as on that day his children made a joint 
conveyance of property, supposedly as heirs 
of the father. Children: i. Gerrit. see 
forward. 2. Johannes, married Geritje Van 
Schaick, widow of Hendrick Coster. 3. Ilen- 

drick. married Lysbeth . 4. Altje 

C/Mida). married Gerrit Van Slichtenhorst. 3. 
Gysbcrtie, married Hendrick Roseboom. 6. 
Hilletje, married Storm \'an Der Zee 
(Bradt). 

(H) Gerrit, son of Gerrit F. Lansing, 



was born probably in Hasselt, Holland. 
He married Elsje, daughter of Wouter Van 
\\'ythorst. Children: i. Gerrit (3), mar- 
ried Catherine Sanders Glen, August 21, 1692. 
2. Abraham, born 1663, married Magdalena 
\'an Tricht, November 28, 1703. 3. Johan- 
nes, born January i, 1675, died August 10, 
1 77 1, aged ninety-six years seven months, ten 
days ; married Helena Sanders. September 20, 
1704. 4. Susanna, married Mattys Nack, July 
24. 1698. 5. Isaac, born May 14, 1677; mar- 
ried Janetje Beeckman, June 27, 1703. 6. 
Jacob G., see forward. 7. Myndert, unmar- 
ried. 8. Wouter, baptized August 12, 1683. 
9. Elizabeth, baptized January 20, 1689, died 
September 1730. 

(HI) Jacob G., son of Gerrit and Elsje 
(\'an Wythorst) Lansing, was born in- 
Albany, June 6. 1681, and died there Decem- 
ber 6, 1767. He built a house in 17 10 at 
the corner of North Pearl and Columbia 
streets, Albany, known as the "Pemberton 
House," where all his children were born. 
He married, about 1710. Helena, baptized No- 
vember 21, 1683, daughter of Jacob Sanders 
and Catherine (Van Witbeck) Glen. Chil- 
dren: I. Gerrit J., see forward. 2. Jacob 
J., a revolutionary officer, commanded a regi- 
ment at the battle of Stillwater, New York; 
was a captain in the "Middle Forty" at Scho- 
harie, when it was attacked by Sir John John- 
son and the Indians under Brant ; married 
Marytje Egberts, November 6, 1742. 3. 
John J., married (first) Rachel Elevens, .'\u- 
gust 14. 1 74 1, (second) Cathalina Van 
Schaick, October 20, 1744, (third) Catharina 
.Schuyler, about 1747. 4. Catharine, married 
(first) Abraham Lansing, alxjut 1742, (sec- 
ond) Abraham Douw, November 23, 1761. 5. 
Abraham, married Elizabeth Cooper, May 20, 
1744. 6. Isaac. 7. Sanders J., died unmar- 
ried, April 3, 1807. 8. 9. Elsje and Isaac,. 
twins; Elsje, died April, 1730; Isaac married 
,\nnetje \'an Woert. 

(IV) Gerrit J., son of Jacob G. and 
Helena (Glen) Lansing, was born in Albany,. 
New York, and baptized March 4, 171 1. He 
married (first) November 29, 1734. Maria, 
daughter of Johannes and Barcntje (Pruyn) 
Everts, born October 8. 1713, and buried Jan- 
uary 27, 1741. Children: i. Jacob G. (2), 
married (first) Neeltje Roseboom, March 14,. 
1767, (second) Femmetje (Frances) Lan- 
sing, .Xugust 28, 1774. 2. Maria, died in in- 
fancy. 3. .Alida, died in infancy. He mar- 
ried (second) about 1748, Jane, baptized 
.April 12, 1728, and died Marcii 2. 1810,. 
(laughter of John and .Sarah (W'inne) Wat- 
ers. Children : 4. John, died in childhood. 
5. John, Jr. (2), baptized February 3, 1755. 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



75 



The last seen of him was December 12, 1829, 
on the pier where the steamboats left for Al- 
bany, walking towards the boat on which he 
intended going to Albany. (See "Lives of the 
Chancellors.") He dined with his father-in- 
law, Robert Ray, just before his disappear- 
ance in New York City. He was a very 
prominent public man and his death caused 
a deep sensation. He studied law with Rob- 
ert Yates, afterward chief justice of the state, 
and also with James Duane in New York. 
He served under General Philip Schuyler in 
the revolutionary war, being Schuyler's mili- 
tary secretary at Saratoga, and was a distin- 
guished member of the convention that con- 
ducted the civil and military operations of 
the state. Soon after he was appointed mayor 
of Albany, and in 1787 was with Chief Jus- 
tice Yates and General Hamilton delegated by 
the state as member of the convention which 
framed the constitution of the United States. 
On his return he was appointed a judge of the 
supreme court and later to the high position 
of chancellor of the state. He married, April 
8, 1781, Cornelia, daughter of Robert and 
Sarah (Bogart) Ray of New York City. She 
died in Albany, January, 1834. 6. Abraham 
G., see forward. 7. Gerrit G. (known as Ger- 
rit of Oriskany), baptized November 4, 1760, 
died May. 27, 1831. He entered the revolu- 
tionary army at the beginning of the war and 
served until its close. He led a forlorn hope 
at Yorktown and was a distinguished and gal- 
lant officer. He was a colonel in rank. He 
married Maria, daughter of Colonel Edward 
Antill. She died at Utica, New York, Au- 
gust 24, 1834. 8. Sarah, born June 22, 1763, 
married Barent Bleecker. 9. Sanders G., (the 
G. for Gerritse was only used when he was 
a boy to distinguish him from an uncle. San- 
ders Lansing), was born in Albany, June 17, 
1766: educated to legal profession in Albany 
and Claverack schools : was register iind mas- 
ter in chancery in Albany ; removed from 
Albany to Little Falls in 1820; in 1821 was a 
delegate to draw up new state constitutions ; 
1821-28 was county judge of Herkimer 
county. New York ; afterward supreme court 
judge; died in Manheim, New York, Sep- 
tember 19, 1850: married, December 10, 1789, 
Catharine, daughter of Abraham and Annatje 
(Lansing) Ten Eyck. 

(\') Abraham G., son of Gerrit J. and 
Jane (Waters) Lansing, was born December 
12. 1756, died May 15, 1834. He married, 
April 9, 1779, Susanna, daughter of Abra- 
ham and Anetje (De Ridder) Yates, born 
August 18, 1762, died February i, 1840. 
Children: i. Jannetje, born February 18, 
1780; died unmarried, November 3, 1830. 



2. Abraham, died young. 3. Gerrit Y., born 
August 4, 1783. died January 3, 1862; he held 
many positions of honor and trust in the city 
and county of Albany. He was in early life 
private secretary to Governor Morgan Lewis, 
clerk of the assembly, and judge of probate. 
He represented the district in the twent\-sec- 
ond, twenty-third and twenty-fourth con- 
gresses of the United States. He was elected 
a regent of the State University to succeed 
ex-President Martin Van Buren. He mar- 
ried. May 31, 1808, Plelen Ten Eyck, born 
June 13, 1787, died June 25, 1838. 4. Cor- 
nelius De Ridder, born November 17, 1785, 
died September 1849. 5. John, died single. 
6. Antje, died young. 7. Sanders, born April 
15, 1792, married .Angelica Schuyler, in 1821. 
8. Christopher Y., see forward. 9. Susan, mar- 
ried Peter Gansevoort, December 12, 1843, 
died October 28, 1874. 10. Anna, born Janu- 
ary 26. 1799, married Rev. Walter Monteath; 
died January 20, 1830. 11. Sarah B., born 
September 5. 1802, died unmarried. 12. Ba- 
rent Bleecker, married Philanda Orcutt. 13. 
George, married Harriet Schermerhorn. 14. 
Abraham Y., born September 8, 1808. and 
died November 24, 1857 ;' married Eliza \'an 
Alstyne, April 26, 1836. 

(\T) Christopher Yates, eighth child of 
Abraham G. and Susanna (Yates) Lansing, 
was born May 27, 1796, died in Albany, Au- 
gust 29, 1872. He was a leading lawyer of 
Albany. He married, October 27, 1829, Caro- 
line Mary Thomas, born March 23, 1805, died 
April 29, 1845. Children : Jane Anna ; John 
Thomas, died unmarried, April 14, 1880: .Ab- 
raham I see forward) : William, married Oc- 
tober 17, 1867, Caroline .A. ]\IcClellan : Ed- 
win Yates. 

(VH) Abraham, third child of Christopher 
Yates and Caroline M. (Thomas) Lansing, 
was born in Albany, New York, February 2"], 
1835. died October 4. 1899. His academic 
education was received in the schools of Berk- 
shire county, Alassachusetts, and at the Al- 
bany .Academy. He entered Williams Col- 
lege, where he was graduated with the degree 
of A.B., class of 1855. He decided to follow 
the profession of law, and entered his father's 
ofifice for study and instruction. He was grad- 
uated from the Albany Law School in 1857. 
He at once advanced to the front rank and 
in a short time was looked upon as a leader 
in his profession. In 1868 he was appointed 
city attorney of .Albany, and in 1869 was 
made the first supreme court reporter. While 
in that position he published the first seven 
volumes of the supreme court reports. In 
1874 he was appointed by Governor Di.\ act- 
ing state treasurer, and in 1876 he was chosen 



74 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



corporation counsel for Albany. In 1882 he 
was elected state senator for Albany county, 
receiving the largest majority ever given a 
candidate for that office. While in the senate 
he was actively identified with the passage 
■of the act establishing the State Railroad 
Commission and the law providing for the 
•establishment of a state park at Niagara Falls. 
He was interested in other lines of activity 
outside his political and professional duties. 
He was a director of the National Commer- 
'cial Bank, trustee of the Albany Savings 
Bank, park commissioner of Albany, governor 
■of the Albany Hospital, trustee of the Al- 
bany Academy, Albany Medical College, Al- 
bany Rural Cemetery, Dudley Observatory 
and the Fort Orange Club ; a life member of 
the State Geological Society and other organ- 
izations and clubs. In his legal business Mr. 
Lansing had a partner, his brother William. 
He married. November 26, 1873, Catherine, 
■daughter of General Peter (2) and Mary 
(Sanford) Gansevoort, (see Gansevoort). 
Airs. Lansing survives her husband. She is 
a granddaughter of General Peter and Cath- 
trine (\'an Schaick) Gansevoort. 



(VI) Gerrit Yates, son of 
LANSING Abraham Gerrit Lansing 

(q. V.) and Susanna (Yates) 
Lansing, was born in Albany, August 4, 1783, 
died January 3, 1862. He held a number of 
positions of honor and trust in Albany. In 
•early life he was private secretary to Gover- 
nor -Morgan Lewis, clerk of the assembly, 
judge of probate, represented the county in 
the twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty- 
fourth congresses, was elected regent of the 
LIniversity in place of ex-President Martin 
\'an Buren, and at the time of his death was 
chancellor of the regents. He was a man of 
genial nature, kind, frank, honest and most 
■open-hearted, respected and beloved by 
all, and affectionate and benevolent, with the 
peculiar habit of attracting the young people. 
He was respected as a gentleman of polish 
and refinement, in fact, a true representative 
of the school in which were Clay, Webster, 
Wright, Marcy and Van Buren. He married, 
May 31, 1808, Helen, born June 13, 1787, 
■died June 25, 1838, daughter of Abraham Ten 
Eyck, (son of Jacob C. and Catharina (Cuy- 
ler) Ten Eyck, who was born in .Albany, No- 
vember 29, 1743, died November 7, 1824), 
and .-Xnnetje (I-ansing), Ten Eyck. Chil- 
■dren : Charles Bridgen, see forward : Jane 
Ann. married, 1841, Robert Hewson Pruyn ; 
Susan Yates, born Albany, August 5, 1816, 
■died there, January 15, 1911, unmarried; 
Abraham ( lerrit, died single. 



(\TI) Charles Bridgen, son of Gerrit 
Yates and Helen (Ten Eyck) Lansing, was 
born at Albany, New York, July 4, 1809, 
died at his home, No. 146 State street, in 
that city, of acute pneumonia, on December 
I, 1890. He resided throughout his entire 
life in Albany. Although more than eighty 
years of age when he died, up to the time 
of his final sickness he was energetically en- 
gaged in looking after his business interests, 
which were considerable, as he was a large 
real estate owner in the city, and also in Syra- 
cuse. His natural qualities of mind were 
strengthened and matured by a liberal educa- 
tion and the study of a learned profession. 
He was of decided practical ideas, and al- 
though he favored a college education, he 
considered that it should be for the purpose 
of serious study to fit one for the activities 
of affairs later on. His judgment was thus 
well developed at an early age, and it was 
natural that success for him was assured from 
the start. He was a man of marked charac- 
teristics, genial to a friend, prompt in his 
business dealings, possessed a progressive and 
enterprising spirit, and yet was appreciated 
largely for his conservatism. For these rea- 
sons he was not only well liked, but his cour- 
teous counsel was much sought. The simple 
life of his ancestors was more to. his liking 
than the hum and bustle, the conventionalities 
and inconsistencies of modern life in its 
search for happiness. Although rural pur- 
suits would have furnished him greater pleas- 
ures than those of .society, yet he did not 
withdraw himself from the duties and re- 
sponsibilities which pressed around him, dis- 
cliarging all faithfully and well. He was a 
director of the Commerce Insurance Com- 
pany, and one of the oldest directors of the 
Albany Insurance Company, having served 
continuously from January, 1864, until his 
death, 01; twenty-six years. He was one of 
the oldest trustees of the Albany Savings 
Bank, chosen in 1868, and was one of the 
early promoters and most liberal supporters 
of the Thomson Pulp & Paper Comjjany, of 
Thomson, New York, to whom it owed much 
for his intelligent grasp of its advantages 
and the courageous aid by which this manu- 
facturing enterprise gained success. He be- 
came a director of the New York State Na- 
tional Bank on May i, 1865, and the board 
of directors of that institution met on the day 
of his death, and acknowledged by resolution 
that he was the oldest member of the board 
in length of service, that his confreres had 
always found him "active and enterprising, 
his life has been an open book to all our cit- 
izens, and esjiecially so to those who were 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



75 



brought into business or social relations with 
liim ; always constant to his duties, and ser- 
viceable in counsel to his associates." 

Charles B. Lansing, married (first) Cath- 
erine Clinton, daughter of Mayor John and 
Abby (Spencer) Townsend, in 1842, by whom 
he had two children. He married (second) in 
1854. Abby Townsend, sister of his first wife. 
The father of Abby Spencer was Judge Am- 
brose Spencer, who was the thirty-fifth may- 
or of Albany, officiating from March 10, 1824, 
to January i, 1825, and serving a second 
term, from January i, 1825, to January i, 
1826. He was a man of much learning and 
highly respected. Mrs. Charles B. Lansing 
•died at her home. No. 146 State street, Al- 
bany, May 18, 1909. Children: i. John 
Townsend, see forward. 2. Charles Abraham, 
born at Albany, died at Colorado Springs, 
Colorado, December 8, 1890 ; married Sarah 
Macklin : children : Abby Townsend and 
'Charles Bridgen Lansing. 3. Abby Spencer, 
born at Albany : married at Albany, June 
I, 1900. Rev. Edward Griffin Selden, pastor 
of the Second Reformed Dutch Church, 
(Madison Avenue) Albany, who died at Sara- 
toga, June 2, 1904. 4. Edward Yates, born at 
Albany, died unmarried. 5. Gerrit Yates, 
born at Albany, married Sarah Rathbone, 
daughter of General Frederick and Sarah 
(Rathbone) Townsend. 

( XTH ) John Townsend, eldest son of Charles 
Bridgen and Catherine Clinton (Townsend) 
Lansing, was born at Sachem's Head, Con- 
necticut. He received his education at Al- 
bany Academy, Luther's Classical Academy 
of Albany and at Sedgwick Institute, Great 
Barrington, Massachusetts. In 1863 he was 
employed as a clerk in the office of Pruyn 
& Lansing, Albany Iron and Saw Works. In 
1867 he became a partner in Albany Saw 
Works, under the same firm name. Later 
with Mr. Pruyn they organized the Sheffield 
File Works for the manufacture of files : also 
the Embossing Company for the manufactur- 
ing of dominoes and wooden articles. Mr. 
Lansing continued in the business until 1880, 
and since that time has been actively en- 
gaged as trustee of several large estates and 
officially connected with many charitable and 
financial institutions. His interest in art and 
historical matters has always affected his life, 
but was given definite form when he was 
elected president of the Albany Historical and 
Art Society, organized in the fall of 1886, 
following the historical loan exhibition given 
in connection with the Albany Bi-Centennial 
■celebration commemorating the charter of 
July 22, 1686. From that time his interest 
in these matters has never ceased. It was 



only natural, therefore, that on the death of 
Mr. James Ten Eyck, he was chosen presi- 
dent of the Albany Institute and Historical 
and Art Society at a special meeting, Octo- 
ber 25, 1910. Air. Lansing was elected pres- 
ident of the board of governors of the Al- 
bany Hospital and continues as such, giving 
much time and thought to the interests of that 
institution. He is president of the Public 
Market Company of .Albany, the Lan- 
sing Syracuse Realty Company, vice-president 
of the Albany Insurance Company, the 
W heeler Rent and Power Company, the Al- 
bany Rural Cemetery, the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association board of trustees, trustee of 
Dudley Observator}', of Albany Medical Col- 
lege, director of the .Albany Girls' Academy, 
and director of the New York State Na- 
tional Bank and Albany City Mission. He is 
an official member of the Madison Avenue 
Reformed Church, the Holland Society of 
New York, the Fort Orange and Country 
clubs of Albany. 

Mr. Lansing married (first) in Albany, Oc- 
tober 27, 1870. Helen Franchot, born March 
31, 1846, died at Albany, January 28, 1898, 
daughter of Volckert Petrus Douw (born 
April ID, 1790, died at Albany, June 16, 1869) 
who married, June 2, 1834, Helen, daughter 
of Paschal Franchot, of Butternuts, New 
York. \'olckert P. Douw was the son of John 
de Peyster Douw fborn January 20. 1736. 
died February 22, 1835), who married, De- 
cember 22. 1787, Deborah Beeckman (born 
November 26. 1763, died July 23, 1791), 
daughter of Johannes Jacobse Beeckman 
(born at .Albany, August 8, 1733. died De- 
cember 17, 1802), married, November 22, 1759, 
Maria Sanders (born November 26. 1763. 
died November 2. 1784), daughter of John 
and Debora (Glen) Sanders. Mr. Lansing 
married (second) at Paris, France, October 
4, 1900, Leontine de Kay, daughter of John 
Fondey Townsend. M.D.. son of Charles de 
Kay and Maria (Hun) Townsend, who re- 
sided for many years in Albany, practicing 
medicine, and removed to New York City, 
where he died January 8, 1874. Dr. John 
Fondey Townsend married, September 10, 
183^1. Catherine Louise Douw. born September 
TO, 1817. daughter of Jolin de Peyster Douw, 
by his third marriage, January 22, 181 1, to 
Catherine Douw Gansevoort (born May 9, 
1782), daughter of Leonard Gansevoort. died 
December 16, 1834, and Maria Van Rensse- 
laer (born May 11. 1782. died .April 2. 1842), 
daughter of Colonel Kiliaen \'an Rensselaer. 
John de Peyster Douw (born January 20, 
1756, died February 22. 1835) "'^s the son 
of \"olckert Petrus Douw (born March 22,, 



7(^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1720, died March 20, 1801), married, May 

20, 1742, Anna de Peyster (born Marcli 28, 
1723. died June 14, 1794), daughter of May- 
or Johannes de Peyster (born January 10, 
1694, died February 27, 1789), married, No- 
vember 24, 17 1 5, Anna Schuyler (born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1698, died 1750). Mayor Vol- 
ckert Petrus Douw was the son of Petrus 
Douw (born March 24, 1692, died August 

21, 1775), married, October 8, 1717, Anna 
Van Rensselaer (died March 29, 1756), 
daughter of Hendrick and Catharina (Ber- 
brugge) (or Van Brough) Van Rensselaer. 
Petrus Douw built the homestead on the 
shore of the Hudson river, opposite Albany, 
in 1724, named Wolvenhoeck. 



(HI) Gerrit (3), Lansing, 
LANSING eldest son of Gerrit (q. v.) 
and Elsje (Van Wythorst) 
Lansing, died July 20, 1708. He was a trad- 
er, and had residences in New York, Albany 
and Schenectady. He married. August 21, 
1692, Catherine Sanders, daughter of John 
Sanders Glen, and widow of Cornelis Barents 
Van Ditmars. of Schenectady. She died Feb- 
ruary 15, 1731. Children: Gerrit. see for- 
ward; Johannes, married (first) Catalyntje 
Hun, (second) Jannetje Van Vechten : Anna, 
married Jacob Egniont ; Elsje, baptized March 
12. 1699; Sanders, baptized April 20, 1701 ; 
Susanna, married Evert P. Wendell ; Jacob, 
married Ida Van Wie ; Abraham, married 
(first) Helena \'an Deusen, (second) Cather- 
ine De Forest: Evert (q. v.). 

(IV) Gerrit (4), son of Gerrit (3) and 
Catherine (Glen) Lansing, was born August 
20, 1693. He lived in Albany, where he owned 
a lot in the rear of Bleeker Hall, between 
Dean street and the river. He married Engel- 
tje, buried October 6, 1745, daughter of Rut- 
ger Melcherts \'an Deusen and his wife Wvn- 
tje Harmense Hun. Engcltje \'an Deusen 
was a granddaughter of Abraham Van Deu- 
sen, who settled in Beverwyck at an early date 
coming from New Amsterdam. Children: 
Gerrit (5), married (first) .\nnetje Yates: 
(second) Wycntje Van Den Bergli : Rutger, 
see forward : Johannes, married Catherine 
Burhans ( ?). 

(V) Rutger, second son of Gerrit (4) and 
Engeltje (Van Deusen) Lansing, was bap- 
tized March 25, 1722. He settled in the vi- 
cinity of Cohoes. where he had lands and fol- 
lowed farming. He married, October 27, 
1764, Susanna, born April 18, 173 1, daugh- 
ter of Jacobus Van Schoonhoven. of Half 
Aloon, Saratoga county, New York, and his 
wife Susanna Bratt. 

(VI) Gerrit (5), only son of Rutger and 



Susanna (Van Schoonhoven) Lansing, was- 
born November 18, 1765, on the Lansing' 
homestead just north of Cohoes, and died in 
1824. He was a farmer and millwright. He 
married, September 2. 1787, Alida, born Au- 
gust 21, 1765, daughter of Isaac and Alida 
(Fonda) De Forest. Children: Susanna, 
born August 26. 1788; Isaac De Forest, see- 
forward. 

(VII) Isaac De Forest, only son of Ger- 
rit (5) and Alida (De Forest) Lansing, was- 
born in the town of Watervliet, Albany coun- 
ty. New York, June 17, 1790, died in 1874. 
He was a farmer. He married Rachel' 
Schuyler, born 1792. died 1875. Children: 
I. Gerrit R., born 1814. died 1858: he was 
a farmer of Watervliet, and a millwright;, 
never married. 2. Philip Schuyler, see for- 
ward. 

(\'III) Philip Schuyler, second son of Isaac 
De Forest and Rachel (Schuyler) Lansing, 
was born in the town of Watervliet. on the 
homestead farm, in Albany county. New 
York, 1816, died in Albany, New York, July 
12, 1880. He married (first) Rachel Lever- 
see, born 1818, died 1848: children: i. Peter 
L., born 1847, died 1848. 2. Rachel Schuyler, 
born 1843, died November 22, 1908: married, 
1872. Louis H. Comstock, of Providence, 
Rhode Island. Children : i. ]\Iary L. Com- 
stock, born December 5. 1872, died February 
12, 1905; married William C. Huntoon : chil- 
dren : Louis H. C. Huntoon : William C. Jr., 
ii. Fred S. Comstock. born June 12. 1874, 
now (1910) of Providence, Rhode Island. 
Philip S. Lansing married (second) Sarah 
.\nn \'isscher, of Albany, born 1819, died 
1898. daughter of Johannes B. and Catherine 
J. (Willet) Visscher (see Visscher). Chil- 
dren: 3. Catherine \'.. born May 29. 1850, 
died August 15. 1853. 2. Isaac De Forest, 
see forward. 

fix) Isaac De Forest, only son of Philip- 
-Schuyler and Sarah Ann (Visscher) Lansing, 
v\as born in the town of Watervliet. .Albany 
county. New York, January 2, 1835. In that 
year his parents removed from \\'atervliet to- 
Alhan\'. where he was educated in tlie "Boys' 
.\cadeniy." In 1872 he entered the employ 
of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank as a 
clerk, remaining until 1890. when he resigned. 
He succeeded his uncle. John R. \'isscher (de- 
ceased in 1890). as manager of the \"isscher 
family estate, with his cousins, Edgar W. and" 
William L. Visscher, and continues in that 
position to the present time (1910). His 
other business connections are: Trustee of 
Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank ; di- 
rector of .Albany Safe Deposit and Storage- 
Company, and other minor enterprises. His 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



77 



•clubs are the Fort Orange, Albany City, Al- 
bany Country, Mohawk, and Mohawk Golf, of 
Schenectady. He is a governor of the Albany 
•City Hospital ; member of Company A, Al- 
bany Zouave Cadets, and of the Holland So- 
ciety of New York. He is unmarried. 

(Tlie Visscher Line). 
Sarah Ami Msscher Lansing was of the 
sixth generation of \"isschers in America, and 
was a direct descendant of Harmen Visscher, 
the emigrant ancestor. The tradition of the 
family is that originally three brothers only 
of this name came over from Holland and 
settled in Rensselaerwyck. That one being 
a Roman Catholic, soon became dissatisfied 
with his surroundings and returned to Hol- 
land. They were the sons of Bastiaen Vis- 
scher, of rioorn, Holland, who was living 
there in 1675. The family name has been 
retained in this country, and although the 
spelling varies on the records the original 
name is easily recognized. 

(I) Harmen, son of Bas^aen Visscher, of 
Hoorn, Holland, was born in 1619, died about 
the year 1693, in Beverwyck. He was a house- 
holder in Beverwyck in 1678. In 1666 he was 
the village surveyor. He married Hester 
Tierkse. It is supposed they were married in 
New Amsterdam, as their first child was born 
there. She survived her husband and was liv- 
ing in 1693. Children: Tierk, born in New 
Amsterdam, July 7, 1652, married Emmetje 
Jants; Bastiaen (2), married Dirkje Teunis 
De Metselaer; Nanning, see forward; Fred- 
erick, married (first) Margarita Hansen, 
(second) Elizabeth Sanders widow of Evert 
Wendell ; Sarah, married Gerrit Lucas Wyn- 
gaart ; Hester, married Abram S. Groot ; Jo- 
hannes, married Elizabeth Nottingham ; Ma- 
ria, married Philip Wendell; Ariantje, mar- 
ried Hieronemous Wendell; Geertje, married 
Cornelis Dirkse Van Schellyne. 

(II) Nanning, son of Harmen and Hester 
(Tierkse) \'isscher, died in Albany, New 
York, and was buried April 8, 1730. He 
married. January 6, 1686, Alida, daughter of 
Jan Dirkse and Maritje Vinhagen. Children: 
I. Harmanus. baptized January 23, 1689; died 
young. 2. Maria, married Jacob Hollenbeck. 
3. Hester, married Jacob Vander Heyden. 4. 
Harmanus (2), baptized September 2, 1694. 
5. Geertruy, married David Van Der Hey- 
den. 6. Ahda, baptized same day as her sis- 
ter Geertruy, March 8, 1696. 7. Johannes N., 
see forward. 8. Harmen. baptized December 
29. 1700 ; married Rachel Vander Heyden, 
February 24, 1739. 9. Alida, married Jacob 
Ten Eyck. 10. Nicholas, married Annatje 
Tymensen. 



(III) Johannes N., son of Nanning and 
Alida (Vinhagen) Visscher, was baptized in 
.\lbany, August 14, 1698. He made his will 
Sejitember 18, 1744, and mentioned all his 
children except Anne. He married, Febru- 
ary 16, 1728, Annctje Staats, born December 
24, 1703, daughter of Barent Jochems and 
Neeltje Gerretsie (Van den Bergh) Staats. 
Children: AHda, died young; Neeltje, baptized 
March 28, 1730, married Jacob \'an Wagener, 
of New York ; Anna, died young ; Nanning 
J., married (first) Catretie Wendell, (sec- 
ond ) Helena Lansing ; Alida, married Gerrit 
Roerback, of New York ; Barent J., see for- 
ward ; Johannes (Colonel), married Elizabeth 
Bratt; Jochim, died 1747, aged seven years; 
Gerrit (General), married Lady Sarah Turn- 
er, in Ireland, entered the British service and 
rose to the rank of general, no issue. 

(IV) Barent J., son of Johannes N. and 
Annetje (Staats) Visscher, was baptized in 
Albany. March 13, 1737. He married, April 
22, 1765, Sarah, born September 20, 1741, 
daughter of Harmanus, granddaughter of Bas- 
tiaen and great-granddaughter of Harmen 
Visscher, "the founder." She survived her 
husband and died April 22, 1822, in her eigh- 
ty-first year. She made a will June 7, 1822, 
and mentions John B. \'isscher, Annatje, wid- 
ow of Douw Lieverse, Alida Evertson, grand- 
son Harmen, granddaughter Sarah, widow of 
Franc Lansing, and granddaughter Sarah, 
wife of Adrian Winne. Children of Barent 
J. and Sarah Visscher: Annatje, married 
Douw Lieverse ; Sarah, married Benjamin 
Van Sant ; Johannes B., see forward ; Alida, 
died young; Harmen. born 1774, married 
Anna M. Chapman; Alida (2), married John 
Evertson. 

(V) Johannes B., son of Barent J. and Sa- 
rah (\'isscher) Msscher. was born in Albany, 
September 4, 1769, died in that city April 

15, 1825. He married (first) Geertry , 

born October 17, 1777, died February i, 1804; 
(second) Catherine, born June 14, 1779, died 
May I, 1862, daughter of Edward S. and 
Sarah (Fryer) Willet. Children of first mar- 
riage : I. Harmen, born January 4, 1802; 
married -Ann M. Chapman. 2. Geertruy, mar- 
ried Lovell. Children of second mar- 
riage : 3. Barent, died in infancy. 4. Barent, 
(2), died aged twenty-two years, unmarried. 
5. Edward, died aged three years. 6. Gerrit, 
died in infancy. 7. Edward (2), died un- 
married. 8. Sarah Ann, see forward. 9. Ly- 
dia. died unmarried, id. John B., born Au- 
gust 31, 1825. died 1890; married (first) Ann 
Ten Eyck; (second) Alida Douw Lansing. He 
was manager of the large V^isscher estates un- 
til his death, being succeeded by his nephew, 



78 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Isaac De Forest Lansing. (See Lansing IX.) 
(M) Sarah Ann, daughter of Johannes B. 
and Catherine (Willet) X'isscher. was born 
in Albany, November 30, 1819, died m that 
city April 28, 1898. She married, Decem- 
ber 19, 1849. Philip Schuyler Lansing. (See 
Lansing VIII.) Children: Catherine V. and 
Isaac De Forest Lansing. During the 
nearly three centuries that are covered by 
this brief record of two of the leading fam- 
ilies of the Upper Hudson and Mohawk Val- 
leys there have been many noted men m both 
families. They have been leaders at the bar, 
judges and chancellors, congressmen, and of- 
ficers high in military rank. Perhaps the hero 
of the \'isschers was Colonel Frederick \ is- 
scher. son of Harmon, son of Frederick, son 
of Harmen Visscher, "the founder." He was 
born in Albany, February 21, 1741, died at 
the family mansion near Fonda, Montgomery 
county. New York, (Canda, called the most 
beautiful country residence in that region), 
June 9 1809. He married Gazena, daughter 
of Daniel and Gazena (Swits) De Graff, and 
had nine children. After his marriage he 
resided a short distance from the paternal 
mansion, his brothers John and Harmon and 
sisters Geertruv and Margaret residing with 
their mother at the homestead. The Vis- 
scher brothers were uncompromising patriots 
and exceedingly obnoxious to their Tory 
neighbors, headed by Sir John Johnson. Fear- 
ing an invasion. Colonel Visscher sent his 
wife and infant family to Schenectady for 
safety, and took up his residence at the home- 
stead. On Sunday night, May 21, 1780, Sir 
John Johnson, at the head of five hundred 
British Tories and Indians, descended on the 
Johnstown settlements from Canada. Divid- 
ing his forces-. Colonel Johnson sent part of 
them, mostly Indians and Tories, to Tribes' 
Hill, under command of Henry and William 
Bowen. After burning the house of Barney 
Hensen they proceeded to the home of Col- 
onel Mssch'er, but finding it unoccupied set 
it on fire and hastened to the Visscher man- 
sion, which they reached just at daylight. 
There was in the house, Colonel Visscher, his 
mother, two brothers and two sisters. The 
brothers defended the house for some time 
after the enemy gained an entrance below, 
and while fighting on the stairs the sisters es- 
caped from the cellar kitchen and fled to the 
woods not far distant. The mother, alx)ut 
to follow, was struck down by a blow on the 
head from the butt of a musket, but left un- 
scal|)cd. The brothers continued to fight un- 
til their ammunition was exhausted, and as 
the enemy came up the stairs Colonel Visscher 
discharged his pistol, and, throwing it behind 



him in token of submission, called for quar- 
ter. An Indian running up struck him a blow 
with a tomahawk that brought him to the 
floor. He fell upon his face and the Indiarf 
took the crown scalp from his head that en- 
titled him to the reward, then giving him a 
gash in the back turned him over and at- 
tempted to cut his throat, which was only 
prevented by his cravat, the knife penetrating- 
just through the skin. His brother. Captaim 
John, retreated to a corner of the room and' 
continued the fight. An Indian, seeing himi 
armed with a sword, hurled a tomahawk at 
his head and brought him down. He was 
killed outright, scalped, and left where he fell. 
Harmon jumped from a back window and' 
attempted to escape, but was shot, killed and 
scalped. The house was then plundered andl 
set on fire. After the enemy left. Colonel 
\'isscher recovered consciousness and discov- 
ered his brother John's dead body and the 
house on fire. He succeeded in removing the 
Ijody of John from the burning house, and 
then assisted his mother, who was seated in a 
chair, the bottom of which had already caught 
fire, to a place of safety. This chair is still 
I)reserved by the De Grafif family, who oc- 
cupy the Visscher mansion. Carrying out a 
bed, he lay down on it, thoroughly exhausted, 
and in this condition was discovered by "Black 
Tom," a slave belonging to Adam Zeily. Tom 
revived him with water brought from the 
brook, and harnessing a team to a wagon, took 
the colonel, his mother and the bodies of his 
murdered brothers, to the river, at David 
Putnam's. His sisters, hearing the noise of 
the wagon, came out of the woods and were 
taken along to safety. The family were taken 
across the river to Ephrahim Wemps, who 
seeing tlie colonel required medical assistance 
sent him in a canoe to Schenectady. Colonel 
\'isscher bore through life the broad scar left 
on his head by the scalping knife, and on all 
public occasions this was covered by a silver 
plate made for the purpose. Previous to 
this time he had fought with honor at the 
battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777. In June, 
1782. when President Washington made a 
tour through northern New York, an ele- 
gant entertainment was given him at Schenec- 
tady, on which occasion he placed Colonel 
\'isscher at his right hand in honor of his 
patriotic service. He was appointed briga- 
dier-general in 1787 by Governor George 
Clinton, but declinecl the iionor. On March 
27, 1787, he was appointed the first judge 
of the court of common pleas of Montgomery 
county, serving with ability and honor until 
1 801. He was also a member of the state 
legislature. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



79 



(H) Hendrick G.Lansing, son 
LANSING of Gerrit (i) Lansing (q. v.), 
was born in Holland, was in 
Albany as early as 1666, died July i, 1709. 
He married Lysbeth , and had five chil- 
dren. 

(HI) Jacob Hendrick, son of Hendrick G. 
and Lysbeth Lansing, died October 17, 1756. 
He married, September 20, 1701, Helena, 
daughter of Frans Janse and Alida Pruyn, 
and had ten children. 

(IV) Abraham Jacobus, son of Jacob Hen- 
drick and Helena (Pruyn) Lansing, was bap- 
tized April 24, 1720. He was the ancestor 
of the Lansings of Lansingburg and Troy, 
and the founder of the village of Lansingburg 
now consolidated with and a part of the city 
of Troy. He died October 9, 1791. The 
farm on which Lansingburg is built he bought 
from the heirs of Johannes Wendell, June 21, 
1763, for £300. It is remarkable to learn that 
Peter Van Woggelum, who sold the site of 
Troy to the \'ander Heydens, also sold to 
Johannes Wendell the site of Lansingburg in 
1683. Now the two cities are united and 
the two families, Lansing and Vander Hey- 
den, have intermarried in several generations. 
Abraham J. Lansing, married, about 1745, 
Catharine, daughter of Levinus and Catryna 
(\^an der Bergh) Lieverse. 

(V) Levinus, son of Abraham J. and Cath- 
arine (Lieverse) Lansing, was baptized Au- 
gust 6, 1749. He married and had a son, 
Abraham L. 

(VI) Abraham Levinus, son of Levinus 
Lansing, was born in Lansingburg, New 
York, 1774, died September, 1836. He was 
a man of means and conducted a large farm 
near Lansingburg, living in the town. He 
married, January 22, 1810, Anna Vander 
Heyden, born January 23, 1782, died Sep- 
tember 22, 1855, at Lansingburg, only child 
of Nanning and Catherine (Leversee) Van- 
der Heyden. They had eleven children (see 
\'ander Heyden VI). 

(VII) Nanning Vander Heyden, fourth 
child of Abraham Levinus and Anna (\'an- 
der Heyden) Lansing, was born in Half 
Moon, Saratoga county. New York, May 17, 
1806, died in Troy, New York, May, 1862. 
He was a farmer of Half Moon many years, 
then removed to Troy, New York, where he 
engaged in the ice business. He retired from 
business for several years prior to his death. 
He was a Democrat in his political views, but 
was not an active party man. He married 
Jane Eliza, born in Castleton, New York, 
1816, died in Troy, September. 1876, daugh- 
ter of Philip and Dorcas (Sheldan) Finkle, of 
Vermont. 



(\TII) Catherine Vander Heyden, eldest 
child of Nanning Vander Heyden and Jane 
Eliza (I'inkle) Lansing, was born in Lansing- 
burg, New York. March 26, 1835. She mar- 
ried, July 14, 1868, John William McPher- 
son, Ix)rn in Portland, Maine, in the United 
States barracks. May 15, 1834, died at Lan- 
singburg, New York, January 8, 1896. He 
was a carriage trimmer in the Lansingburg 
factory ; was first employed in Troy. He was 
an exceedingly quiet and retiring man, not 
inclined to make friends easily, but when once 
made his friendships were lasting. Children: 
I. Catherine, died in infancy. 2. Charles 
Lansing McPherson, born December 10, 1874, 
died July 22, 1882. 

(The Vander Heyden Line). 

Jacob Tyssen Van Der Heyden, tailor,, 
came from New Amsterdam to Beverwyck in 
1654, having emigrated to New Amsterdam 
the previous year from Holland. He was 
over sixty years of age in 1676. He married, 
July 25, 1655, in Amsterdam, Holland, Anna 
Hals. They had one son. Dirk. 

(II) Dirk, son of Jacob T. and Anna 
(Hals) \'an Der Heyden, "Tapper" of Rens- 
selaerwyck, on June 2, 1707, bought of Pieter 
Pieterse \'an \Voggelum, his farm extending 
from the Poesten Kill to the Piscawen Kill. 
The title was confirmed to Dirk \'an Der 
Heyden, December 15, 1720, by Maria and 
Hendrick \'an Rensselaer, two of the execu- 
tors of Killiaen Van Rensselaer, the second 
patroon of that name. He was required, as. 
also were his heirs and successors, to pay an 
annual ground rent on the farm in lieu of all 
other dues of three and three-fourths bushels, 
of wheat, and two fat hens or capons, to the- 
patroon of Rensselaerwyck. The farm is now 
the site of the city of Troy, founded in 1790, 
one hundred years later, 1890. with a popula- 
tion of 60,000. In 1731 he deeded the prop- 
erty to his three sons : Jacob, David and Mat- 
lys. David released his share and conveyed 
his interest to his brother Jacob : Mattys and 
Jacob then partitioned the farm, April 3. 1739, 
into three parts, Jacob retaining the middle 
and northern parts, and Mattys the southern 
division. On the death of Jacob in 1746, his 
son Dirk came into possession of the middle 
and northern farms. Dirk conveyed to his 
brother Jacob "two full, equal, just, fourth 
parts" of the "two certain tracts of land."" 
On the death of Dirk in 1773, Jacob D. Van 
Der Heyden inherited the middle farm, Jacobs 
I. and Mattys \'an Der Heyden owning the 
northern and southern farms. The middle 
farm, between the lines of Grand and Di- 
vision streets, was watered on its eastward! 



So 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



side by a stream flowing from the hill, east 
•of the line of Federal street, and running 
southward to the Poesten Kill along the line 
of Sixth street. An orchard of old apple 
trees was on the bank of the river between 
the lines of Congress street and Broadway. 
A- road from the country crossed the farm 
on the line of Congress street. 

The \'an Der Heyden homestead, a strong- 
ly constructed two-story weather-boarded 
building, stood on the east side of the River 
road where now is the New York State Arm- 
orv. It was opposite the ferry which for 
many years was a source of income to the 
family. The one-story brick dwelling of Ja- 
cob I. \'an der Heyden stood on a rise of 
ground not far north of the Hoosac Road. 
It was built in 1756, one hundred feet south 
of the southern limits of the middle farm, 
and on the east side of the River road was 
the one-storv and a half brick dwelling built 
in 1752 by Mattys Van Der Heyden. It was 
not until 1787, that Jacob D. had a plot of 
sixty-five acres of the "middle farm" laid out 
into streets and alleys and gave to the pro- 
jected village the name of "Vanderheyden." 
This name it bore until 1789, when the more 
classical name of Troy was substituted by the 
freeholders of the village, much to the dis- 
gust of the Vander Heyden family. Jacob D. 
was sorely offended and for years thereafter 
continued using the former name in his con- 
veyances, writing it "Vanderheyden alias 
Troy." 

Dirk Van Der Heyden, the "original 
proprietor," married Rachel Jochemse Ket- 
elmyn, March 9, 1687. He was buried Oc- 
tober 13, 1738. 

(III) Jacob, son of Dirk and Rachel Jo- 
chemse (Ketelmyn) Vander Heyden, was 
buried April 10, 1746. He was one of the 
three sons to whom was deeded the site of 
Troy and owned the middle and northern 
section. He married Hester Visscher. 

(IV) Jacob (2), son of Jacob (i) and 
Hester (Visscher) Vander Heyden, was bap- 
tized June 19, 1720. He succeeded to the 
ownershi]) of the "Nortliern and Middle" 
farms which he received from his brother 
Dirk "two full, equal, just, fourth parts" of 
the "two certain tracts of land." He married 
Maria Halenbeck. Children : Jacob, Nanning, 
Manning, Dirk and Maria. 

(\') Nanning, son of Jac(5b (2) and Ma- 
ria (Halenbeck) Vander Heyden, was bap- 
tized February 24, 1754. He married Cath- 
erine Leversee and had a daughter Anna, 
born January 23, 1782. 

(VI) Anna, daughter of Nanning and 
'Catherine (Leversee or Levison) Vander 



Heyden, married .A.braham Levinus Lansing 
(see Lansing VI). 



(HI) Johannes Lansing, son 

LANSING of Gerfitt Lansing (2) (q. v.) 
was born January i, 1675, 
died August 10, 1771, in his ninety-seventh 
year. He married, September 20, 1704, Hel- 
ena Sanders. 

(IV) Johannes (2), son of Johannes (i) 
and Helena (Sanders) Lansing, was born 
1719, died 1813. He settled in Cohoes about 
1760. He married Maritje Huyck ; eleven 
cliildren. 

(\') Andrew (.^ndrus), son of Johannes 
(2) and Maritj6 (Huyck) Lansing, was born 
1760, died 1835. He married Anna Van 
Denburg. Children: John, Jacob, Evert, Ab- 
raham, Anna and Maria. 

(\'l) .\braham, son of Andrew and .\nna 
(Van Denburg) Lansing, was born in Co- 
hoes, 1794. died 1867. He married Dorothy 
\^an Schaick, born in Albany in 1797, died 
in Cohoes, 1891, a descendant of Goosen Ger- 
ritsen \^an Schaick, the founder. Children: 
Anna, John Van Schaick, Egbert Winne. .An- 
drew A.. Maria and Anna Maria. 

(\TI) Egbert Winne, son of Abraham and 
Dorothy (Van Schaick) Lansing, was born 
at the Cohoes family homestead of the Lan- 
sings. February 23, 1833, died September 6, 
1903. He was educated in the .'\lbany Acad- 
emy. During his early manhood days he was 
a farmer, and later engaged in the real estate 
business in Cohoes, being one of the public- 
spirited and influential citizens of that place. 
Upon attaining his majority he gave his al- 
legiance to the Democratic party, but later 
became a Republican, serving in the capacity 
of alderman, member of the water board, and 
took an active interest in all that pertained 
to the welfare of Cohoes. He was also a- 
member of the hospital commission. He took 
an active interest in the work of the Reformed 
chiuTli, contributed liberally to its support, al- 
though not liolding membership therein ; his 
wife was a member of that church. He mar- 
ried, October 29, 1S60, Helena, born Octo- 
ber 29, 1838, daughter of Douw Fonda Lan- 
sing, born in Cohoes, 181 1, died in Albany, 
1884, and his wife, Jane .\nn Leversee, born 
in Watcrvliet, in 1816, died in Albany, 1885. 
Their child was Abram Winne, see forward. 

(\'I1I) Abram Winne, only child of Egbert 
Winne and Helena (Lansing) Lansing, was 
born in Cohoes, New York, .'\ugust 26. 1861. 
He was educated in the common and high 
schools of Cohoes, and was graduated from 
Albany Academy in 1879 and was a member 
of the class of 1883, of Williams College. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



8i 



Possessing: musical talent of a high order, 
coupled with a love of music, both vocal and 
instrumental, he studied and mastered the art 
of both composition and rendition. His mas- 
tery of the pipe organ is complete and places 
him among the leading performers, making 
a specialty of church and sacred music. As 
a composer of religious music he has been 
prolific and successful. Over one hundred and 
fifty of his compositions have been published 
by the leading music publishing houses of 
New York, Boston and Philadelphia. The 
best known among his sacred songs are : 
"Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," a duet 
for soprano and baritone ; "The Earth is the 
Lord's." a baritone solo; "Fear Not, O Ye 
Israel," a chorus. In 1908. the Tullar-Mere- 
dith Company of New York offered a prize 
for the best anthem submitted to their com- 
mittee. Among over one hundred competi- 
tors, Mr. Lansing was awarded the prize ; his 
anthem, "I am Alpha and Omega," possessing 
a rare harmonic beauty and depth of dramat- 
ic expression unrivalled by other competitors. 
He is but on the threshold of his achievement, 
yet already famous. He has genuine har- 
monic imagination, a rare gift of melody, dis- 
tinct dramatic expression, and his composi- 
tions have enriched the musical world in the 
field of sacred music. He has been director 
of the Cohoes Philharmonic Society, the lead- 
ing musial organization of that city, also di- 
rector of Hudson Choral Society, and of the 
Ballston Choral Union. President of the Dia- 
tonic Club of Albany, a club composed of 
musical professionals. In 1897-98-99 he was 
director of the Round Lake, I^ew York, Mu- 
sical Festival, a very important musical func- 
tion. He is a member of the Fourth Presby- 
terian Church, Albany, one of the best known 
in that denomination, of which he has been 
organist since 1883. He is a member of Co- 
hoes Lodge, No. 116, Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons, and a supporter of the candidates of the 
Republican party. He is unmarried. 



(VII) John Van Schaick 
LANSING Lansing, son of Abraham 

(q. v.) and Dorothy (Van 
Schaick) Lansing, was born in Cohoes, New 
York, in 1829, died December 16, 1905. He 
was educated at the Albany Academy and 
there prepared for Union College. On ac- 
count of ill health he was obliged to give up 
his studies, but after a year or two of rest 
became connected with the Bailey Manufac- 
turing Company, which was organized in 1832 
with mills at Cohoes, Mr. Bailey being the in- 
ventor of the knitting frame or machine. In 
1852 Mr. Bailey retired and a new company 



was organized, known as The Troy Manu- 
facturing Company, of which Mr. Lansing 
was one of the principal stockholders and 
treasurer until 1890. when, he wishing to re- 
tire from business, the mills were sold. He 
was one of the organizers of the Manufac- 
turers' Bank of Cohoes, served as first vice- 
president for a short period of time, later 
was elected president, in which capacity he 
served until his removal in 1892 to Stamford, 
Connecticut, from whence he removed to New 
York City in 1897, remaining there until 
1902, when he returned to Cohoes, New York, 
where his death occurred. He was one of 
the organizers of the first board of fire com- 
missioners in Cohoes, and served as a member 
of the fire board until his removal from the 
city. He was active in politics and a leader 
in 'the Republican part}-, serving as alder- 
man of Cohoes two terms and delegate to 
state convention. He was a member of the 
Dutch church at Cohoes and a leading spirit 
in religious matters. He took a great in- 
terest in the music of the church, playing the 
organ for sixteen years, and taking entire 
charge of the musical part of the service dur- 
ing that time. He was a generous contribu- 
tor towards the expenses of the church, pay- 
ing the greater portion of the large organ 
installed therein. He was one of the organ- 
izers of the Cohoes City Club, serving as 
president of same during his residence in Co- 
hoes. Mr. Lansing was a widely-known and 
influential citizen "of Cohoes, and his mind 
was ever occupied with projects for its ad- 
vancement and welfare. This brief history 
shows that his life was an active one, and 
that his enterprises were such as added to the 
general wealth and prosperity of his native 
city. It is needless to say that he exerted a 
great influence on the affairs of his city, and 
that his work was widely extended and ap- 
preciated. Mr. Lansing married, 1854, Marie 
Louise Peake, of Johnstown, New York, a 
descendant of the Peake family of Roxbury 
and Woodstock, Massachusetts. Jonathan 
and Joseph Peake were original proprietors 
of Woodstock, and the first death in the new 
settlement was that of Joseph Peake, who died 
before March i, 1691. Child: Egbert Peake, 
see forward. Mrs. Lansing died May 5, 1895. 
(\TII) Egbert Peake, only child of John 
Van Schaick and IMarie Louise (Peake) Lan- 
sing, was born in Cohoes, New York, January 
25, 1857. He was educated in private schools 
and academies in Troy and Albany, and ma- 
triculated at Union College, from which he 
was graduated with the degree of A.B., class 
of 1878. Upon the completion of his studies, 
he became connected with The Troy Manu- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



facturing Company, serving as superintenden- 
dent of the same until the works were closed 
in 1890. He then removed to Stamford, Con- 
necticut, where he became a stockholder and 
secretary of the St. John Wood- Working 
Company, which position he held until 1896, 
when he moved to New York City and be- 
came associated with Frederick A. Braun in 
the cotton business under the firm name of 
Braun & Lansing. In 1902 he severed his 
connection with this firm, retired from active 
business life, and returned to Cohoes, where 
he is residing at the present time. In March, 
19 10, he became the senior member of The 
Lansing-Morrison Company, dealers in com- 
mercial motor cars, manufacturers' agents for 
the Gramm Motor Car. "The World's Best." 
Their office is in the Albany Trust Company 
Building, corner of Broadway and State 
street, Albany. He also served as trustee of 
the Mechanics' Savings Bank. Scrupulously 
honorable in all his dealings with mankind, 
he bears a reputation for public and private 
integrity, and being of a sociable and genial 
disposition has a number of friends who es- 
timate him at his true worth. He casts his 
vote with the Republican party, but takes no 
active interest in politics, preferring to de- 
vote his time to business pursuits. He is a 
member of the Dutch Reformed church of 
Cohoes and has served as deacon for two 
terms. He holds membership in the Holland 
Society of New York, the Fort Orange and 
University clubs of Albany, the Schenectady 
Country Club, and the Alpha Delta Phi fra- 
ternity at Union College. I\Ir. Lansing mar- 
ried, January 20, 1897, Gertrude Orelup, of 
Cohoes, daughter of John Orelup, who died 
in 1892, a retired manufacturer, and his wife 
Eliza (Pha.xton) Orelup. 



(IV) Evert, son of Gerrit (3) 
L.ANSING Lansing fq. v.) and Cather- 
ine S. (Glen) Lansing, was 
born December 31, 1704. He married, in 1735, 
Annatie, daughter of Obadiah and Cornelia 
(Gardiner) Cooper. 

(V) Johannes E., son of Evert and Anna- 
tie (Cooper) Lansing, was born May i, 1743, 
at Schodack, .Albany county. New York, died 
1821. He married, in 1765, Maria, born Oc- 
tober 19, 1744. daughter of Barent A. and 
Magdalena (Schuyler) Staats. Barent A. 
Staats was a son of Abraham and Maria 
(Schuyler) Staats, grandson of Abraham and 
Elsie (Wendel) .Staats, and great-grandson 
of Major .\brani Staats, a surgeon who came 
to Rcnsselaerwyck in 1642, and married Ca- 
trina Jochense. Magdalena Schuyler, moth- 
er of Maria (Staats) Lansing, was daughter 



of Jeremiah and Susanna Schuyler, grand- 
daughter of Colonel Pieter Philip and Maria 
(\'an Rensselaer) Schuyler, and great-grand- 
daughter of Colonel Philip Pieter Schuvler, 
died 1683 ; married December 12, 1650, Mar- 
gareta \'an Slichtenhorst. born 1628, died 
171 1. These are names celebrated in the ear- 
ly settlement of New York state. Johannes 
£. Lansing was a soldier of the revolution. 

(VI) Evert (2), son of Johannes E. and 
Maria (Staats) Lansing, was born in Scho- 
dack, New York, October 27, 1773, died at 
Decatur, Otsego county. New York, May 6,. 
1833. He married, February 19, 1795, Jean- 
nette (or Janet), born November 5, 1770, 
died at Schodack, May 22, 1809, daughter of 
Robert Campbell, born 1735, at Londonderry, 
New Hampshire, killed August 6, 1777. in 
the battle of Oriskany, and his wife, Mar- 
garet , born January 10, 174 1, died Au- 
gust 16, 1816. 

(VII) James E., son of Evert (2) and 
Janet (Campbell) Lansing, was born in Scho- 
dack, New York, March 24, 1807, died at 
Westford, Otsego county. New York, Febru- 
ary 27, 1890. He married, December 25, 1830, 
Sarah, born in New Scotland, Albany county,. 
New York, in 1805, died at Decatur, New- 
York, August, 1834, daughter of Saxton and' 
Mary (Youngs) Cheseborough. Saxton 
Cheseborough was born at Stonington, Con- 
necticut. August 10, 1779, died at Carey,. 
Ohio; married Mary Youngs in 1799. He- 
was a son of William Cheseborough, born 
1750. and his wife, Marj' McDowell, whom' 
he married in 1773. 

(\'ni) James, son of James E. and Sarah 
(Cheseborough) Lansing, was born at Deca- 
tur. Otsego county. New York, May 9, 1834,. 
died at Troy, New York, January 21, 1904. 
He received a good education, and just before 
he attained his majority he left home and 
went to Mississippi, where he taught school 
at North Mt. Pleasant. Later he went to 
Macon, Tennessee, where he was in charge 
of a school. During this period of his life, 
which covered eight years, he married and 
took his wife south, where she assisted him 
in his school work, ^^■hilc in the south he be- 
gan the study of law at such hours as could' 
be spared from his profession, principally in 
the evening. On his return to New York he 
entered the Albany Law School, from which 
he was graduated in 1864. He was admitted 
to the bar and immediately located in Troy, 
New York, where he began and continued' 
the practice of his profession the remainder 
of his life. For a few months he was con- 
nected with the law office of Warren & Bank- 
er, continuing until receiving an appointment 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



83 



as clerk of the surrogate's court, the then sur- 
rogate of Rensselaer county being Moses 
Warren. After three years in the surrogate's 
office he formed a partnership with Robert 
H. McClellan, which continued fourteen 
years. He then practiced alone for several 
years, until associating with \\'illiam P. Cant- 
well, Jr. Upon the death of Mr. Cantwell 
the firm of Lansing & Holmes was formed 
with John B. Holmes, which continued until 
the death of Mr. Lansing. He was a most 
successful lawyer. In his legal career he was 
connected with many of the noted cases in the 
county and appellate courts of the state, and 
in the supreme court of the United States, 
where he was admitted to practice in 1891 
on the motion of United States Senator Wil- 
liam M. Evarts. In politics an ardent Dem- 
ocrat, Mr. Lansing was in 1889 the candidate 
of his party for surrogate of Rensselaer coun- 
ty. He was elected and served six years. In 
1895 he was a candidate for re-election, but 
the Republicans carried the county, although 
Air. Lansing ran well in advance of his ticket. 
Upon his retirement from office, the Troy 
Times, politically opposed to him, said : "It is 
simple justice to say that the retiring surro- 
gate, Hon. James Lansing, has presided for 
six years with admirable dignity and judicial 
fairness. His decision and opinions, always 
sustained by the higher courts, have added to 
his reputation as a lawyer, while his courtesy 
has increased the personal esteem in which he 
is held. Many of his opinions have been pul> 
lished and are extensively cited as authorita- 
tive in legal publications, notably : 'Bliss's 
Annotated Code of Civil Procedure,' and 'Red- 
field's Law and Practice in Surrogate's 
Courts.' We call attention especially to cer- 
tain amendments to the Code of Civil Proced- 
ure, which at his suggestion was enacted by 
the Legislature of 1895." After retiring from 
office Air. Lansing resumed his private prac- 
tice.' continuing until his death. He was a 
member of the Memorial Presbyterian Church 
and was for many years president of the 
board of trustees. He was also a trustee of 
Albany Law School. 

He married Sarah A. Richardson, born in 
Benson, \'ermont, died in Troy, New York, 
1895, daughter of Henry and Dorcas (Lynd) 
Richardson. Henry Richardson, son of Man- 
asseh R. and Mary (Beaman) Richardson, 
was born in Stirling, Massachusetts, June 7, 
1802, died at Stirling Centre, Massachusetts, 
June 26, 1836: married, 1824, Dorcas Lynd 
at Palatine Bridge, New York, born Septem- 
ber 13, 1804, died September 19, 1880, at 
Troy. New York, daughter of John and Sa- 
rah (Wood) Lynd. Manasseh R., son of 



James and Ruth Richardson, born in Alas- 
sachusetts, September 15, 1766, died March 
25, 1826: married, May 5, 1793, Mary Bea- 
man. born in Leominster, Massachusetts, June 
15, 1768, died August 31, 1847, daughter of 
John Beaman, born 1738, died at Poultney, 
\'ermont, aged eighty-two years, was a sol- 
dier in the revolution, and his wife, Mary 
(Fuller) Beaman. James Richardson, great- 
grandfather of Sarah A. (Richardson) Lan- 
sing, was born May 5, 1730. His will was 
probated in 1808. He served in the Massa- 
chusetts militia during the revolution. James 
and Sarah A. (Richardson) Lansing, were 
the parents of eight children. Of his daugh- 
ters, Louella Lansing, is a resident of Troy, 
New York, as is her sister, Caroline Mary 
Lansing. Another daughter, Mary J., is a 
church choir and concert singer of New York 
City, also a teacher of vocal music and voice 
culture. Caroline Al. is member of Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, Philip 
Schuyler Chapter, Troy, all are graduates of 
Troy high scljool. 

( IX) Professor Hugh Henry, son of James 
and Sarah A. (Richardson) Lansing, was 
educated in the Troy public schools, graduat- 
ing from the high school, class of 1889. He 
entered Williams College, where he was grad- 
uated Bachelor of Arts, class of 1893. He 
adopted the profession of teaching, which he 
has so far made his life work. He first 
taught in the Troy high school, making a 
specialty of history. He also taught the same 
study in grammar schools No. 12 and No. 14, 
later becoming principal of the latter school. 
During the Spanish war he enlisted in the 
United States service, and was absent for sev- 
eral months, the school being left in charge 
of the assistant principal. On his return he 
resumed his position. In 1900 he was ap- 
pointed vice-principal of the Troy high school 
and for five years filled that position and the 
chair of history. In 1907 he was elected su- 
perintendent of the schools of Watervliet, 
New York, where he is now located (1910). 
Professor Lansing is a well-known educator 
of the state and stands very high in his pro- 
fession. While vice-principal of the Troy 
high school he studied law, passed the neces- 
sary examinations and in 1907 was admitted 
to the bar. He is a member of the New York 
State Council of Superintendents; the Hudson 
School Alaster's Club; National Educational 
Association ; the Holland Society ; Sons of the 
Revolution ; Colonial Club of Watervliet, 
Rensselaer County Bar Association and Al- 
bany Bar Association. His college fraternity 
is the Delta Tau Delta of Williams. He 
served three years in the Citizens Corps of 



84 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Troy, precedins^ 1898. He enlisted May 2, 
1898, for the Spanish- American war, with his 
company, which became Company A, Second 
Regiment New York National Guard. They 
were not taken to Cuba, but were kept in 
camp at Tampa, Florida. He is a member 
of the Memorial Presbyterian Church of 
Troy. His home for the past twelve years 
has been in Colonic, New York. 

He married, June 28, 1894, Lillian E., born 
in Colonic, Albany county. New York, daugh- 
ter of Isaac and Hannah V'. (Sherman) Has- 
well. Isaac Haswell died in 1905, was a 
prominent business man and influential poli- 
tician. He was a large landowner and acted 
as trustee or executor for many estates. He 
was active in the Republican jiarty, held the 
office of state loan commissioner by appoint- 
ment from the governor. Hannah V. (Sher- 
man) Haswell was born in Pittstown, Rens- 
salaer county. New York, now living (1910) 
in the town of Colonic, Albany county. They 
were the parents of three children, of whom 
Dr. George (or Leo) H. Haswell is the eld- 
est. He is a graduate of Albany Medical Col- 
lege, and the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, New York City. He is in practice in 
Watervliet, New York. Children of Profes- 
sor Hugh Henry and Lillian E. (Haswell) 
Lansing : Florence Lillian ; James Haswell, 
born February 12, 1898; Helen \'ictoria. 



The family of Giles, of Troy, 
GILES whose history and connection are 

here traced, descend from the 
English family of Giles "ancient and honor- 
able." Three brothers of the family went to 
Ireland with William of Orange, one remain- 
ing and founding the Irish branch, the other 
two retiring after the wars were ended. Tlie 
family seat in Ireland was Clone House, coun- 
ty Wexford. During the battle of the P)Oyne, 
which was fouglit near Clone House, Ire- 
land, the wounded on both sides, regardless 
of tlieir religious convictions, were cared for 
and the kindest attentions paid them as far 
as possil^le by the Giles family. It is from 
the Irish branch, still seated at Clone Flouse, 
that Leonard House Giles descends. He is 
of the third generation in the United States. 
The English family tore arms as follows: 
"Per chevron argent and azure, a lion ram- 
pant, counter-charged ; collared or ;" "Crest : 
A lions gambrel erect and erased, gules en- 
filed with a bear gemelle or holding a bunch 
of apples of the last leaved vert." The 
crest differs some, having a lion's head only. 
Through maternal lines *he ancestry traces 
to some of the oldest families of New Eng- 
land. The Snows, 1623, the Stoddards of 



England, whose first representative in Amer-- 
ica died 1661, the Buckinghams of New Hav- 
en, Connecticut, 1637, the Moseleys of Dor- 
chester, 1639, who trace their English ances- 
try to 108 1, the House family of Connecticut 
and New York, the Murdocks, who came 
from Ireland in 1696, and other of the older 
families are connected by marriage with the 
Giles. There is a constant record of military 
service to be found, some of which is herein 
noted. 




(I) Henry Giles was born in Clone House, 
county Wexford, Ireland, 1791, six years be- 
fore the Irish rebellion. His mother's maid- 
en name was Godkin, his grandmother's Web- 
ster. He learned the art of glass blowing in 
Ireland, and while a young man emigrated to 
this country with a brother William, leaving 
one brother James at home. He settled at 
the village of Durhamville, town of Marcy, 
Oneida county. New York, where he worked 
at his trade until 1816, and then removed to 
Elizabeth, county of Leeds, upper Canada. 
Here he settled upon a wild and unimproved 
farm, and with the aid of a few neighbors 
built a log cabin in which he began life as 
a farmer. He then had a wife and two very 





cLAA^^&^^t^^ (iJ/.JLl^ , 






HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



85 



young children. He worked hard to clear 
the land of timber, so • hard, in fact, that 
he overworked, and died October 24, 1823, 
from a ruptured blood vessel caused by 
overwork in felling trees, at the age of thirty- 
two years, leaving his widow with six young 
children, all boys. He was a consistent Chris- 
tian, anil was highly respected by all who 
knew him. He was reared in the Church of 
England, but in the United States embraced 
the ]\lethodist faith, and was a local preacher 
in Canada, often filling the pulpit when no 
regular minister was available. He married, 
in 1814, in Oneida county. New York, Mar- 
garet Jones, born in Wales. Children : Hen- 
ry Godkin, see forward ; David C, born No- 
vember I, 1816, a fireman of Utica. New 
York, where a stone marks his burial place, 
erected "bv his manv friends" ; William W., 
October 18, 1818: James M., 1820; John J., 
November 13, 1822. After the death of her 
husband Margaret Giles returned to Oneida 
county with her six children and settled in 
Rome, New York, where she died. 

(II) Henry Godkin, eldest child of Henry 
and Margaret (Jones) Giles, was born in 
Deerfield, Oneida county. New York, March 
27, 1815. died at Troy, New York, January 
5, 1879. His parents shortly after removed 
to Canada where his early boyhood was spent. 
On the return to Rome he attended the pub- 
lic school, and later learned the trade of 
tinner and coppersmith. He later established 
a hardware and stove business in Rome, which 
he continued until 1858. He then spent two 
years in Rochester, New York, settling in 
Troy, New York, in i860. Here he was 
a stove manufacturer. He admitted his son 
as partner, and the business continued as H. 
G. Giles & Son until the death of the senior 
partner. He was a member of the First 
Particular Baptist Church, of Troy, which he 
served as trustee. He was connected with the 
New York National Guard, and was ap- 
pointed by Governor Seward, paymaster-gen- 
eral. He married, June 2, 1840, at House- 
ville, Lewis county. New York, Harriet 
House, born November 7, 1816 (see House 
HI). Children: Leonard House, mentioned 
below ; Albert Henry, born at Rome, New 
York, March 22, 1844. died in that city, Jan- 
uary 2, 1850. buried with his father at Rome. 

(HI) Leonard House, eldest son of Henry 
Godkin and Harriet (House) Giles, was born 
at Rome, New York, May 23, 1841. He was 
educated in the common and high schools of 
that city, and at Rome Academy. After the 
family removed to Troy he studied law for 
a year, but abandoning the idea of a pro- 
fession he entered the hardware store of J. 



M. Warren & Company, remaining with that 
firm until 1866. lie then became associated 
with his father in the manufacture of stoves, 
as H. G. Giles & Son. In 1888 he estab- 
lished his present business, nickel plating and 
manufacturing, being senior partner of Giles 
& Nielsen, with a plant in Troy. He is a 
member of the First Particular Baptist 
Church of Troy, the Chamber of Commerce, 
and through a patriotic ancestry gains mem- 
bership in the Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion. Politically he is an independent Re- 
publican. He married, (first), at Cohas- 
set, January 20, 1869, Susan Elizabeth Snow, 
born at Cohasset, Massachusetts, October 21, 
1847. died at Troy, April 25, 1872 ; buried 
at Cohasset. (see Snow VIII). Children: 
Anna Louisa, born at Troy, February 4, 1870 ; 
Henry Snow, April 22, 1872, at Troy. Leon- 
ard H. Giles married (second) at Jersey 
City. New Jersey, December 15, 1880, Anna 
Laurella Clarke, born at Albany, New York, 
January 28, 1861. 

(IV) Henry Snow, only son of Leonard 
House and Susan Elizabeth (Snow) Giles, 
was bom in Troy, April 22, 1872. He was 
educated in Troy, graduating from the high 
school. His business life has been spent in 
Troy, and he is now a partner of the firm of 
Robert Ewing & Sons (incorporated), makers 
of laundry machinery. He served in the Troy 
Citizens Corp for ten years, enlisted in the 
Spanish-American war. and is now a member 
of the "Old Guard." He is secretary of the 
Trojan Hook and Ladder Company, and an 
independent Republican. He is a member of 
the First Particular Baptist Church. He mar- 
ried, June 29, 1910, Ethelyn Howe Ripley, of 
Cohasset, Massachusetts. 

(The House Line). 
Eleazer House was born in Glastonbury, 
Connecticut, September 20, 1759, died at 
Houseville, Lewis county. New York. Janu- 
ary 30, 1833, and is buried there. Hewent 
into northern New York at an early day and 
became a large land owner and lumberman, 
founding the town of Houseville. He had 
five sons, to four of whom he gave each 
a farm. His eldest son was lost at sea dur- 
ing his first voyage to which his parents con- 
sented, he promising to then abandon his 
great desire for a sailor's life. He married, 
December 23. 1782. Abigail Moseley (see 
Moseley VI). born at Glastonbury, Connec- 
ticut. January 7, 1763, died at Houseville, 
March 18. 1833. Children, first five born 
at Glastonbury, two at Houseville : Robbard, 
April I, 1785. lost at sea; Leonard, August 
24, 1787, see forward ; Anson, July 14, 1790, 



86 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



married Lucinda Foster Blossom ; Jared, 
March 2j, 1792, married Lucy Ann Kelsey ; 
Joseph, April 4, 1796, married Amanda Cald- 
well: Abby, January 4, 1802, married Amos 
B. Carpenter; Hopy, March 2, 1804, mar- 
ried James IMurdock. 

(II) Leonard, second son of Eleazer and 
Abigail (Moseley) House, was born in Glas- 
tonbury, Connecticut, August 24, 1787, died 
at Houseville, New York, December z"}), 1879, 
and is buried there. He was a farmer of 
Lewis county. New York, and a large land 
owner. He married, at Houseville, Decem- 
ber 28, 1809, Louisa Murdock, born in Sand- 
gate, Vermont, January 12, 1788, died at 
Houseville, July 6, 1870 (see Jilurdock V). 
Children, all bom at Houseville: Ann Louisa, 
November 10, 1810; an infant son. born and 
died January 12, 1813; James, born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1814, died November 13, 1876, mar- 
ried Emily Olivia King; Harriet, mentioned 
below: Moseley Leonard, May 28, 1819; Car- 
oline, December 9, 1821, married Ralph Hen- 
ry Foster: .\bby Murdock, July 10, 1824, 
married Alfred Ethridge : Harvey Douglass, 
August 17, 1828, died September 14, 1828; 
Emily, October 2, 1830, married Joseph Cut- 
ler Fuller. 

(III) Harriet, second daughter and fourth 
child of Leonard and Louisa (Murdock) 
House, was bom at Houseville, New York, 
November 7, 1816. She married, June 2, 
1840, Henry Godkin Giles (see Giles II). 

(The Snow Line). 
Nicholas Snow, born about 1600, arrived in 
Pl)-mouth Colony, on the "Ann" in 1623. He 
had a share in the first Plymouth land di- 
vision and was of Stephen Hopkins' company 
in 1627, to whose lot fell a "black weaning 
calf and calf of this year to come," etc. He 
was a freeman and taxpayer before 1627. He 
married Constance, daughter of .Stephen Hop- 
kins, both of whoni came in the "Mayflower" 
in 1620. She died October, 1677. There is 
no complete list of his children but Governor 
Bradford says, in 1650, he had twelve, all 
alive and well. He was of sterling value to 
the new town in all departments, bore its 
burdens and offices; he died in 1676. Sons 
mentioned: Mark, Joseph, Stephen. John, 
Jabez ; daughter, Alary, married Thomas 
Paine. 

(II) John, son of Nicholas and Constance 
(Hopkins) Snow, was born in Plymouth, in 
1639, died in Eastham, in 1692. He mar- 
ried Mary Smallcy, September 19, 1667. They 
had nine children, all born in Eastham. Later 
he moved to Truro, where his father was a 
large land owner. His sons, John, Isaac and 



Elisha, moved with him and all became ac- 
tively identified with the interests of the 
town. 

(HI) John (2), son of John (i) and Mary 
(Smalley) Snow, was born in Eastham, Alay 
3. 1678. He married Elizabeth Ridley, Alay 
25, 1700. He was, next to Thomas Paine, 
the most active man in the settlement of the 
town of Truro. He had seven sons and one 
daughter : John, born 1706, married Hannah 
Paine; Anthony, 1709; Elisha, 171 1; Isaac, 
1713; Mary, 1716; Ambrose, 1718; Amasa, 
1720: David, 1723. 

(IV) Anthony, son of John (2) and Eliza- 
beth (Ridley) Snow, born July 28, 1709, died 
July II, 1796. He married March 21, 1731, 
Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Paine. Chil- 
dren: David, born 1732; Daniel, 1734; Eli- 
sha, 1736; John, 1738; Jonathan, 1740; Syl- 
vanus, 1742; Anthony, 1744; Sarah, 1746; 
Elizabeth, 1748; Anne, 1750; Mary, 1753; 
Jessie, 1759. 

(\') David, son of .\nthony and Sarah 
(Paine) Snow, born July 17, 1732, died May 
25, 1792. He lived in Truro, on Cape Cod. 
He was a soldier of the revolution, a private 
in Captain Mathias Tobey's company. He 
and his son David were in the same company 
and marched to Crown Point, in January, 
1777. He was afterwards commissioned. Sep- 
tember 16, 1777, as first lieutenant of the 
Barnstable Company, Massachusetts Regi- 
ment. During the year 1775 David Snow 
was living with his large family in the broad, 
flat house originally belonging to John Snow. 
Mr. Snow, accompanied by his son David, a 
lad of fifteen years, while fishing in a boat 
in Cape Cod bay were captured by English 
privateers and taken to Halifax. Later they 
were transferred to "Old Mill" prison, Eng- 
land. A thorough search was made for them 
on the coast, but they were given up as dead 
by family and friends. They, with thirty- 
four others, managed to file the bars and es- 
caped to Plymouth harbor, fifteen miles from 
the prison, where they secured a large scow 
and were soon afloat on the English chan- 
nel. They boarded a small vessel and under 
threat of surrender or death, took command 
of the vessel and sailed for the coast of 
France, where they sold their prize, each hav- 
ing a share of the money. They gave them- 
selves up to the French government and were 
placed on a vessel and sent to America, land- 
ing on the coast of the Carolinas. As the 
war was still going on, and the coast guarded, 
Mr. Snow and his son made their way home 
by land. Friends and neighlxjrs escorted 
them to their home, all rejoicing in their re- 
turn. David Snow was a man of influence 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



87 



<5n the Cape. He was for years a justice of 
the peace, an important office at that time. 
He was always called Squire Snow. He mar- 
ried Hannah Collins, July 7, 1758. They had 
eight sons and two daughters. All the sons 
became masters of vessels, some were lost at 
sea while still young. Children : Stephen, 
born August 14, 1759; David, November 23, 
1760; Sarah, March 27. 1763; John, July 28, 
1765; Daniel, September 6, 1767; Richard, 
December 21, 1771 : Hannah, February 27, 
1774; Benjamin, November 19, 1775; Eph- 
raim, March 15, 1778; Henry, 1781. 

(VI) Henry, son of David and Hannah 
(Collins) Snow, was born in Truro, Octo- 
ber 4, 1781, died in Cohasset, February 5, 
i860. When only eight years of age, he went 
on a fishing cruise of five months to the Great 
Banks. At the age of eighteen he moved to 

'Cohasset, Massachusetts, where he was mas- 
ter of a coasting vessel. In 1812 he was 
master of the schooner "Random" which 
leaked like a sieve, but could sail like the 
wind. On two occasions during the war of 
1812, while sailing the "Random," he was 

• chased by the British, but escaped. He sailed 
the "Ann," a full rigged brig, for seventeen 
years. While in Antwerp, Belgium, he had 
his portrait painted by a celebrated artist ; it 
is now in the possession of his granddaugh- 
ter. He married June i, 1803, Deliverance 
Dyer, of Truro, born November 12, 1781, 
died in Cohasset, November 9, 1859. Chil- 
dren: Henry, born January 11, 1804, died 
March 5, 1808; Benjamin, August 23, 1806, 
died I\Iarch 5, 1829; Paulina, December 14, 
1807; Henry, September 18, 1810, died April 
4, 1904; Ruth, April 16, 1813; Elijah, Sep- 
tember 27, 1815, died March 6, 1816. 

(VII) Captain Henry (2), son of Henry 
(i) and Deliverance (Dyer) Snow, was bom 
in Cohasset, September 10, 1810, died April 
4. 1904. He followed the sea from an early 
age. While quite a young man he became 
master and part owner of the "Myra." Later 
he owned and sailed the "Eldridge" and 
"Star of Hope." The last named vessel was 
wrecked in a storm on Brendante Reef, New- 
port Harbor, in the spring of 1871. Captain 
Snow then retired from the sea. He lived 
to an advanced age, was hale and hearty, tak- 
ing a great interest in all events both local 
and foreign. He married, December 13, 1840, 
Susanna Stoddard Lincoln, born August 21, 
1822, in Cohasset, ^Massachusetts, died Sep- 
tember 13, 1880, (see Stoddard \TII). Chil- 
dren: James Henry Snow, born June 3c, 
1842 ; Anna Frances, August 25, 1844, died 
July 5, 1869: Susan Elizabeth, October 21, 
1847; Ruth Nichols, June 29, 1848; Char- 



lotte Otis, November 8, 1850 ; Benjamin Lin- 
coln, August 2, 1852, died January 23, 1859. 

(\TII) Susan Elizabeth, daughter of Cap- 
tain Henry (2) and Susanna Stoddard (Lin- 
coln) Snow, was born in Cohasset, October 
21, 1847, died April 25, 1872. Her early 
life was spent at the homestead, South End, 
Cohasset. Here she first met her future hus- 
band, who spent the summer of 1857 on the 
sea with her father. He returned to Cohas- 
set succeeding summers, and she married 
Leonard House Giles, January 20, 1869. She 
was a beautiful girl, loved by all, but spared 
only about three years after her marriage. 
She died in Troy, New York. Children : Anna 
Louisa Giles, born February 4, 1870; Henry 
Snow Giles, April 22, 1872 (see Giles III). 

(The Stoddard Line). 
Coat-of-Arms, Sa. three estoiles and a bor- 
dure gules, crest on a ducal coronet, a demi 
horse, salient erm. Motto : Festina Seute : 
"Be in haste, but not in a hurry." The name 
Stoddard is derived from the office of stand- 
ard bearer, and was anciently written De La 
Standard. William Stoddard, a knight, came 
from Normandy to England, in 1066, with 
William the Conquerer, who was his cousin. 
Of his descendants we find record of Rickard 
Stoddard, of Nottingham, Kent, near Eltlien, 
about seven miles from London bridge, where 
was located the family estate of about four 
hundred acres which was in the possession of 
the family in 1490 and so continued until 
the death of Nicolas Stoddard, 1765. 

(I) John Stoddard died in 1661. He came 
to Hingham, Massachusetts, before 1638, as 
he received at that time a grant of land. His 
wife was Anna. 

(II) Samuel, son of John and Anna Stod- 
dard, born 1640, died 1731. He married Eliz- 
abeth, born 1647, died 1693, daughter of 
Thomas and Hannah (Otis) Gill. 

(III) Jeremiah, son of Samuel and Eliza- 
beth (Gill) Stoddard, born in Hingham, 1683, 

died 1763. He married Elizabeth , 

who died in 1775, aged eighty-eight. 

(I\') Jeremiah (2), son of Jeremiah (i) 
and Elizabeth Stoddard, was born in Hing- 
ham, 1709. died in 1790. He married, in 
1729, Sarah McVaile, born 1710, died 1775. 

(\') James, son of Jeremiah (2) and Sarah 
(Mc\'aile) Stoddard, was born in Hing- 
ham, in 1733. He married, 1755, Susanna, 
barn in 1736, daughter of William and Su- 
sanna (Beal) Humphrey. 

(\T) James (2), son of James (i) and 
Susanna (Humphrey) Stoddard, was born 
September 24, 1756, died in Cohasset, March 
II, 1833. He was apprenticed when a boy to 



88 



HL'DSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



a shipwright, in Boston; this occupation he 
afterward followed. .A picture in oils in pos- 
session of Mr. Stoddard, of Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts, shows him at the age of seventeen, 
with straight dark brown hair done in a cue, 
large, dark brown eyes, and a dark complex- 
ion. Mr. Stoddard also has his sword and 
other revolutionary relics. In the early days 
of the controversy, Cohasset was represented 
in the Boston Tea Party by Major James 
Stoddard. Tradition also tells of an Eng- 
lish brig, bound for Boston with supplies for 
the British army, becalmed off the shore and 
taken by Cohasset men. Major Stoddard 
was the leading spirit on this occasion and 
when one of the boat's crew pointed to the 
brig's artillery, and proposed to return, the 
major declared there should be no going back. 
The defense of the brig proved to be "Quak- 
er guns," and she became an- easy prize. On 
the muster roll of Captain John Cushing's 
company in the Thirty-sixth Regiment of In- 
fantry, continental army, encamped October 
5, 1775, is James Stoddard, engaged May 17. 
He marched to Fort Ticonderoga, and is said 
to have been under General Washington dur- 
ing that dreadful winter in Valley Forge. He 
married Susanna Lincoln, born 1756, died 
September 25, 1819. The inscription on his 
tombstone reads : "Major Stoddard, March 
II, 1833, aged seventy-six years." 

(VII) Elizabeth, daughter of James (2) 
and Susanna (Lincoln) Stoddard, was born 
in the old homestead at Cohasset, December 
13, 1784. A descendant of the Stoddard 
family, Herbert Towle, occupied the home- 
stead in 1897. She married, February 17, 
1819. Captain John Lincoln, of Cohasset, she 
died January 9, 1848. She was always called 
Betsey. 

(VIII) Susanna, daughter of Captain John 
and Elizabeth (Stoddard) Lincoln, was born 
in Cohasset, .August 21, 1822, died there Sep- 
tember 13, 1880. Her father being a sea 
captain who sailed to foreign parts, Susanna 
had seven silk dresses when she was mar- 
ried, besides other valuable articles of use and 
adornment. She married Captain Henry 
Snow, of Cohasset, December 13. 1840, (see 
Snow VII). 

(The Murdock Line). 

Colonial series. Report of State Historian, 
1896. Muster Roll of ye Suffolk Regiment, 
A.D., 1715, Henry Smith, Colonel, Second 
Company, Hampton Fort. Private Peter 
Murdock, First Company, Private David 
Fithian. 

(I) John Murdock was a wool comber 
and had a wool factory and store in Limer- 
ick, Ireland. He carried on a large business 



and became wealthy. Being of English de- 
scent and a Protestant, he was dispossessed of 
liis property during the Irish wars, 1688 to 
1690, between James II and ^\^illiam of Or- 
ange, .^fter losing everything he owned in 
Limerick, he took shelter with an aunt whose- 
house was fortified. He married Mary Mun- 
son. He died in Ireland about 1690. 

(II) Peter, son of John and Mary (]\Iun- 
son) Murdock, was born in Ireland, May 6, 
1679. In 1696 he emigrated to America and' 
landed in Philadelphia without funds or 
friends. He went about seeking employment 
but with little success. .At length a Quaker 
employed him to thrash for his board. He 
soon began to earn money and was very 
saving and prudent. He combined day labor 
with a small trade in scissors, pen knives, 
needles, etc. (From Saybrook Records). 
"The Murdocks, though not among the first 
settlers here, were for more than a quarter 
of a century the most wealthy and influential 
families in the parish. Peter Murdock, the 
progenitor of the family, first appeared in this 
part as a peddler of scissors, pen knives, 
needles, etc. In the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century, he married Mary Fithian of 
East Hampton, Long Island, about 1705, and 
set up a small store in that town ; next run- 
ning a small trading sloop on the coast of 
Long Island Sound, leaving his wife to at- 
tend the store. In this business he went on 
to Westbrook or West Saybrook, as it was 
sometimes called, where he purchased between 
eight and nine hundred acres of land, tx)r- 
dering on Pachong river, about one-half mile 
on its west side. .About six years later, he 
built a dwelling on the bank of the river to 
which he moved his family and store. There 
he carried on the mercantile business with 
tlie limited stock necessary to the merchant 
of the olden time when each family produced 
its own prime necessities. This was the first 
store in town and its inventory must have 
been a simple affair, he probably imported 
his stock from the West Indies." Peter died 
November 6, 1753, leaving his entire estate 
to his son John. His wife, born 1689, died 

in 1753- 

(HI) John (2), only child of Peter and 
Mary (Fithian) Murdock, was born in East 
Hampton, Long Island, in 1708, died January, 
1778. He inherited his father's property and 
his native sagacity, to which was added a 
superior intelligence, culture and moral char- 
acter that made him conspicuous among the 
distinguished men of the colony. lie first car- 
ried on the business of farming his planta- 
tion with the aid of his slaves, who have left 
monuments of their labor in enormous stone - 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



89 



walls surrounding it. His thrift and sagacity- 
brought a large fortune for the times, and 
made him a power in the community. He 
was a deacon in the Congregational church ; 
judge of the court of common pleas, a rep- 
resentative in the general assembly for a num- 
ber of years, was captain of the Tenth Com- 
pan}-. Seventh Regiment Connecticut Militia, 
and served under Abercrombie in Fort Ti- 
conderoga in 1750, during the French and In- 
dian war. May 13, 1766, he was appointed 
by the general assembly major of the Sev- 
enth Regiment Connecticut Militia. At the 
time of his marriage, about 1730, his father 
settled upon him one-half of his estate and 
built him a dwelling where he spent his re- 
maining days. He carried on the farming 
business extensively for half a century. He 
was small of stature and of a very fair com- 
plexion, with keen, black eyes. His first wife, 
Phoebe Sill, of Lynn, and her infant died 
ten months after their marriage. April 11, 
1732, he married (second) Frances Conklin, 
of East Hampton, Long Island. They had 
thirteen children, seven of whom were boys 
and six girls. Three boys, Peter, Jonathan 
and James, graduated from Yale College, and 
the other four attended the cultivation of the 
original estate. Major Murdock died at his 
homestead on the hill. Frances, his wife, died 
January 10, 1799, aged eighty-six years. 

(R ) Rev. James, youngest child of Ma- 
jor John (2) and Frances (Conklin) Mur- 
dock, was born in Saybrooktown, February 
i8, 1755, died January 14, 1841, aged eighty- 
six years. He graduated from Yale in 1774, 
and was settled as a Congregational minis- 
ter at Sandgate, \'ermont, in 1780. He moved 
to Lewis county. New York, 1805. In Janu- 
ary, 181 1, he was settled as pastor of the 
church at Martinsburg, New York ; resigned 
in 1820 and removed to Gouverneur, New 
York, where he labored until 1825. He was 
then seventy years old, but preached occasion- 
ally after this for several years. He resided 
mostly at Houseville, Lewis count)', where 
his wife died November 11, 1838. In 1839 he 
made a journey to Vermont, to New York 
City, and to his native place, where he 
preached in the same pulpit in which he had 
officiated at the outset of his ministry, fifty 
years before. In 1839 he went to reside with 
his son Samuel at Crown Point, New York, 
at whose home he died. He married Ann 
Buckingham, September 30, 1779. (See 
Buckingham V). They had ten children, three 
sons and seven daughters. 

(V) Louisa, fifth child of Rev. James and 
Ann (Buckingham) Alurdock, was born at 
Sandgate, Vermont, January 12, 1788, died in 



Houseville, July 6, 1870. She married Leon- 
ard House (see House II), of Houseville, 
New York, December 28, 1809. 

(The Buckingham Line). 
Thomas Buckingham, the Puritan settler, 
arrived in Boston, from London, June 26, 
1637, in the ship "Hector." The company- 
sailed for Quinnipiack, near New Haven„ 
March 30, 1638. His home in New Haven 
probably stood on or near what is now the 
corner of College and George streets. He 
removed to Milford, Connecticut, in the aut- 
umn of 1639, and was one of the company 
(of which Mr. Peter Prudden was the pas- 
tor) who first settled in that town. The 
church was organized at New Haven, Au- 
gust 22, 1639, and Thomas Buckingham was. 
one of the seven pillars of which it was com- 
posed. He was a deputy to the general court, 
February 24. 1657. He died in Boston (in 
the fall of 1657) where he had gone to seek 
a pastor for the church. He married (first) 

Hannah — in England, by whom he 

had five children. She died June 28, 1648, in 
Milford. Married (second) Ann >. 

(II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas (i) 
Buckingham, was baptized in Milford, No- 
vember 8. 1646, died April i, 1709. He 
preached in Wethersfield, when only eight- 
een years of age, and commenced preaching 
in Saybrook in 1665 ; ordained pastor of the 
church of Saybrook, in 1670. He was one 
of the founders and fellows of Yale College, 
his connection continuing from 1700 until 
his death. He evidently held high rank 
among the clergymen of that time for he was 
one of the moderators of the famous synod 
which convened at Saybrook, in 1708, and 
formed a platform for the government of the 
churches. His monument is still .standing in 
the old burying ground at Saybrook, where 
his wife, who died June 3, 1702, is also bur- 
ied. They had nine children, six boys and 
three girls. 

(III) Thomas (3), eldest son of Thomas 
(2) Buckingham, born in Saybrook, Septem- 
ber 29, 1670, died September 12, 1739. He 
was a prominent man in town affairs, being 
appointed to many important offices of trust. 
He was an influential member of the church 
and a land holder in Lebanon. He married, 
December 16, 1691, Margaret, daughter of 
Francis Griswold. They had four sons and 
four daughters. 

(IV) Joseph, son of Thomas (3) Bucking- 
ham, was born June 20, 1707. He married 
September 24, 1741. Sarah, daughter of Wil- 
liam and Abigail (Maverick) Tully, of Say- 
brook. They had six daughters. 



90 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(V,) Ann, youngest daughter of Captain 
Joseph Buckingham, born August 4, 1753, in 
Saybrook, Connecticut, married Rev. James 
Murdock, of Saybrook, September 30, 1779. 
She died at Houseville, Lewis county. New 
York, November 11, 1838 (see Murdock IV). 

(The Moseley Line). 
The family is of English origin and it has 
been ascertained that the name was on record 
as early as 1081. 

(I) John Mawdesley or Moseley was 
.among the first settlers of Dorchester, Mas- 
sachusetts, and was a freeman March 14, 
1639. He married twice. His first wife, Eliz- 
abeth, had three sons, Thomas, Joseph and 
John, and a daughter, Elizabeth. At his 
death, 1661, his second wife Sicily was ap- 
pointed administratrix. It is supposed he 
lived near wtat is now Crescent avenue, bor- 
dering the salt marsh and eastward of Hum- 
phrey Atherton's old homestead. Mr. Mose- 
ley's descendants have some of them lived at 
■this place and an avenue is named for them. 
An impressive monument of brown freestone 
on a brick foundation in the Dorchester bury- 
ing ground marks his grave. 

(II) John (2), youngest son of John (i) 
and Elizabeth Moseley, was born in Dorches- 
ter, in 1640, died in Windsor in 1690. Soon 
after the deatli of his parents, he removed 
to Windsor, wliere in 1667 he married Mary, 
daughter of Benjamin Newbury. Captain 
Benjamin Newbury was deputy twenty-two 
sessions, a member of the council of war, 
and a captain in King Philip's war. In 1677 
Mr. Moseley removed to Westfield, where he 
became a large land owner. His home was 
built of very heavy logs and provided with 
loops for protection from Indians. He was a 
lieutenant of a Westfield company, and took 
part in King Philip's war. He removed to 
Windsor some time before his death, which 
occurred there in 1690. He had ten chil- 
dren, three sons and seven daughters. 

(III) Joseph, second son of Lieutenant 
John (2) and Mary (Newbury) Moseley, 
'was born in Windsor, Connecticut, December 
20, 1670, died in Glastonbury, Connecticut, in 
1 7 19. He married Abigail Root, of West- 

'field. Massachusetts, in 1695. They removed 
to Glastonbury, Connecticut, in 17 15. They 
Iiad nine children, four sons and three daugh- 
ters. 

(IV) Abner, oldest son of Joseph and Abi- 
gail (Root) Moseley, was born in Westfield, 
Massachusetts, ifVjg. He was a colonel in the 
Connecticut militia. As executor of his fath- 
er's estate, he gave a tract of land to the 
-town of Westfield, in 1722. The farm pur- 



chased by his father in Glastonbury, Connec- 
ticut, and equally divided between his sons, 
Abner and Isaac, is recorded as bounded west 
by the Connecticut river, running three miles 
and ninety-three rods in width north and 
south. Abner remained at the homestead. He 
married Elizabeth Lyman, of West Hampton, 
Massachusetts, 1722. Children, five sons and 
six daughters. 

(V) Joseph (2), son of Abner and Eliz- 
abeth (Lyman) Moseley, was born at Glas- 
tonbury, Connecticut, August 13, 1735, died 
October 25, 1806. He was a prominent mem- 
ber and for many years a deacon in the 
Congregational church. He represented the 
town twelve times in the legislature, was 
captain of the Seventh Company, in Colonel 
Fisher Gray's battalion, of General Wads- 
worth's brigade, which served in the battle 
of Long Island and White Plains. Later, be- 
sides caring for a large farm, he kept a hotel. 
He married, September 10, 1761. Hopeful 
Robbins, of Wethersfield, born August 3, 
1735. They had eight children, three girls 
and five boys. 

(VI) Abigail, eldest child of Joseph (2) 
and Hopeful (Robbins) Moseley, was born 
in Glastonbury, Connecticut, January 7, 1763. 
She married. December 25, 1782, Eleazer 
House, of Glastonbury (see House I). They 
removed to Turin, New York, in 1800. She 
died at Houseville, Lewis countv, New York, 
March 18, 1833. 



Of that type of nian which 
BLESSING makes the esteemed citizen 

was Albany's mayor. Hon. 
James H. Blessing. In him were well com- 
bined certain opposing traits which gave a pe- 
culiar and a pleasing balance. He was a 
fighter of the war of the rebellion, an active 
participant therein, yet his disposition was de- 
cidedly humane ; although he rose to the 
greatest height of honor his city could pos- 
sibly bestow, its mayor, yet never was he in 
the least degree vaunted ; by nature he was 
retiring, and while skilled as a scientist and 
an inventor of repute, he was also able to 
turn his ideas into practical service, and un- 
like many of this .sort was highly successful 
in his business. For either one or all of these 
qualities, he was both respected and admired 
by those within the wide circle of his ac- 
quaintance. Even his severest political crit- 
ics and enemies never thought to breathe the 
least suspicion touching his character, or 
thought to assail his honesty, for they well 
knew that such an intended wrong could not 
have injured him, and having the fullest con- 
fidence of the people such a reprehensible act 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



91 



would simpl)' and surely hurt their own 
cause. 

For fully fifty years he was actively en- 
gaged in business in Albany, although not 
born there, and he was known more or less 
intimately by business men and others from 
the South End, where his plant had been and 
thrived for a great many years, to the North 
End, where later was his establishment with 
office, and from the river to the Pine Hills 
section, for his political life had brought him 
into contact with people outside the business 
centers of the city. To all of these people 
he was much more than a common friend, 
for they regarded him as a man of sterling 
integrity and business principles, as one pos- 
sessing uprightness of character and actuated 
by the noblest purposes. Frequently they 
sought him for his sound advice, often for 
genial and generous encouragement, and at 
times for charitable help. They never went 
to him in vain. It was not uncommon for 
him to offer. 

James Henry Blessing was born at 
French's Mills, near Sloan's, in Albany coun- 
ty, September 14, 1837. His father was Fred- 
erick L Blessing, and his mother was Lu- 
cinda ( Smith ) Blessing. Wlien he was about 
five years of age his parents moved into Al- 
bany, and he was able thus to attend the city's 
schools near where they lived. At the age of 
twelve he secured a position as a clerk in a 
grocery store, but this did not prove to his 
liking. It was so uncongenial that he cast 
about for something else to do, in which, with 
his heart in his work, he might the better 
count upon success to reward patient effort. 
He abantloned the position in 1853 and be- 
came an apprentice in the machinist trade, 
which evidently well suited his natural inclin- 
ation and accounts for his success all through 
life. The new position was with the large 
and well-known firm of F. &. T. Townsend, 
and there he completed his term of instruc- 
tion in 1857, but remained with this firm until 
1861. This was at the time when Albany was 
cast into excitement over the outbreak of the 
civil war. It was a place where recruiting 
was going on beneath tents erected in the 
broad streets, and a drummer upon the out- 
side kept people's patriotism at a glow. With 
the late General Frederick Townsend, he 
worked hard over the invention of a 
novel form of a breech-loading rifle 
which they intended for army use. From 
its improvement over older mechanical 
devices, they contemplated great re- 
sults, and their endeavors were induced large- 
ly through patriotic motives, for General 
Townsend shortly recruited a regiment in Al- 



bany with which he departed for the front, 
while Mr. Blessing likewise entered the ser- 
vice in defense of the Union, but applying his 
ability in his individual field. 

Air. Blessing entered the United States serv- 
ice in the navy as an acting assistant engi- 
neer. He was very acceptable, for he was an 
expert and thoroughly interested in his line. 
He participated in both battles of Fort Fish- 
er. His enlistment dated under Commodore 
Porter, March 29, 1864, and he served con- 
tinuously, receiving promotions. From 1862 to 
1864, he was connected with the construction 
department of the New York Navy Yard at 
Brooklyn. No matter what honors came to 
him afterward, he cited that period of his life 
with greatest pride, for its scope was the na- 
tion's existence, the later honor a city's ad- 
vancement. Following the close of the war, , 
he was engineer in charge of the steam ma- 
chinery of the Brooklyn City Railroad Com- 
pany. 

He returned to .Albany, in 1866, to accept 
the position of superintendent of the exten- 
sive foundry and machine works of Town- 
send & Jackson, located in the southern part 
of the city and upon the Hudson river front. 
It was in its day the most important works 
of this character for many miles around, hav- 
ing succeeded to the firm with which he had 
served his apprenticeship, and the manage- 
ment had fullest confidence in his ability. In 
the year 1870 Mr. Blessing invented the "re- 
turn steam trap," which has become well 
known and is used generally in nearly all 
parts of the globe. It was regarded as a 
great step in advance, and his friends, per- 
ceiving this, were willing to back him finan- 
cially. Leaving the Townsend & Jackson 
firm in 1872, he, with General Frederick 
Townsend, engaged in the business of manu- 
facturing and selling steam traps under the 
firm name of Townsend & Blessing. The 
business proved a success, and in 1875 the 
Albany Steam Trap Company was formed, 
with three stockholders. General Townsend, 
the late Henry H. Martin and Mr. Blessing. 
Mr. Blessing's mechanical training had de- 
veloped many novel and useful inventions, 
among them steam engines, steam pumps, 
steam traps, steam boilers, valves, steam pack- 
ing, pump governors, steam and oil separa- 
tors, friction clutches, boiler purifiers, water 
filters and many other useful contrivances 
which the firm manufactured. The breadth 
of his training and experience led many per- 
sons busily engaged upon inventions to come 
to him, and it was often the case that his as- 
sistance, freely given, helped to bring about 
the perfection of a mechanical appliance 



92 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



which had failed to work until he gave it 
his attention. Often people came to him, that 
at his word credence would be placed in their 
work. 

Before his election as mayor of Albany, 
he had held but one public office, that of 
supervisor. He represented the fifth ward on 
the board in the' years 1894-95, and during 
the latter year was the president of that body. 
After the mayoralty term he retained an in- 
terest in politics ; but having declined to ac- 
cept a second nomination, because of the time 
demanded from his business and through im- 
paired health, he sought no other office, yet 
continued as vice-president of the Fifth Ward 
Republican organization, and was a delegate 
from his ward to the convention nominating 
Mayor McEwan. He was elected the sixty- 
first mayor at the election held November 7, 
1899, heading the Republican ticket, and was 
the first man of that party to be elected mayor 
for a period of some twenty years. The sig- 
nificance of this is that he accomplished what 
a dozen other leading Albany Republicans had 
failed to achieve. Out of the total of 22,848 
votes cast, he received 12,364, and Judge 
Thomas J. Van Alstyne, Democrat. 9,995 
votes. He had turned a continuous Demo- 
cratic majority into a handsome Republican 
victory, and took office on January i, 1900, 
officiating through two full years. He was 
the first mayor to serve under the new char- 
ter granted to cities of the second class, and 
while experimental in some ways, his admin- 
istration has gone into municipal history as 
one of the most successful and satisfactory. 

During his term, among many important 
civic events were the city's endeavor to cope 
with the serious strike of the traction line, 
Public School No. 12 was completed, the first 
public bath opened, the city draped in mourn- 
ing for McKinley, reconstruction of the Cen- 
tral railroad's bridge across the Hudson, the 
chamber of commerce organized, an enor- 
mous ice gorge at Cedar Hill threatened the 
business interests, the freshet being the great- 
est in forty-three years, and being twenty feet 
above the normal required city relief by the 
police navigating the streets in boats, the 
Pruyn Library given to the city and accepted 
in a speech by him, the Albany Institute uni- 
ted with the Albany Historical and Art So- 
ciety, a children's playground inaugurated in 
Beaver Park, the cruiser "Albany" placed in 
commission, reconstruction of the Central 
railroad's viaduct crossing Broadway, coal 
famine because of the strike in Pennsylvania 
fields, Albany County Bar Association incor- 
porated, curfew law advocated at common 
council hearings, the new and costly union 



railway station opened, Albany connected! 
with Hudson by an electric line, Chinese Min- 
ister Wu Ting- fang, LL.D., a guest of the 
city, the John Marshall centennial ceremonies 
held in the assembly chamber, annexation of 
Bath to Rensselaer, Dana Park opened and: 
dedicated by Mr. Blessing, the Schenectady 
railway running its first electric cars into Al- 
bany, statistical record at the filtration plant 
inaugurated, completion of the resurfacing 
of Madison avenue with asphalt, the Humane 
Society acquired its own building, and im- 
provements instituted in many of the schools. 
These constitute the affairs with which he was 
directly concerned, either because of his ad- 
vocacy and consideration in some form as the 
city's executive, or through his personal solic- 
itude, and they go to show the advancement 
of the city's interests in various directions as 
affected by his connection therewith, while in 
many minor ways there was a steady im- 
provement in which all citizens benefited. In 
these ways his term will remain memorable. 

Mr. Blessing was a member of the Amer- 
ican Society of Mechanical Engineers, of the 
Albany Institute, and the Capital City Repub- 
lican Club. He was an attendant of the 
Baptist church, and resided at No. 107 Eagle 
street. 

Mr. Blessing married (first) at Albany, 
September 15, 1857, Martha Hutson. who 
died July 17, 1866; children: IMartha, mar- 
ried Charles W. Backus, and died in New 
York City, January 5, 1907 ; Lucinda, died 
in infancy. Mr. Blessing married (second) 
at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, November 9, 
1870, Mrs. Mary (Gilson) Judd, residing 
in Albany in 1910. County Treasurer John 
W. Wheelock married Miss Judd, a daughter 
of his second wife, and Ixitli residents of Al- 
bany. Mr. Blessing had also two sisters liv- 
ing in Albany, Miss Lucretia Blessing and 
Mrs. Sarah J. Laning. 

Mr. Blessing was not a man of robust 
health, although active in attention to busi- 
ness, and after suffering for a little more than 
a week with an attack of grip, at the end 
sank rapidly and died early in the morning 
of February 21. 1910. Having always lived 
a quiet, domestic life, the funeral was held 
at his home to avoid public demonstration, 
the Rev. Creighton R. Storey, pastor of the 
F'irst Baptist Church, officiating, and Mayor 
James B. McEwan issued a proclamation, or- 
dering: "As a mark of appreciation of the 
impress made by him upon the life of our 
city, it is ordered that the flags he placed at 
half staff upon all the city's public buildings, 
Imtil after his funeral, and that the heads 
of city departments and members of the Com- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



93 



imon Council attend his funeral with the May- 

••or in -.a body." 

The bell in the tower of the City 
Hall tolled, and as the solemn cortege 
moved slowly through the streets, the people 
stood in throngs with uncovered heads, show- 
ing all possible honor to one whom they had 
unreservedly respected and who had served 

ithem well as their executive. 



The first and only Flanders 

FLAXDERS to emigrate to .Xmerica in 
the early period was Ste- 
phen, who came with his wife Jane to Salis- 
bury, Massachusetts, between 1640 and 1646, 
and were among the first settlers of that 
town. He was admitted a townsman in Feb- 
ruary, 1650. His will was dated April 4, 
1684, and he died June 27 following. His 
wife Jane died November 19, 1683. Chil- 
dren: Stephen (2), see forward: Mary, Phil- 
ip, Sarah, Naomi and John. Deacon John, 
the youngest son, settled in South Hampton, 
New Hampshire. He was in the fight at 
Turner's Falls, and died in his eighty-seventh 
year. 

(H) Stephen (2), son of Stephen (i) and 
Jane Flanders, was born March 8, 1646. He 
married. December 28, 1670, Abigail Carter, 
daughter of Thomas and Mary Carter. He 
was a resident of Salisbury. Massachusetts, 
where he died in the latter half of his ninety- 
ninth year, October 6, 1744. Children: Thom- 
. as, Stephen (3), Thomas (2), Daniel, see for- 
ward: Joseph, Philip. Sarah. Philip (2), Jane 
Jeremiah and .\bigail. 

(HI) Daniel, son of Stephen and Abigail 

(Carter) Flanders, was born March 16, 1675. 

He lived in .Amesbury, Massachusetts. He 

married and had issue: Daniel (2) and Je- 

■dediah. 

(R") Jedediah, son of Daniel Flanders, 
was born April 13, 1705. He married, Jan- 
uary 3. 1728, Eleanor Barnard. Children: 
Sarah, Timothy, Hannah. Daniel, Barnard, 
Eleanor and JedediaTi. see forward. 

(V) Jedediah (2), son of Jedediah (i) and 
Eleanor (Barnard) Flanders, was born Au- 
gust 29, 1748. In 1795 he renioved to Corn- 
ville. Maine, where he purchased a large tract 
of land, built a mill and lived to be seventy- 
five years of age. He died December 6, 1823, 
aged seventy-five years. 

He married, February 8. 1770, Judith 
Tewksbury. Children: i. Molly, born June 8, 
1770. 2. Jonathan, October 8, 1771. 3. Thomas, 
October 20, 1773. 4. Sarah, February 25, 
1776. 5. William, November 19, 1778. 6. 
■Jedediah (3), March 18, 1781. 7. Jacob, 
April 17, 1783. 8. Judith, June i, 1785. 9. 



Eleanor, May 4, 1787. 10. Daniel, see for- 
ward. II. Moses, June 23, 1791. 

(\T) Daniel, son of Jedediah (2) and Ju- 
dith (Tewksbury) Flanders, was born April 
28, 1789. He removed either from Corn- 
ville, Maine, or Salisbury, Massachusetts, and 
settled in New Hampshire along the Connec- 
ticut river. Prior to 1830 he removed to 
Bombay, Franklin county. New York, thence 
to Parishville, St. Lawrence county, where he 
died. He married Fannie Flanders, a kins- 
woman (second cousin). Children: Parker, 
Martha, Arthur, (see forward) ; Albert E., 
Caroline. 

(\TI) Arthur, son of Daniel and Fannie 
(Flanders) Flanders, was born in Bombay, 
F'ranklin county. New York, March 17, 1831. 
He married, in 1853, Mary Lovell. Chil- 
dren: I. Arthur W., born February 12, 1855; 
married Julia Dewey, and had Grace P.. and 
George Emerson Flanders. 2. Imogene, born 
July 6, 1857, married Lewis Putnam, and had 
Charles, Edith and Florence. 3. George Lo- 
vell, see forward. 

(\'ni) George Lovell, son of Artluir and 
Mary (Lovell) Flanders, was born at Parish- 
ville, St. Lawrence county. New York, Feb- 
ruary 29. 1856. He was educated in the pub- 
lic schools and at Potsdam, and took a short 
course at Union College. He followed the 
profession of teaching for several years, and 
was principal of the Madrid Union School, 
Madrid, New York. In 1884 he was ap- 
pointed assistant state dairy commissioner, 
serving until 1893. During this period he 
took up the study of law at Albany Law 
School, where he was graduated in 1888. In 
1893 he was appointed assistant state com- 
missioner of agriculture, a position he has 
since held continuously. He is considered 
an authority on agricultural law, and has lec- 
tured and written much upon questions of 
vital importance to agriculturists. Through 
the press and on the platform he has created 
a deep interest, and made his department 
one of practical value. In 1901 he was presi- 
dent of the Farmers' National Congress, and 
for three years was first vice-president of the 
National Association of Dairy and Food 
Commissioners, and is now (1910) president, 
having been elected in 1909. In 1909 he was 
elected a director of the National Dairy 
Union, .and subsequently president. He is a 
member of Ancient City Lodge, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, of Albany, and of the State 
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. 

He married, April 25, 1885, Catherine 
Southwick Keeler, daughter of William H. 
and Annie Keeler. of .-Vlbany. Children : Lil- 
lian Lovell, and Marion Southwick. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



The Thompson family of 
THOMPSON Troy, New York, vv^ose 
ancestry is herein re- 
corded, descended from Anthony Thompson, 
of England, who came to America in 1637 
and is the founder of the American family 
of Thompson known as the New Haven 
branch. It is -not known from what part of 
England he came, but as Rev. Davenport 
(with whom he came) had been a minister 
in London and Eaton, Hopkins and others 
had been merchants in that city, the infer- 
ence is that he was a native of or near Lon- 
don. The name has long been known in Eng- 
land. Scotland and Ireland under different 
spellings — Tompson. Tomson, Thomson and 
Thompson. In a later generation the line 
crossed another Thompson family, not known 
to be related, beginning with John Thomp- 
son, of England and .Stratford. Connecticut. 
Through this line descent is gained from El- 
der William Brewster of the "Mayflower," 
Sir Richard Saltonstall, Lion Gardiner and 
other famous colonial and revolutionary fam- 
ilies. The Thompson arms : Or, on a fesse 
dancettee az, three etoiles ar. on a canton of 
the second, the sun in glory ppr. Crest : An 
arm erect, vested gu. cuff ar. holding in the 
hand ppr. five ears of wheat or. Motto: In 
lumine luce. 

(J) Anthony Thompson with his wife 
(name unknown), two children, and brothers, 
John and William Thompson, embarked at 
London, England, on the ship "Hector," for 
America, where they arrived June 26, 1637, 
according to Winthrop's Journal, but accord- 
ing to Cotton Mather, the date was July 26, 
1637. They landed at Boston. They were 
a part of the company which came with Gov- 
ernor Eaton and Rev. Davenport, dissenters 
from the Church of Eiigland, who left their 
homes to take up a residence in the new 
world, where they could be free from the con- 
stant persecutions which characterized the 
reign of Charles I. The company was com- 
posed of men of wealth and energy, and af- 
ter careful selection, they decided to follow 
their pastor, Rev. Davenport, in his choice of 
location, which was Quinnipiack or New 
Haven, Connecticut. The Thompson broth- 
ers were allotted lands and became leading 
citizens. John lived at East Haven, where 
he died December 11, 1674. The farm he 
owned is said to be yet owned by descendants. 
He married but left no male issue. William 
made his will October 6. 1682, dying the 
same year. lie resided and died in New 
Haven. 

Anthony Thompson signed the Colonial 
Constitution, June 4, 1639, and appears in the 



original list as having shares in the first and 
second divisions of land. He took the oath 
of allegiance in 1644. His will was made 
March 23, 1648, shortly before his death. It 
was probably made "in extremis." It was 
drawn up by Rev. John Davenport, pastor, 
and Robert Newman, ruling elder of the 
church. He is called Brother Anthony 
Thompson, and seems to have been a devout 
member of the church. The name of his 
first wife is unknown. His second wife was 
Kathern. By first w'ife he had two sons and 
a daughter, and by the second wife, two 
daughters and a posthumous son. Children 
of Anthony Thompson, the emigrant : John, 
born in England, 1632, see forward; Anthony, 
born in England, December, 1634, died at 
age of twenty years ; Bridget, born 1637, 
married Rev. John Bowers, of Guilford. New 
Haven and Derby, Connecticut; Anna, bap- 
tized June 8. 1645, married Stanton ; 

Lydia, baptized July 24. 1647. married. Sep- 
tember 20, 1665. Isaac Crittenden, of Guil- 
ford; Ebenezer, baptized October 15. 1648, 
married. June, 1671, Deborah Dudley. 

(II) John, eldest son of Anthony Thomp- 
son, was born in England in 1632. He is 
called Skipper John Thompson and John 
Thompson, the "Mariner." This to distin- 
guish him from "farmer" John Thompson. 
He was a seafaring man and a resident of 

New Haven. He married Hellena , who 

died April 8, 1690. Captain John survived her 
until June 2, 1707. Children: i. John, born 
May 12, 1657; was called Lieutenant John; 
married Rebecca Daniel ; children : .\nna, 
married Thomas Ives : Daniel, married Mary 
Ball ; Rebecca, married Caleb Mix : Elizabeth, 
married John Bassett ; John ; Anthony. 2. 
William, born 1660, married Hannah Glover ; 
children: James: Abigail: Mary, married 
John Hitchcock : Josiah and Benjamin. 3. 
Joseph, born April 8, 1664; married Eliza- 
beth Smith : children : Anna, Joseph and Ebe- 
nezer. 4. Samuel, see forward. 

(III) Samuel, son of Captain John and 
Hellena Thompson, was born in New Haven, 
Connecticut. May 12. 1669. died in Goshen, 
Connecticut, March 26, 1746. He was a high- 
ly-esteemed merchant of New Haven, but lat- 
er in life removed, to Goshen, where his sons 
.Samuel and Amos had settled. He was suc- 
cessively sergeant, ensign, lieutenant and cap- 
tain of militia. He seems to have been a man 
of importance. There is no record of the 
settlement of his estate nor of the time of his 
removal to (joshen. He married. Novetnber 
14, 1695. Rebecca, tlaughter of Lieutenant- 
Governor Bishop. Children: i. Samuel, 
born December 2, 1696. He settled on the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



95 



east line of the town of Stanford, Dutchess 
county, New York, where he built a grist 
mill. He married Hester Ailing; children: 
Elizabeth, Samuel, Sarah and Esther. 2. 
James, born June 5, 1699. He settled near 
his brother Samuel in Stanford. He was 
killed by a fall from a tree in 1737. He 
married Harriet W'ilmot ; children : Mary, 
James, Hezekiah, who was a lawyer of Wood- 
bury, Connecticut, and whose son William 
was the first judge of Sullivan county, New 
York, and his son James an Episcopal clergy- 
man of New Durham, Greene county, New 
York. 3. Amos, see forward. 4. Gideon, 
born December 25, 1704. He settled in Gosh- 
en, Connecticut, was deputy, and died in 
Hartford, Connecticut, while attending tlie 
fifth session of the assembly to which he was 
selected. He married Lydia Punderson ; chil- 
dren : Elisha, Daniel, Stephen, Lydia, James, 
Chloe and Lois. 5. Rebecca, born February 

23, 1708: married Austin, of New 

Haven. 6. Judah, born June 10, 17 10. died 
August 5, 1712. 7. Judah, born xAugust 5, 
1713, lived and died in New Haven. 8. Enos, 
born August 18, 1717, lived in New Haven. 
He was the grandfather of Enos Thompson 
Throop, charge-de-afifaires to Naples and gov- 
ernor of the state of New York. Married 
Sarah Hitchcock. 

A distinguished descendant of Samuel 
Thompson was Smith Thompson, judge of 
the supreme court of the United States and 
secretary of the navy. 

(R) Amos, third son of Samuel and Re- 
becca (Bishop) Thompson, was born in New 
Haven, Connecticut, March 3. 1702. He set- 
tled near the pond yet known as Thompson's 
Pond in 1746. Februarj- 3, 1737, he bid of? 
one right in the town of Goshen, Connecti- 
cut. In 1 741 he was chosen town clerk and 
treasurer and re-elected each year until 1750. 
The first meeting house built in Goshen was 
on his land. He married, September 7, 1726, 
Sarah Allen. Children : Allen, born June 2, 
1727: Rebecca, April 28, 1729; Amos, Au- 
gust 7, 1731 : Ezra, see forward; Mary, De- 
cember 6, 1 74 1. 

(V) Ezra, youngest son of Amos and Sa- 
rah (Allen) Thompson, was born in New 
Haven. Connecticut, in 1734. He was one of 
the first supervisors of the town of Stan- 
ford, Dutchess county, New York, being elec- 
ted in 1795. He was a gentleman farmer 
and had a large estate not far from the city 
of Poughkeepsie, New York. He married, 
Rachel Smith. Children : Ezra, see forward ; 
Smith, Egbert, Nathan, Tamna, Rachel, Bet- 
sey and Sally. 

(VI) Ezra (2), second son of Ezra (i) 



and Rachel (Smith) Thompson, was born 
September 3, 1765. died April 3, 1829. He 
was a farmer and brought up his large fam- 
ily to habits of industry and thrift. His es- 
tate lay in Dutchess county, New York, 
where his children were born. He was a 
man of integrity, quiet, yet forceful in man- 
ner, qualities transmitted to his posterity. He 
married, July 13, 1786, Sallie Burton. Chil- 
dren: Huldah, born July 27, 1787; Polly, De- 
cember 19, 1788; Tamna, August 28, 1790; 
Sally, August 22, 1792; George, March 31, 
1794: Walter, March 4, 1796; John Leland, 
see forward; Rachel, born September 21, 
1799; Julia Ann, February 8. 1802. 

(\^II) John Leland, seventh child and third 
son of Ezra (2) and Sallie (Burton; Thomp- 
son, was born at<Amenia, Dutchess county, 
New York, December i, 1797, died at Troy, 
New York, March 27, 1880. He was reared 
on the farm and educated in the publie 
schools. He remained at home until 1817, 
and in that year settled in Troy, where he 
began his business career as a clerk in the 
drug store of Dr. Samuel Gale. At this early 
period Dr. Gale was postmaster of Troy and 
the post office was located in his store. He 
developed remarkable business ability and in 
182 1 was admitted to a partnership, the firm 
becoming Gale & Thompson. In 1826 Dr. 
Gale retired from the firm and for the fol- 
lowing fifteen years Mr. Thompson was sole 
proprietor. In 1841 David Cowee was ad- 
mitted to the firm, and it became John L. 
Thompson & Company. In 1855 John Isaac 
and \\''illiain Augustus, sons of John Leland 
Thompson, were admitted, and the firm name 
was changed to John L. Thompson Sons & 
Company, w-hich still continues. For nearly 
sixty-three years he conducted business on the 
same spot, and at the time of his death was 
the oldest and wealthiest merchant in the city, 
and the business which has developed under 
his guidance and direction had become the 
third largest drug house in the state of New 
York. His career was one of continuous 
success. He began life with a capital con- 
sisting of a good education and a single sil- 
ver dollar, handed him by his father as he 
entered the old store as a clerk, accompanying 
it with these words: "My son, you may re- 
quire a little money liefore you earn any; 
take this.'' He observed the strictest integrity 
in all his business dealings and this rule of 
conduct he laid down as the guide for all his 
employees and associates. Besides being at 
the head of one of the largest wholesale drug 
houses in the state, he held many other po- 
sitions of honor and trust. He was presi- 
dent of the Troy & Greenwich railroad ; one 



■96 



HUDSOX AND :M0HAWK VALLEYS 



of the organizers of the Troy Union Railroad 
Company in 185 1 ; was a director and es- 
pecially active in procuring the title to the 
lands purchased in Troy for the location of 
that road and for the site of the L^nion depot ; 
was a director of the old Farmers' Bank from 
1836 until that institution was merged into 
the United National in 1865, when he re- 
signed : for many years was a trustee of the 
Troy Savings Bank, and a director of the Al- 
bany & \'ermont Railroad Company. He 
was especially interested in the Marshall In- 
firmary, serving on the board of governors, 
and adding a great deal to the usefulness and 
prosperity of that institution. He was a Dem- 
ocrat in politics, although never active in po- 
litical affairs, but was always interested in 
the welfare and growth Of the city whose 
prosperity he did so much to promote. He 
was a lifelong attendant at church services, 
Slthough not a communicant tmtil late in life, 
when he joined St. Paul's Church, whose serv- 
ices for years previous he had rarely failed 
to attend both morning and evening. He 
was always devoted to and practiced the high- 
■est principles of morality and virtue. He 
heartily supported the Washingtonian tem- 
perance movement of 1840 and. always pre- 
viously strictly temperate, from that date for- 
ward he became a total abstainer, declaring 
that no one should ever refer to him as an 
evil example. He was equally opposed to 
the use of tobacco in any form. During his 
last illness, when his articulation had become 
indistinct, one of his sons, after careful listen- 
ing, caught the following sentence: "You 
will never make a success in life without ster- 
ling integrity." And in this sentence may be 
found the keynote of his life. He died at 
the age of eighty-three years and is buried 
at Oakwood cemetery, Troy. He married, 
August 17, 1829, at New London, Connecti- 
cut. Mary Perkins Thompson. Children: 
John Isaac, born April 2, 1831. see forward; 
AVilliam .Vugustus, February 2, 1834, see for- 
ward : Mary Elizabeth. May 14.' 1838, de- 
ceased; George Smith, February 14, 1840; 
Robert Hallam, August 16, 1845 ; James Ice- 
land, September 17, 1847; Rev. Walter, Jan- 
uary 12, 1851 ; Edward Ray, March 19, 1854, 
now deceased. 

(XTII) John Isaac, eldest child of John 
Lcland and Mary Perkins (Thompson) 
Thompson, was born in Troy. .April 2, 1831, 
died in San Francisco, California, October 
16, 1901, while attending the general con- 
vention of the Protestant Episcopal church as 
deputy, representing the .Albany diocese. He 
was educated at a private school in Pough- 
keepsie, New York, and at the Rensselaer 



Polytechnic Institute. He entered business 
life immediately upon leaving college and be- 
came a member of the wholesale drug house 
of John L. Thompson Sons & Company, and 
for many years prior to his death was the 
senior member of the firm founded by his 
father. He inherited the sterling qualities of 
his sire, and under his wise and progressive 
management the business retained its former 
prestige and continued a most successful in- 
stitution. He ranked among the ablest of 
Troy's business men. Among his varied out- 
side interests was the Troy City National 
Bank, now the Security Trust Company, 
which he served as a director for many years. 
He was also on the board of directors of 
the Albany & ^'ermont and the Troy & Green- 
bush railroad companies, both now a part 
of the Delaware & Hudson system. For many 
years he was a trustee of the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute, and was always a warm and 
useful friend of this institution. He was a 
devout churchman, which may be said to have 
been the greatest interest of his life. He was 
a member of the vestry of St. Paul's Epis- 
copal Church for many years, his death ter- 
minating long years of service as a senior 
warden. His services to the church were both 
local and national. With his W'ife he started 
the little chapel on Green Island, now St. 
Mark's Episcopal Church. He was also one 
of the chief organizers of St. Paul's Free 
Chapel, now St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. 
Both of these chapels were placed on a firm 
financial basis through the efforts and liberal- 
ity of Mr. Thompson and wife. Until they 
became separate parishes he served both as 
a trustee. In the renovation and enlargement 
of the mother church. St. Paul's, he was ac- 
tive in pushing the work, raising funds to 
which he was a persistent contributor. For 
many years he was a trustee of the Church 
Home in Troy. In diocesan affairs he was 
both active and prominent. He was a member 
of the General Board of Missions of the 
Church, representing the .Albany diocese. He 
gave freely of his time, means and business 
judgment to the welfare of his church, and 
was a leading spirit in church councils. Of 
an independent mind in political affairs, his 
announced preference was for the Democratic 
party. He was always actively interested 
in the Troy Citizens Corp, holding the 
rank of lieutenant. As paymaster, he 
served on the brigade staff with the 
rank of captain. For many years he 
retained an active interest in the corp and 
gave it his loyal, substantial support, retain- 
ing his mcmbersliip in the senior company 
until his death. Ills clubs were the New 



i 



HUDSON AND jNIOHAWK VALLEYS 



97 



York Yacht and the Troy, serving the latter 
for many years as a director. He was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Mayflower Descendants 
and of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 
Alumni Association. His long and useful 
life terminated while engaged actively in the 
work of the church to which he was devoted. 
Mr. Thompson married, January 29, 1861, 
Mary Mabbett Warren, born May 6, 1838. 
Child : Hobart Warren, see forward, and 
Mary Warren, wife of Edward C. Gale. 

( VHn William Augustus, second son of 
John Leland and Mary Perkins (Thompson) 
Thompson was born in Troy, New 
York, February 2, 1834, died in that 
city, February 15, 1903. He was educa- 
ted at a private school in Poughkeep- 
sie and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic In- 
stitute, and upon leaving college was admit- 
ted to the wholesale drug firm of John L. 
Thompson Sons & Company, and was inti- 
mately associated with his father and elder 
brother in the management and development 
of the very large business transacted by that 
firm, one of the three largest wholesale drug 
houses of the state of New York. His busi- 
ness ability and acumen making him a pow- 
erful factor in the same. He presented in his 
quiet and unobtrusive way a phase of success- 
ful business life which we do not often see, 
and one that illustrates the fundamental prin- 
ciples of a true life, whatever the forms its 
enterprise assumes. Permanent success does 
not grow out of mere activity, perseverance 
and judicious action, but personal virtue com- 
bined with these. Probably the greatest com- 
pliment that can be paid him is that he made 
himself an honor to the great commercial 
world, as well as a credit to the mercantile 
community in which he lived. His business 
transactions were conducted on the principles 
of strict integrity, and he fulfilled to the letter 
every trust committed to him. He had many 
and varied business interests outside John L. 
Thompson Sons & Company. He was vice- 
president and director of the Troy Savings 
Bank : vice-president of the United National 
Bank : director of the Security Trust Com- 
pany ; president of the Troy & New England 
Railroad Company, which road he was fore- 
most in promoting and building; director of 
Troy Gas Company. He was always active 
in the business enterprises that promised 
greater prosperity for Troy, and gave loyal 
support to all church and benevolent institu- 
tions. He was trustee of the Troy Public 
Library, of the Day Home, and of the Church 
Home. His religious home was St. John's 
Episcopal Church, which he served as a mem- 
"ber of the vestry for over a quarter of a cen- 



tury. He was of strong religious convictions 
and gave the church generous and loyal sup- 
port. Politically he was a Republican. He 
manifested a great interest in the Citizens 
Corp, of which he was an enlisted member for 
many years, belonging to the "Old Guard." 
He was a charter member of the present Cit- 
izens Corp and supported it most liberally. 
His club was the Troy. He was a member 
of the Sons of the Revolution, and regent 
of William Floyd Chapter of Troy. 

Mr. Thompson married, June 18, 1863, 
Ilarriette Clarkson Crosby, born in Water- 
vliet. New Y'ork, September 9, 1843, ^'ed at 
her home in Saratoga, June 18, 1895, daugh- 
ter of Clarkson Floyd Crosby, born in Troy, 
died in that city, February 15, 1893, mar- 
ried Angelica Schuyler ; granddaughter of 
William Bedloe Crosby. Children: i. Clark- 
son Crosby, born October 12, 1867, married 
Elizabeth Winters. 2. William Leland, see 
forward. 3. Schuyler Floyd, born April 13, 
1875. 4. Angelica Schuyler, married, April 
28, 1903, Elbert Scranton Piatt; child: El- 
bert Scranton, born March 20, 1904. 

(IX) Major Hobart Warren, only son of 
John Isaac and Mary Mabbett (Warren) 
Thompson, was born in Troy, April 2, 1862. 
He was educated in the Selleck school in 
Norwalk, Connecticut, where he prepared for 
college. He entered Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, wliere he was graduated 
Bachelor of Arts in 1883, and received the de- 
gree of Alaster of Arts in 1886. He took a 
jKJst-graduate course at the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute, which completed his colle- 
giate career. He began his business life with 
the John L. Thompson Sons & Company, 
where he remained two years. In 1885 the 
John L. Thompson Chemical Company was 
incorporated, with Hobart Warren Thompson 
as secretary and treasurer. The business of 
the company was the manufacture of chemi- 
cals. Their plant on Green Island continued 
in successful operation until 1890, when the 
business was purchased by the Nichols Chem- 
ical Company. Mr. Thompson continued with 
the Nichols Company as general manager of 
the works at Troy until 1898, when they were 
absorbed by the General Chemical Company 
of New York. He remained with the new 
owners as superintendent and manager until 
1907, when he retired. The works at Troy 
were then abandoned by the General Chemi- 
cal Company and have not since been opera- 
ted. In 1907, as treasurer of the Sirocco En- 
gineering Company, he engaged in the manu- 
facture of ventilating fans, continuing in that 
business for about a year, when the com- 
pany was absorbed by the .\merican Blower 



98 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Company. He is director of the Troy & 
Greenbiish, Saratoga & Schenectady, and Al- 
bany & Vermont railroad companies ; trustee 
of the Troy Orphan Asylum ; treasurer and 
director of the Troy Boys' Club. He is an 
active churchman, being vestryman of St. 
Paul's Church since 1902 ; member of the 
standing committee of the diocese of Albany; 
secretary of the committee on bishop's salary ; 
and other important diocesan committees. He 
was an enlisted member of the Troy Citizens 
Corp for three years ; appointed on brigade 
staff with the rank of captain, later was pro- 
moted major and quartermaster, serving al- 
together six years. In 19 10 he became su- 
pernumerary. His clubs are: Troy Citizens 
Corp, senior company. Sons of the Revolu- 
tion, William Floyd Chapter; Society of Co- 
lonial Wars ; Troy Club of Troy ; University 
Club of New York; Trinity College Alumni 
Association; L K. A. fraternity. Trinity Col- 
lege. Politically he is independent. He mar- 
ried, April 16, 1895, Grace McLeod, born 
May 26, 1870. Children: Hobart W., Jr., 
born February 20, 1897; Marion McLeod, 
born May 29, 1899. 

(IX) Captain William Leland (2), second 
son of William Augustus and Harriette 
Clarkson (Crosby) Thompson, was born in 
Troy, New York, April 4, 1871. He was 
educated at the Albany Boys' Academy, and 
prepared for college under private tutors. He 
entered Harvard University, where he was 
graduated Bachelor of Arts in the class of 
1893. He was admitted to the J. L. Thomp- 
son wholesale drug firm, established as a re- 
tail store in Troy in 1797. In 1903 the busi- 
ness was incorporated as I. L. Thompson 
Sons & Company, and William Leland was 
chosen treasurer of the corporation. He has 
always shown a lively interest in public and 
military affairs. He is a director of the Se- 
curity Trust Company, United National Bank, 
Troy Savings Bank, and Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, trustee of the Public Libra- 
ry, the Emma Willard School (Troy Female 
Seminary), the Samaritan Hospital. In 1906 
he was a member of the city board of edu- 
cation, and in 1908 was chosen president of 
the board. He is an active Republican and 
has been the choice of his party as candidate 
for the state legislature. He is a member of 
St. John's Episcopal Church and since 1903 a 
vestryman. His military career has extended 
over ma/iy years. He enlisted in the Troy 
Citizens Corp in 1896. During the Spanish- 
American war he enlisted as a private of 
Company C. Second Regiment, United States 
Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned 
second lieutenant of Company B, Second In- 



fantry, and second lieutenant of the Two 
Hundred and First Regiment, in 1898, and 
served as aide on the staff of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Charles F. Roe. In 1899 he was commis- 
sioned second lieutenant of Company C, Sec- 
ond Regiment, New York National Guard, 
promoted first lieutenant in 1900, and captain 
in 1904. From 1901 to 1905 he served on 
the staff of Governor Odell. He is a member 
of the Society of Foreign Wars, Sons of the 
Revolution and St. Nicholas Society. His 
clubs are the Troy, the Union of Ne'w York, 
the Army and Navy, and the Harvard of New 
York City. His Harvard University clubs 
and societies are : The Hasty Pudding, Dick- 
ey, Zeta Psi and Institute of 1770. He mar- 
ried, January 6, 1909, Martha Groome, of 
Philadelphia, and has William Leland, born 
December 4, 1909. 

(The Thompson Line). 

Mary Perkins (Thompson) Thompson, 
had distinguished ancestry, beginning with 
the emigrant, John Thompson, born 1582, 
died in 1678. He married in England, Mir- 
able — ■ (. He settled in Stratford, Con- 
necticut, about 1640. 

(II) Ambrose, son of John and ]\Iirable 
Thompson, married Sarah, daughter of John 
Welles, and granddaughter of colonial Gov- 
ernor Thomas Welles, of Connecticut. 

(HI) Deacon John (2), son of Ambrose 
and Sarah (Welles) Thompson, married, 
1705. Ruth, daughter of Benjamin Curtis, 
granddaughter of John Curtis, and great- 
granddaughter of \\'illiam Curtis, who came 
from England in 1632 on the ship "Lion," 

married Elizabeth , and was a man of 

great prominence. 

(IV) John (3), son of Deacon John (2) 
and Ruth (Curtis) Thompson, married, 1739, 
Mehitable Booth. 

(V) Lieutenant William, son of John (3) 
and Mehitable (Booth) Thompson, was born 
October 29, 1742. The inscription on his 
tombstone in the Congregational burying 
ground in Stratford reads: "Sacred to the 
memory of Lieutenant William Thompson, 
who fell in battle bravely fighting for the 
liberty of his country in the memorable action 
at Ridgefield, 27th of April, 1777, when a 
handful of intrepid Americans withstood 
some thousands of British troops till, over- 
powered with numbers, he fell a victim to 
British tvranny and more than savage cruelty 
in the 38th year of his age. He lived beloved 
and died universally lamented, and his body 
being removed from the place of action, was 
here deposited with military honors." He 
married, October 14, 1762, Mehitable Ufford. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



99 



(\'I) Isaac, son of Lieutenant William 
and Mehitable (Ufford) Thompson, was born 
August 24, 1775. died March 2, 1852. He 
married, January 5, 1800, Catherine Mum- 
ford, and they are the parents of Mary Per- 
kins (Thompson) Thompson. 

Mehitable (Ufford) Thompson was a 
daughter of Lieutenant Samuel and Eliza- 
beth (Curtis) Ufford, granddaughter of John 
and Hannah (Hawley) Ufford, and great- 
granddaughter of Thomas Ufford, the emi- 
grant, who came to America from England 
in 1632 on the ship "Lion," settled in Strat- 
ford, Connecticut, where he died in 1650. 
His wife was Isabel Gardiner. 

(The Gardiner Line). 
Jerusha (Gardiner) Christophers, great- 
grandmother of Mary Perkins (Thompson) 
Thompson, was a descendant of Lion Gar- 
diner, first proprietor of Gardiner's Island, 
born 1599, died 1663. He was originally an 
engineer in the service of Prince William of 
Orange. He married Mary Williamson. 

(II) David, son of Lion and Mary (Wil- 
liamson) Gardiner, married Mary Bering- 
ham. 

(III) John, son of David and Mary (Ber- 
ingham) Gardiner, married, June 24, 1657, 
Mary, daughter of William King, of South- 
old, New Jersey, 

(IV) John (2), son of John (i) and 
Mary (King) Gardiner, married. May 16, 
1716. Sarah, daughter of Governor Gurdon 
and Jerusha (Richards) Saltonstall, and ma- 
ternal granddaughter of James and Sarah 
(Gibbons) Richards, of Hartford. James 
Richards was assistant, 1665, a man of large 
landed estate. Sarah Saltonstall was a grand- 
daughter of Colonel Nathaniel and Eliza- 
beth (Ward) Saltonstall. Elizabeth was a 
daughter of Rev. John Ward, of Haverhill, 
Massachusetts, and granddaughter of Rev. 
Nathaniel Ward, author of the "Cobbler of 
Agawam," "whose wit," says Mather's "Mag- 
nalia." "made him known to more English 
than one." 

(V) Jerusha, daughter of John (2) and 
Sarah (Saltonstall) Gardiner, married. May 
7, 1741, John Christophers. They are the 
grandparents of Mary Perkins (Thompson) 
Thompson. 

(Brewster Line). 
The "Mayflower" descent of the Thompson 
family is through Mary Perkins Thompson, 
wife of John Leiand Thompson, grandpar- 
ents of the present generation. The two fam- 
ilies of Thompson that were united in that 
manner were not related so far as known. 
The line traces in one direction to Elder 



William Brewster, of the "Mayflower," 1620, 
ruling elder and spiritual guide of the Pil- 
grim Fathers, one of the most prominent 
figures in colonial history. 

(II) Jonathan, eldest son of Elder William 
and Mary Brewster, settled on the Thames 
above New London, Connecticut. 

(III) Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and 
Lucretia Brewster, married, about 1654, Peter 
Bradley. 

(IV) Lucretia, daughter of Peter and Eliza- 
betli (Brewster) Bradley, married, June 26, 
1681, Judge Richard Christophers. 

(V) Judge Christopher, son of Judge Rich- 
ard and Lucretia (Bradley) Christophers, 
married Sarah Prout. 

(VI) John, son of Judge Christopher and 
Sarah (Prout) Christophers, married, in 
1741, Jerusha Gardiner. 

(VII) Lucretia, daughter of John and 
Jerusha (Gardiner) Christophers, married, 
1770, John Mumford, of Newport, Rhode 
Island. 

(VIII) Catherine, daughter of John and 
Lucretia (Christophers) Mumford, born Au- 
gust 22, 1777, died August 20, 1816, mar- 
ried, January 5, 1800, Isaac Thompson, of 
Stratford and New London, Connecticut, 
born August 24, 1775, died March 2, 1852. 

(IX) Mary Perkins, daughter of Isaac and 
Catherine (Mumford) Thompson, born Au- 
gust 24, 1809, died February 24, 1892, mar- 
ried, August 17, 1829, John Leiand Thomp- 
son, founder of J. L. Thompson Sons & 
Company, and grandfather of the present 
Troy families (1910). 

(The Saltonstall Line). 

Jerusha Gardiner, wife of John Christo- 
phers, descended from Sir Richard Salton- 
stall, born 1586, came from England to Amer- 
ica in 1630. In 1664 he was English ambas- 
sador to Holland, where Rembrandt painted 
his famous portrait. He was a son of Sam- 
uel Saltonstall. Lord Mayor of London. 

(II) Richard, son of Sir Richard and 
Grace (Kays) Saltonstall, was deputy and 
assistant and privy to the concealment of the 
regicide judge. He married, 1632, Muriel 
Gurdon. 

(HI) Colonel Nathaniel, son of Richard 
and Muriel (Gurdon) Saltonstall, was assist- 
ant, 1679-86. Married, 1663, Elizabeth 
Ward. 

(IV) Governor Gurdon, son of Colonel 
Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Ward) Saltonstall, 
was governor of Massachusetts elected in 
1706. Married Jerusha Richards. 

(V) Sarah, daughter of Governor Gurdon 
and Jerusha (Richards) Saltonstall, married. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1716, John Gardiner, a merchant of New 
London. Connecticut. 

(\'I) Jerusha. daughter of John and Sarah 
(Sakonstall) Gardiner married, March 7, 
.174I, John Christophers, and they were the 
grandparents of Mary Perkins (Thompson) 
Thompson, wife of John Leland Thompson, 
of Troy. 



This branch of the Thomp- 
THO.MPSON son family in Troy, herein 

recorded, descends in di- 
rect male succession from William Thomp- 
son, of Kittery, Maine. An eminent au- 
thority says he came from England. He 
received a grant of land in Dover, New 
Hampshire, in 1656, "beyond Cocheco Legg 
Swamp." In 17 15 John Thompson, of Dover, 
conveyed fifty acres of land which "were 
granted to my father William Thompson by 
the town of Dover." There is no evidence 
that William Thompson ever lived upon the 
land. October 15, 1656, a grant made in 
Kittery "below Sturgeon Creek" to John 
White in 165 1, was assigned to William 
Thompson, who is supposed to have been 
\\'hite"s son-in-law. In 1659 W^illiam Thomp- 
son was presented at York court "For re- 
bellion against his father and mother-in-law." 
He boimd himself to the court in a bond of 
twenty pounds "that hee will be of good be- 
havior towards all men, especially toward his 
father and mother." He left twenty-three 
acres of land, a house and orchard in Kit- 
tery, Maine, and fifty acres in Dover, New 
Hampshire. His wife had probably died be- 
fore 1676. He left children whose ages 
were given in 1677 as here recorded: John, 
aged eighteen, married Sarah Woodman ; 
William, aged sixteen, probably married 
Mary Levering; Robert, aged thirteen, "liv- 
ing with Toby Hansen in Dover" : James, 
aged eleven, see forward ; Alexander, aged 
six, married .\nna Curtis; Judith, aged two. 
John, the eldest, gave a bond in 1684 for 
the proper administration of his father's es- 
tate and to provide for "James, his lame and 
crippled hrotlier." 

(II) James, son of William Thompson, 
"the founder," was born in 1666; as noted 
in the preceding lines, he was "lame and im- 
potent" at the age of eleven years, but he 
grew from this youthful weakness into a 
manhood of the sturdiest type. He became 
a tailor by trade. Land was granted him 
in Kittery in 1694 and 1696. In 1719 he 
moved to York. Maine, where he was also 
granted land. In 1727 he removed with his 
family to New Meadows, Brunswick, Maine, 
>\here he died. He married, in Dover, New 



Hampshire. March 3, 1700-01, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Adrian Frye, of Ffye's Point, 
Kittery, Maine. She was a woman of great 
strength and ability. Children: i. Judith, 
married, July i, 1724, John Smith, of York, 
Maine, and had a large family. 2. Alexander, 
born at Kittery. Maine. "He lived in Bruns- 
wick, ]Maine, before the Indian Wars. He 
lived to be over eighty years old. He had 
no learning, but was a hardy, honest, indus- 
trious man." He married. May 20, 1731, 
Sarah Grover, of York, daughter of Mat- 
thew Grover. She bore him several daughters 
and one son, James. 3. Captain James, born 
in Kittery, February 22, 1707, died at Tops- 
ham, Maine, September 22, 1791. He settled 
at New Meadows, Brunswick. Maine, 
where he was selectman and kept a gen- 
eral store. He was a member of the 
military company with his brothers, Cor- 
nelius and Alexander. His son, Brigadier- 
General Samuel Thompson, was a brave sol- 
dier of the revolution. Captain James mar- 
ried (first) Reliance Hinckley, a descendant 
of Governor Thomas Hinckley, of Massa- 
chusetts; married (second) Mrs. Lydia 
Brown, of Ipswich, Massachusetts ; married 
(third) Mary Higgins. 4. Cornelius, see for- 
ward. 5. Sarah, born April 27, 171 1, "died 
in twenty days after her birth." 6. Mercy 
(called Marcia and Marciel in some old rec- 
ords) born April i, 17 12; married (first) a 
Mr. Austin; (second) David Junkins, and 
settled in Brunswick, Maine. 7. Joseph, born 
March 23, 1713-14, died before 1759. He 
lived and died at Sebascodegan Island, Harps- 
well, Maine. He was noted for great strength. 

8. Dinah, born May 6, 1716; married her 
cousin, Jonathan Thompson, October i, 1737. 

9. Benjamin Thompson, born York, Maine, 
September 9, 1717, died 1765; married. Octo- 
ber 17, 1744, Abigail Philbrook. 10. Richard, 
born June 11. 1724; lived and died in Ken- 
nebunk, Maine, a respected farmer: he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Maddox, of Arundel, Maine. 
II. Elizabeth, born April 19, 1726, died De- 
cember 22, 1726. 

(Ill) Cornelius, son of James and Eliza- 
beth (Frye) Thompson, was born at York, 
Maine, (3ctober 14, 1709, died 1792. He 
served in the Indian wars in 1757. He mar- 
ried Hannah Smith, of York, Alaine. Chil- 
dren : Thomas, who moved to Plattsburgh, 
New York ; Amos, who moved to Bowdoin, 
Maine : Joel, see forward ; Richard Thomp- 
son, who moved to, Wales, Maine; Robert, 
who died at New Meadows ; Phinias, lost at 
sea on ship of war. 

(IV^) Colonel Joel, third son of Cornelius 
and Hannah (Smith) Thompson, was born 




y^ . v/.' ^^ o-r-y^^t-xy) ' 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



in New Meadows, October zt,. 1753, died in 
Lewiston, Maine, May i, 1841. He was a 
soldier of the revolutionary war. He en- 
listed May 15. 1775, from Brunswick, Maine; 
not long after the revolutionary war he 
moved to Lewiston, Maine, where he spent 
the remainder of his days. He represented 
Lewiston, Maine, in the general court of 
Massachusetts. He married, February 18, 
1780. Martha, daughter of the Rev. Thomas 
and Agnes (Smith) Cotton, born in Bruns- 
wick, Maine, Alay 18. 1762, died July 16, 
1828. Cliildren : Mchitable, born May 10, 
1782, died March 22, 1839, married General 
Jedediah Herrick : Joel, see forward ; Phineas, 
born May 23. 1786, died young: Sarah, born 
March 2, 1789, died 1825 : Cornelius, born 
April 18, 1791, died in Lisbon, Maine, No- 
vember 15, 1857, he served for a time in the 
war of 1812. being stationed at the garrison 
at Bath, Maine ; Klartha Cotton, born April 
^7> 1793' <iicd October 13, 1880, married 
(first) Henry Herrick, who died in 1816, 
married (second) Captain Nathaniel Eames. 
Ithamer B. Eames. a son of the second mar- 
riage, was the father of Emma Eames, the 
noted singer ; Ruth, born February 9, 1796 ; 
Hannah, born December 3, 1798, died Au- 
gust I, 1837; Isaac Cotton, born May 22, 
1801. died July 14, 1861 : Theophilus Boyn- 
ton, born June 6, 1803, married, November i, 
184 1. Charlotte Corbett, of W'orcester, Mas- 
sachusetts ; Horatio Nelson born December 
10, 1805, died 1852, unmarried. 

(\') Joel (2), son of Colonel Joel (i) and 
Martha (Cotton) Tliompson, born in Lewis- 
ton. Maine, July 26, 1784, died in Wayne, 
]\taine. September, 185 1. In 1809 he moved 
to Litchfield. Maine, where he taught school in 
the vicinity of Oak Hill. He lived in Litch- 
field several years and was on the committee 
of safety in the war of 1812. He moved to 
Wayne in 1848. He was a man of education 
and decided executive ability. He married 
(first) Ruth, daughter of .-Xaron Dwinel, of 
Lisbon, Maine. She died before 181 1. He 
married (second) Rachel Wilson, of Tops- 
ham, Maine, daughter of William and Mary 
(Patten) Wilson, born December 12. 1813, 
died January I, 1833. Child of first marriage: 
Joel Dwinel. see forward. Children of sec- 
ond marriage : Rev. Thomas Wilson, born 
November 12. 1814, died in Sumner, Maine, 
a prominent Free Baptist minister, married 
Hannah Harmon : Jedediah Herrick, born 
January 11, 1817, died January, 1848: Wil- 
liam ^Vilson. born April 12. 1819, married 
Abbie Clark, resided in Jay, Maine ; James 
Smullen, born April 9, 1822: George Owen, 
born March 11, 1826; Actor Patten, born 



April 26, 1828, died May 7, 1904: Josiah San- 
ford, born December 4, 1832, resides in Woon- 
socket, Rhode Island, married (first) Rose 
Hayford, (second) Lena Edson; Rachel Wil- 
son, born March 21, 1835, died April 21, 
1889, married Major Warren L. Whitney. 

(\T) Joel Dwinel, son of Joel (2) and 
Ruth (Dwinel) Thompson, was born in Lis- 
bon, Maine, December 25, 1810, died at Ban- 
gor, Maine, February 21, 1853. He taught 
school in his early life; later moved from 
Lisbon to Bangor, Maine. He was city clerk 
of Bangor, and afterwards engaged in busi- 
ness there. In politics he was a Whig. He 
belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, 
of Bangor, where he spent the greater part 
of his life. He married, February 17, 1842, 
Harriett Newell French, of Bangor, Maine, 
daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Libby 
(Quimbyl French, born .April 11, 1818, died 
November 13, 1893. <^See French VHI). 
Children : Professor Dwinel, see forward ; 
Alice, born June i, 1851, died April 17, 1855. 

(\TI) Professor Dwinel French Thomp- 
son, son of Joel Dwinel and Harriett Newell 
(French) Thompson, was born in Bangor, 
Maine, January i, 1846. He is a direct de- 
scendant of (I) Michael Dunnel, of Tops- 
field, Massachusetts, 1650, died there in 17 13. 
(II) Thomas Dunnel, born November, 1672, 
died in Topsfield, 1747. (HI) Jonathan Dun- 
nel. or Dwinel, born June, 1702, in Tops- 
field. (IV) Amos Dwinel, born in Sutton, 
Alassachusetts, 1734. (V) Aaron Dwinel, 
born in Sutton, Massachusetts, August 10, 
1762, died in Leeds, Maine, August 5, 1844. 
(^T) Ruth Dwinel, born in Sutton, Massa- 
chusetts: married Joel Thompson, of Lewis- 
ton. ]\Iaine: she died about 181 1. in Lisbon. 

Professor Thompson, after the death of 
his father, removed with the family to Au- 
burn, Maine. He attended the (Abbott) 
"Little Blue" school, later completed his 
preparatory course at Lewiston Falls Acad- 
emy (now Edward Little Institute), took a 
two years' course at Bowdoin College, and 
then entered Dartmouth, taking a scientific 
course, and graduated with the degree of 
B. S., class of 1869. He taught three years 
at Dartmouth. In 1872 he was appointed to 
the chair of descriptive geometry, stereotomy 
and drawing at the Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute. Troy, New York, which position he 
still holds (1910). In his younger days he 
was greatly interested in athletics, and was 
called the "Father of Baseball" at Dartmouth, 
where he captained the first college team. He 
has always had a deep interest in archeologi- 
cal and genealogical research, has compiled a 
genealogy of the descendants of Edward 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



French, of Salisbury, Massachusetts, and 
given valuable assistance to genealogists in 
preparing the many and complicated Thomp- 
son lines. He has the finest private collec- 
tion of Indian relics in the state. His college 
fraternity is the Delta Kappa Epsilon, and 
he is an honorary member of Sigma Psi and 
Tau Beta Pi, scientific fraternities, whose 
membership is based on merit and achieve- 
ment. He is a director of the Leonard Hos- 
pital, Troy, and was a trustee of the old 
Lansingburg Academy. Professor Thompson 
is well known in educational circles, where he 
is held in the highest esteem. 

He married, January i, 1880, at Troy, New 
York. -Mary Lena, daughter of Solomon Burt 
and ]\rary Eliza (Thompson) Saxton (see 
Saxton \'n). Children: i. Alice Quimby, 
born at Troy, December 17, 1880 ; married, 
February 8, 1910, Robert Hall, of Lockport, 
New York, secretary and treasurer of the 
Lockport Steam Heating Company. 2. Gor- 
don Saxton, born in Lansingburg, New York, 
August 6, 1883 ; was graduated from the 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with the de- 
gree of C. E., class of 1905 ; he married, 
February 7, 1906, Ethel Williams, of Troy. 
3. Nathaniel French, born in Lansingburg, 
October 16, 1884: graduated at the Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute with the degree of C. 
E., class of 1907, now assistant engineer in 
the department for the elimination of grade 
crossings on the New York Central rail- 
road : he married, September 28, 1909, S. La- 
vinia IMorrison, of Lansingburg. 4. Dwinel 
Burt, born in Lansingburg, December 14, 
1886; also a graduate of the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute, 1907, with degree of C. E. ; 
will graduate in class of 191 1 from the same 
institute with degree of E. E. 

(The French Line). 

Harriett Newell (French) Thompson, 
mother of Professor Dwinel French Thomp- 
son, was a direct descendant of Edward 
French, of Salisbury, Massachusetts. 

(I) The surname French is found in Wilt- 
shire. England, records as early as 1252, and 
is found in Scotland in the records of the 
old monasteries under the forms of Francus, 
Franciscus, Franccgena, Franccis and b'ranke. 
The family is a most honorable as well as an 
ancient one. The branch herein considered 
was founded in .America by Edward French, 
of Salisbury. Massachusetts, who received 
land in the "first division," bought land in 
1642, was selectman and a man of influence. 
He was of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1633. 
He married Ann Goodale : died December 28, 
1674. He had four children. 



(II) Samuel, son of Edward and Ann 
French, died in Salisbury, Massachusetts, 
July 26, 1692; married (first) April i, 1664, 
Abigail, born February 23, 1643, ^^ied Jan- 
uary II, 1679-80, daughter of Henry and 
Abigail Brown. She was the mother of six 
children. He married (second) Esther 
, who bore him three children. 

(HI) Deacon Joseph, son of Samuel and 
Abigail (Brown) French, was bom in Salis- 
bury, Massachusetts, 1676, died there August 
27, 1749. He was a soldier 1697-1710. He 

married Hannah , who bore him five 

children. 

(IV) Samuel (2), son of Deacon Joseph 
and Hannah French, was born December 11, 
1699, at Salisbury, died April 21, '1767. He 
married, November 23, 1721, Mary Collins, 
born May i, 1698, died November 18, 1766. 
Nine children. 

(V) Nathaniel, son of Samuel (2) and 
Mary (Collins) French, was born January 13, 
1724, at Salisbury. He married Anna Russell. 
Nine children. 

(VI) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (i) 
and Anna (Russell) French, was born ]\Iarch 
15. I757- at Epping, New Hampshire, died at 
Sandwich, that state, January 16, 1799. He 
was a farmer. He married. August 27, 1780, 
Martha Jewell, of Sandwich, New Hamp- 
shire, born September 14, 1762, died in that 
town, September 28, 1822, daughter of Rev. 
Jacob and Martha (Quimby) Jewell; nine 
children. Martha Jewell was a descendant of 
the fifth generation from Thomas Jewell, of 
Braintrce, Massachusetts. 1639. 

(VII) Nathaniel (3), son of Nathaniel (2) 
and Martha (Jewell) French, was born in 
Sandwich, New Hampshire, May 23, 1799, 
died June 28, 1876, at Auburn, Maine. He 
was a man of great natural abilit)-, a good 
mathematician and noted for his excellent 
memory. He was a manufacturer and at 
one time owned a machine shop and foundry. 
He held several public offices, including that 
of trial justice. He was a man of influence 
and a member and deacon of the Congrega- 
tional church. 

Nathaniel French married, in 1817, Eliza- 
beth Libby Ouimhy, born at Sandwich, New 
Hampshire, August 25, 1797, died while on 
a visit to Troy, New York, November 18, 
1873. Elizabeth Libby Quimby was a daugh- 
ter of Lieutenant Enoch Quimby, of Sand- 
wich. New Hampshire, a descendant of Rob- 
ert Quimby, the immigrant ancestor from 
England, 1653. who married Elizabeth Os- 
born, and settled at Salisbury, Massachusetts. 
Her grandfather, Major Aaron Quimby, 
served in the revolution. Her father. Lieu- 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



103 



tenant Enoch Quimhv, served in the war of 
1812. 

(VIII) Harriett Newell, daughter of Na- 
;thaniel (3) and Elizabeth Libby (Quimby) 
French, was born at Sandwich, New Hamp- 
shire, April II, 1818, died at Lansingburg 
(Troy), November 13, 1893. She married, 
I'ebruary 17, 1842, at Bangor, Maine, Joel 
Dwinel Thompson (see Thompson VI). 

(The Saxton Line). 
This name is common in England, especially 
in Yorkshire. The family name appears 
early on the Massachusetts colonial records. 
Rev. Peter Saxton (also written Sexton) 
■emigrated to Massachusetts as early as 1630, 
and was the first minister to Scituate. The 
first of record in the Connecticut colony were 
Richard and George Sexton, who embarked 
from London, England; Richard, 1635, on the 
ship "Blessing," and was in \\'indsor, Con- 
necticut, 1643; George came later, was a 
contemporary of Richard, and probably his 
brother. It is very sure that he was not a 
son. The earliest mention found of George 
Sexton is in Book of Deeds, at Springfield, 
]\Iassachusetts, in a deed from Thomas Cow- 
■per to George Sexton "Now resident of Wind- 
sor," June 10, 1663. He removed to West- 
field, about 1671, where a son Benjamin was 
born, said to have been the first white child 
born in the town. He died between 1688 and 

1690. He married Katharine , and had 

seven children. 

(II) Captain Joseph, fourth son of George 
and Katharine Saxton, was born at Windsor, 
Connecticut, 1664, died at Enfield, May 3, 
1742. Removed from Westfield to Enfield 
about 1704. He married, November 20, i6go, 
Hannah Wright, born July 28, 1669, died in 
1742, daughter of Abel Wright, of Spring- 
field. Seven children. 

(III) Ensign Joseph (2), son of Captain 
Joseph (i) and Hannah (Wright) Saxton, 
was born in Westfield, October 2, 1694. He 
removed to Enfield with his father and set- 
tled in the East Parish (now Somers). He 
married (first) October 16, 1723, Sarah Par- 
sons, born March 10, 1705, died at Salisbury, 
August 25, 1747. She was a daughter of 
Samuel and Hannah (Hitchcock) Parsons, of 
Enfield, Connecticut ; granddaughter of 
Deacon Benjamin and Sarah (\'ere) Par- 
sons, and great-granddaughter of Richard 
Vere Parsons, of W^estfield. He married 
(second) Widow Mary Collins, by whom he 
had one child. By his first wife he had ten 
children. 

(IV) Deacon Samuel, son of Ensign Jo- 
:seph (2) and Sarah (Parsons) Saxton, born 



June 22, 1726, died March 22, 1816. He 
lived in Connecticut, near Springfield. He 
married Sarah Chapin, January 23, 1754. She 
was born October 19, 1736, died March 27, 
182 1. The Chapin family were prominent in 
Springfield, where a statue is erected to their 
memory. She was a direct descendant of 
Henry and Nelly (Burt) Chapin. 

(V) Noah, son of Deacon Samuel and 
Sarah (Chapin) Saxton, w-as born July 24, 
1772, at South Wilbraham, Massachusetts, 
died April 15, 1850. He probably lived at 
South \\'ill)raham all his life, as all his chil- 
dren were lx)rn there. His eldest son, Noah 
Chapin Saxton, was the first publisher of the 
A'eii' York Ei-angclist. He married. Decem- 
ber 15, 1796, Martha Bliss, born in North 
Wilbraham, March 12, 1775, died December 
18, 1836. 

(\T) Gordon Bliss, son of Noah and Mar- 
tha (Bliss) Saxton, was born in South Wil- 
braham, Alassachusetts, June 5, 1800, died in 
Troy, New York, April 28, 1868. He was a 
merchant of Troy, first engaged in dry goods 
and millinery, later with his son, Solomon 
Burt S'iaxton, in the flour and grain trade. 
He was a member of the Presbyterian church, 
and one of Troy's most respected citizens. In 
1825 he married Philena Fletcher Severance, 
born April 26, 1800, died August 3, 185 1, 
daughter of Benjamin and Betsey (Joslyn) 
Severance, of New Braintree, Massachusetts. 
Five children. 

(VII) Solomon Burt, eldest son and child 
of Gordon Bliss and Philena Fletcher (Sev- 
erance) Saxton, was born in South Wilbra- 
ham, Massachusetts, January 31, 1827, died at 
Troy, New York, Januan*' 12, 1903. When a 
young man he came to Troy and engaged in 
business and later became a member of the 
firm of Saxton & Thompson, with large flour- 
ing mills at Lockport. This business is still 
continued in the family name of Thompson 
by George Thompson. Mr. Saxton later dis- 
posed of his interest in Lockport and devoted 
himself exclusively to the wholesale flour 
business in Troy. He was interested in many 
of the manufacturing enterprises of Troy, 
and was officially connected with the banks 
of the city. He was a successful business 
man and highly regarded as a citizen. He 
was an accomplished musician, and for forty 
years was a member and organist of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Troy, taking high 
rank as a performer on the pipe organ. He 
married. September i, 185 1, Mary Eliza 
Thompson, a descendant of John Thompson, 
of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the American 
founder of her family. (See Thompson Gen- 
ealogy of Troy, New York.) Children: 



T04 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Mary Lena, born December 27, 1855, in Troy, 
New York, married Professor Dwinel French 
Thompson (see Thompson \TI) ; John Gor- 
don, born November i, 1857, in Troy, New 
York, he is a landscape painter of fame, 
with residence in Brooklyn and Amityville, 
Long Island, married, June 20, 1885, Hattie 
Thompson Rowe, of Auburn, Maine. 



The Thompson family of 
THOMPSON Albany, New York, repre- 
sented in the present gen- 
eration by David Allen Tlnompson, descend 
from the early settler of that name in Salem 
county. New Jersey. The family is of Eng- 
lish origin seated in Yorkshire, England. In 
1658 Thomas Thompson and Elizabetli, his 
wife, with their sons John and Andrew, re- 
moved from Kirkfenton, Yorkshire county, 
England, to Ireland. John, the eldest son, 
, married Jane Humbles, or Humbly, born in 
England, and then living in Ireland. An- 
drew, the younger son, was born at Kirk- 
fenton. England, 1637. He removed to Ire- 
land with the family in 1658, and on July 11, 
1664, married Isabella, daughter of Hum- 
phrey Marshall, born in Leicestershire, Eng- 
land, September 16, 1667. Andrew Thomp- 
son, his wife and three children, accompanied 
by his brother John, his wife and four chil- 
dren, embarked in the ship "Mary of Dublin," 
John Hall, master, and landed at Elsinboro 
Point, West Jersey, December 22 of the same 
year. In 1680 the brothers bought of Rich- 
ard and Bridget Guy adjoining lands in the 
present township of Elsinborough, Salem 
county. New Jersey. The "Emigrant house," 
built on the original farm, was standing in 
good condition and repair as late as 1820. 
The site of the house and the orchard in front 
have now been entirely removed by the action 
of the Delaware river wearing away its east- 
ern shore. .Andrew Thompson became a well- 
known public man. He was appointed a jus- 
tice of the peace for the colony by John Fen- 
wick, the governor, and was also one of the 
four justices of the peace elected by the 
general free assembly at Burlington, qualify- 
ing March 15, 1683, serving several years. 
He frequently served as executor and was a 
trusted citizen. He died in 1696. His will, 
written with his own hand, dated 29th of 
tenth month, 1694, devises his homestead of 
one hundred and sixty-eight acres to liis two 
elder sons. William and .Andrew, and specially 
requests them "not to oppress or deale un- 
justly by one the other." Children of An- 
drew and Isabella Thompson, first three born 
in Ireland: i. Elizabeth, born August 15, 
1666; married in Salem, Friends' meeting. 



February 25. 1683, Isaac Smart, the society 
consenting thereto except Isaac had not 
notified his mother in old England, owing to 
the distance, that was waived." Isaac Smart 
died in 1700, and his widow, Elizabeth, "with 
the approval of the meeting," married, No- 
vember 26, 1701, Edward Keasbey. 2. Wil- 
liam, August 9, 1699, married (first) Sarah 

• • — ; (second) Jane Nickson : (third) 

Hannah . He settled at Thompson's 

bridge, now AUowaystown, Monmouth town- 
ship. His son Benjamin, born 17 19. died 
1775, was for many years manager of Wis- 
tar's Glass Works. 3. Andrew (2), see for- 
ward. 4. John, the only child of American 
birth, was born in Elsinborough, Salem 
county. New Jersey, April 23, 1684. 

(II) Andrew (2), son of Andrew (i) and 
Isabella (Marshall) Thompson, was born in 
Parish Donard, Wickloe county, Ireland, No- 
vember 13, 1676, died 1727. He came to 
New Jersey with his parents in 1677. Like 
his father he was trusted in business and fre- 
quently an executor. He was left one-half 
the homestead by his father's will, and in 
1710 purchased his brother William's half, 
thus becoming sole owner of the Elsinborough 
homestead farm. The title to this property 
was held in the Thompson family from 1680 
until December 26. 1882, when David Allen 
Thompson, of Albany, New York, conveyed 
the same to J. Howard Subers, of Philadel- 
phia. It is believed that his first marriage 
was to Rebecca Pedrick, October 28. 1696. 
Children : Jonathan, born September 16, 
1697: Hannah, January 12. 1699: Isabella, 
October 22, 1700; Andrew (3), February 2, 
1704. The records of Salem Friends' meet- 
ings show that at a monthly meeting held 
January 25, 1706. he gave notice that he was 
to marry a wife belonging to the Darby 
(Penn.sylvania) meeting and desired a certifi- 
cate. The same records also show the fol- 
lowing children of Andrew and Grace 
Thompson : Thomas, born November 28, 
1707: Sarah, h'ebruary 8, 1709; Abraham, 
October 26, 1710; Joshua (see forward); 
Thomas, July 21, 1715: Rebecca, November 
3, 1717: .Abraham, May 27, 1721. Several of 
these children died before their father, as his 
will names only "dear and loving wife 
Grace." anil children Andrew, Joshua, Han- 
nah Cook, Thomas, .Sarah and Abraham. The 
inventory of his estate amounted to six hun- 
dred and one pounds twelve shillings, includ- 
ing bonds, bill and book accounts, two hun- 
dred and eighteen pounds eighteen shillings, 
old hooks, four pounds, a clock, and a negro 
woman valued at twenty-eight pounds. 

(HI) Joshua, son of Andrew (2) and his 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



second wife ' Grace Thompson, was born in 
Salem county, New Jersey, February 2, 1713, 
died in 1789. He was a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, an elder and leader of the 
Salem monthly meeting. It has been said of 
him "that he was an Israelite in whom there 
was no guile." December 17, 1761, he ad- 
vertised in the Pennsyk'ania Gazette for a 
schoolmaster for himself and neighbors in the 
township of Elsinborough. His will, dated 
ninth month, twenty-second day, 1784, was 
probated January 10, 1790. He married 

(first) Sarah 1 — . Children: i. .Andrew, 

see forward. 2. Sarah, born December 24, 
1742; she became second wife of William 
Hancock, a Friend, who, March 21, 1778, 
received a mortal wound at the massacre in 
his house at Hancock's bridge. Salem county, 
by the British soldiers under Colonel Charles 
S. Mawhood. Joshua Thompson married 
(second), Elizabeth Gibson, of Woodbury, 
New Jersey. Children: 3. Joshua (2), born 
June 8, 1748. 4. Rebecca (twin of Joshua). 
5. John. April 7. 1752. 6. Joseph, March 26, 
1756. died March 23, 1778. from wounds re- 
ceived at the Hancock's bridge massacre, pre- 
viously mentioned. 

(I\') Andrew (3). son of Joshua and his 
first wife. Sarah Thompson, was born in 
Salem county, New Jersey, May 29, 1739. died 
August 15. 1782. "and was decently lauried in 
Friends' burying place of Salem the i6th of 
same month." He married Grace, born Sep- 
tember II. 1746. died January 13, 1779, 
daughter of Samuel and Grace Nicholson, of 
Elsinborough, Salem county. Children: 
Joshua (see forward) ; Sarah, born January 
20, 1769, married Jacob Ware; Grace, born 
F"ebruary 12, 1771, married Job \^'are ; Ra- 
chel, born May 7, 1773. married Benjamin 
Tindell : Samuel N.. born May 23, 1777, mar- 
ried .\nn, daughter of Clement Hall. 

(\' ) Joshua (2). eldest son of Andrew 
and Grace (Nicholson) Thompson, was born 
September 19, 1767, died June 22, 1806. 
Under the will of his grandfather, Joshua 
Thompson, he became owner of the Elsinbor- 
ough homestead farm when he reached legal 
age in 1788. He died intestate- in 1806. His 
real estate passed to his three minor children, 
subject to their mother's dower claim. He 
married. May i, 1793, Rebecca Allen, born 
March 21, 1772, who survived him and mar- 
ried (second) Benjamin Griscom. to whom 
she bore two children, Beulah and George. 
She died August 24. 1853. aged eighty-one 
years. Children of Joshua and Rebecca (Al- 
len) Thompson: i. .Andrew (4), see forward. 
2. .Ann. born May 5. 1797. died Alarch 26, 
1870; married (first) Caleb Lippincott, in 



1826; (second) Joseph Ba.ssett. 3. David 
Allen, born June 4, 1803. died August 13, 
1847, at Lockport. New York, unmarried. 

(\T) Andrew (4), eldest son of Joshua 
(2) and Rebecca (.Allen) Thompson, was 
born August 12, 1795, died August 11, 1869. 
He married (first) Rebecca, daughter of 
Samuel and Mercy (Gill) Abbott. The mar- 
riage was conducted under Friends' disci- 
pline, and the committee, April 27, 1818. re- 
ported that it was orderly accomplished. 
Child of first marriage: i. Hannah Ann, born 
October 21, 1819. married, April 17, 1843, 
Elisha Bassett (2), died July 27, 1903; 
children: i. Rebecca, married, February 
24, 1870, S. Preston Carpenter, ii. Henry,, 
married Rebecca Lawrence; (second) Mrs. 
Mary Noble Lippincott. iii. Anna, mar- 
ried, November 6, 1901, William T. Hil- 
liard. iv. Clement. Two other children died 
in infancy. Andrew Thompson married 
(second), November 8. 1827, Ann Dallas- 
Clark, born June 10, 1806, died July 7, 1839, 
daughter of John and Ann Elkinton, of Port 
Elizabeth, New Jersey. Children : 2. Joshua, 
born January 17. 1829. died June 11. 1887; 
married, March 11, 1852, Mary Jane Pan- 
coast; children: i. Anne E., married Smitb 
Bassett. ii. Sarah, married Smith Bassett 
(second wife), iii. Emma, married George 
Acton, iv. Andrew J., died young, v. Caro- 
line, died young. 3. John Elkinton. Septem- 
ber 10, 1830, died April 11, 1907; married, 
March 6, 1856, Mary C. Davis ; children : i. 
Ella, married Samuel Griscom. ii. Mary 
Davis, iii. Elizabeth Davis, married Joseph 
L. Nicholson. M.D. 4. Clark Holmes, Sep- 
tember 7, 1832; married, January i, 1857, 
Anna Test; children; i. Hannah Bacon, mar- 
ried Frank Pettit. ii. Lucy Mulford, married 
Wyatt Acton, iii. Mariana, married Josiah 
Miller, iv. Elizabeth Holmes, v. Alice El- 
kinton, died young, vi. Cornelia, married 
Harry Finlaw. 5. Andrew, March 19, 1835, 
died February 16, 1909, unmarried. .Andrew 
Thompson married (third), .August 8. 1843, 
Mary Thompson Tyler, widow of Charles B. 
Harmer, of Greenwich, New Jersey, and 
daughter of Benjamin and Ann (Thompson) 
Tyler. Her mother, Ann, born May 8, 1787, 
died in 1818, was daughter of Butler and Ann 
Thompson of Allowaystown, New Jersey. 
Mary Thompson Tyler was born October 25, 
1809, died September 15, 1907, at the great 
age of ninet\--eight years. She married (first) 
February 8, 1826, Charles B. Harmer. who 
died February 8. 1828. Their son. Charles- 
B. Harmer (2), was born April 15. 1828. died 
September 21, 1907 ; he married Emeline Scat- 
tergood, and had children : i. Mary T.. mar- 



io6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Tied Benjamin T. Walker, ii. Charles R., 
(2). unmarried, iii. J. Barton, married Julia 
Homer, iv. Susan S., married W. Harris 
Seltzer, and has sons George A., W. Harris 
■{2) and Frank Harmer. The children of 
Andrew Thompson and his third wife, Hilary 
■(Tyler) Thompson Harmer, were: 6. David 
Allen, see forward. 7. Richard, born Febru- 
ary 6, 1846; married October 6, 1870, Eliza- 
beth \\^, daughter of Richard and Charlotte 
(Acton) Wistar; children: i. Charlotte, born 
February 20, 1874, married October 25, 1904, 
George D. E. Mortimer, ii. David A., July 
19, 1876. iii. Mary T., April 20, 1879. iv. 
■Cornelias W., March 17. 1884. v. Caroline 
Mclntyre, October 16, 1888. 8. Anne, No- 
vember 8, 1847 ; married, October 22, 1868, 
Louis ^L Hall ; children : i. Clement Har- 
-wood, born April 12, 1870. ii. Frank Thomp- 
son, born August 23, 1872. iii. Walter, born 
February i, 1878, married Frances T. Car- 
penter, October 19. 1909. 9. Rebecca, Au- 
gust 24, 1849; married, February 18, 1869, 
Clayton Wistar ; children : i. Richard Wyatt, 
February 7, 1870, married, October 25, 1899, 
Marv Acton Rumsey. ii. Arthur Thompson, 
November i, 1886. 

(\'n) David Allen, sixth child of Andrew 
Thompson and edest son of his third wife, 
Mary Harmer, was born at Mannington, 
Salem county. New Jersey, May 29, 1844. He 
-was educated at the Friends' school, Salem, 
New Jersey, and the Salem Academy, gradu- 
■ating from the latter in 1864. He entered 
Haverford College, but after a year spent 
there entered Princeton University, where he 
was graduated A. B., 1868. Deciding upon 
the profession of law, he entered Albany Law 
school, where he was graduated in 1869, and 
was at once admitted to the New York bar. 
He became managing clerk for the law firm 
of Shepard and Stcdman. .Albany, New York. 
In 1871 he began practice in his own office, 
continuing alone until 1879, when the firm of 
Thompson & Andrews was founded, and as 
such did a successful law business. In 1885 a 
third partner was added, and the firm became 
Stedman, Thompson & Andrews. In 1896 
]\Ir. Stedman withdrew and the firm re- 
verted to its former personnel, Thompson & 
Andrews, continuing until 1902. when it was 
dissolved. Since that year Mr. Thompson 
Tias continued in practice alone. He is a law- 
yer of high standing, and is highly regarded 
as a citizen. He is a trustee of the Home 
Savings Rank of Albany, the Mutual Insur- 
ance Company, and has other business in- 
terests. He is interested in church and ben- 
evolent work, serving as president of the 
Albany Orphan Asylum and of the Home for 



Aged Men. He is a member of the Univer- 
sity Club. He is a writer of ability, and is 
deeply interested in historical and genealogi- 
cal research. It is to his painstaking and 
careful investigation that this history of the 
Thompsons of Salem county, New Jersey, is 
due, being compiled from his recent book 
(1910), "Andrew Thompson," "The Emigrant 
of Elsinborough, Salem county. New Jersey, 
and one line of his descendants." He mar- 
ried, October 4, 1871, Margaret, daughter of 
Dr. James and Caroline (Mclntyre) Mc- 
Naughton, of Albany, New York. Children: 
I. James McNaughton, born November 17, 
1872, died December 26, 1908. He married, 
November 12, 1902, Florence J. Jones. 2. 
Andrew (5), August 13. 1877, married, Jan- 
uary 25, 1908, Mary B. Easton. 3. Margaret, 
September i, 1881. 



In the New England records this 
IDE name is to be found under various 
spellings. In the earlier years it was 
Hyde or Hide, then lyde, Ide, lyd and Jyde. 
The last old country (doubtless English) an- 
cestor of the American Ide family under con- 
sideration was : 

Nicholas Ide (or Hyde). He died early in 
the seventeenth century, leaving a son Nicho- 
las (2). The widow of Nicholas (i) after- 
ward married Thomas Bliss, of Belstone, near 
Okelhampton, Devonshire, England. The lat- 
ter belonged to a family of substantial farm- 
ers and landowners of Belstone, who by their 
adherence to Puritan views and opposition to 
the court and clergy, suffered persecution 
under Charles I., and were reluctantly com- 
f)elled to emigrate to the New American 
colonies. Thomas Bliss emigrated to Amer- * 
ica in 1636, taking with him his stepson, 
Nicholas Ide, his wife (formerly Mrs. Ide) 
and two or three children of his own. He 
joined an uncle at Braintree, near Boston, 
Massachusetts. In a year or two he moved 
to Hartford, Connecticut, then back again to 
Braintre in 1640. Religious dissensions 
arising 111 the Plymouth Church. Thomas Bliss 
left the place and settled at Rehoboth, Massa- 
chusetts, where he shared in a distribution 
of land, June, 1644. Here Thomas Bliss, 
who was said to have been a blacksmith, lived 
until his death in 1649. In his will he men- 
tions, besides two sons and daughters, Nich- 
olas Ide as his son-in-law. This is meant of 
course to be stepson, as his half-sister could 
not have become his wife. 

(I) Nicholas (2), son of Nicholas (i) 
Ide, was born in England about 1624, died at 
Rehoboth, Massachusetts, October 18, 1690. 
He came to America with his stepfather. 




I 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



107 



Thomas Bliss, in 1636, and followed his wan- 
'derings until 1643, when they finally settled 
in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where Nicholas 

• lived the remainder of his days. Rehoboth 
was noted even at that time as having been 
the home of William Blackstone, the first 
settler of Boston, Roger Williams, founder 

■ of Providence, Rhode Island, and Rev. Sam- 
uel Newman. Nicholas Ide (who signed his 
name lyde) first appears in the Rehoboth 
-records as drawing for land, April 9, 1645. 
He was then probably just of age, and we 
may reasonably place his birth date at 1624. 
He participated in other drawings and divi- 
sions in Rehoboth, becoming the owner of 
considerable land. He was admitted a free- 
man in 1648. In 1652 he was fined £25 by 
the general court for selling a gun to an In- 
dian ; he pleaded inability to pay and the 
court in 1657 ordered that on payment of "the 
sum of five pounds in good wampum" the 
balance of the fine should be remitted. He 
was surveyor of the "Highwaies" of Reho- 
both in 1662-69-74. He was one of the com- 
mittee to settle the dispute with King Philip, 
the Indian chief. He is the only Ide that 

• appears in the list of freemen of New Plym- 
outh Colony in 1658-70. His wife was 
named Martha and bore him ten children: 
Nathaniel ; Mary, married Samuel Fuller ; 
John, served in King Philip's war ; Nicholas 
(3), see forward; I^Iartha, married Samuel 
Walker ; Elizabeth ; Timothy ; Dorothy ; Pa- 
tience, married Samuel Carpenter ; and E.k- 
perience. Mrs. Martha Ide was buried at 
Rehoboth. November 3, 1676. Nicholas Ide is 
buried in the same churchyard. 

(II) Nicholas (3), fourth child of Nich- 

• olas (2) and Martha Ide, was born at Re- 
hoboth, in November, 1654, died June 5, 1723. 
He lived first at Rehoboth, and later in Attle- 
boro, Massachusetts. He was a soldier in 
King Philip's war, 1675-76, under Major 
Bradford. He was admitted a freeman in 
1682. He was latterly known by his military 
titles, ensign and lieutenant. He was town 
surveyor of .-Xttleboro in 1697, and town rep- 
resentative in the general court of Massa- 

'chusetts in 1713-14. He married (first) De- 
cember 27, 1677, at Rehoboth, i\Iary Orms- 
bee, who died Sejitember 9, 1690. She bore 
him: Nathaniel, Jacob, Martha, Patience and 
John. He married (second) Elizabeth Hew- 
ins, who bore him Benjamin, see forward, 
Nicholas (4) and Nicholas (5). 

(III) Benjamin, son of Nicholas (3) and 
Elizabeth (Plewins) Ide, was born at Reho- 
both, Massachusetts. December 5. 1693, bap- 
tized March 24, 1700. He married Elizabeth 

.Slack, November 29, 1716, at Attleboro. 



(IV) Nicholas (4), son of Benjamin and 
Elizabeth (Slack) Ide, was born in Attleboro, 
Massachusetts, July 18, 17 17. He married 
and had issue. 

(\') Benjamin (2), son of Nicholas (4) 
Ide, was born October 27, 1754, died .\pril 
13. 1813. 

(\'I) Thomas, son of Benjamin (2) Ide, 
was born April 21, 1779, died November 19, 

1857- 

(\'II) William, son of Thomas Ide, was 
born July I, 1799, died January 13. 1882, 
He was a farmer of the town of Corinth, 
Saratoga county. New York ; justice of the 
peace and a man of influence in town afifairs. 
He married (first) Mary Noyce; (second) 
Sally Carpenter; (third) Deborah Early: 
children of first wife : \\' illiam. Samuel and 
Lydia ; children of second wife: Daniel, John, 
Nathan, George P., Almira, Gilbert Chauncy 
and Reuben ; no issue by third wife. 

(VIII) George Peck, son of William and 
Sally (Carpenter) Ide, was born at Corinth, 
Saratoga county, New York. February 28, 
1836, died at Troy, New York, March 3, 
1907. He was educated in the public schools 
and remained with his parents on the farm 
until he attained his majority, when he went 
to Troy, New York, and for several years 
was employed in different capacities in the 
collar manufacturing establishment. He be- 
came thoroughly familiar with the line of 
business, and in 1865 began his career as a 
manufacturer that continued successfully until 
his death, founding the house of George P. 
Ide & Company, one of the leading firms of 
Troy and known throughout the world. His 
first partner was S. \'. R. Ford. In 1867 
Samuel N. Ide was admitted a partner. In 
1878 this firm dissolved, and in association 
with James M. Ide, F. B. Twining and 
Charles E. Bruce formed the firm of George 
P. Ide, P>ruce & Company. In 1884 the firm 
became George P. Ide & Company. The busi- 
ness interests and official positions held by 
George P. Ide outside the large interests in 
the George P. Ide Company were numerous 
and exceedingly weighty. For twenty-five 
years he was president of the Manufacturers 
Bank of Troy ; was vice-president of the 
-Security Trust Companv and director of the 
Security Safe Deposit Company, Troy, New 
York, and the Adirondack Trust Company of 
Saratoga Springs. In the world of finance he 
was a power. He was president of the Troy 
Telegraph & Telephone Company, of the 
.•\merican District Telegraph Company, and of 
the Magnetic Ore Separator Company : direc- 
tor of the L'nited Traction Company, the 
Hudson River Telephone Company, the Troy 



io8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Gas Company, the Troy & West Troy Bridge 
Company ; trustee of the Samaritan Hospital, 
besides being interested in several other cor- 
porations. It will thus be seen that he was 
long and closely identified with the progress 
of Troy, particularly with the development 
of the great industry for which it is famous. 
He bore heavy responsibilities in a way that 
challenged the admiration of his fellow citi- 
zens. He was active and influential in every- 
thing that claimed his attention up to his 
last illness. He was a most modest and un- 
assuming man, yet he achieved great success 
for himself and for those associated with 
him. He was fond of recreation and found 
opportunity to always enjoy relaxation from 
the cares of business. He knew when to 
work and wheh to play, and in consequence 
retained his mental and physical vigor until 
the final summons came. He was greatly 
interested in the breeding and development of 
the light harness horse and owned many 
speedy trotters which he was very fond of 
driving. He was one of the organizers of the 
Park Club and remained a member until his 
death. He was a Republican in politics, but 
never entered public political life. 

He married (first) in 1863, Sarah R., 
daughter of Alba Marshall, who bore him a 
son. Alba Marshall Ide, see forward. He 
married (second) Mary Ella, daughter of 
Edward W. M. Savage, of Troy, New York, 
(see Savage VH). Children: Herbert Sav- 
age ; Ariel H. ; Caroline, married Albert E. 
Cluett ; George Peck (2) ; Edith I., married 
(first) Windsor B. French, who died January 
27, 1908, married (second) Joseph O. Eaton, 
April 26, 1910, children by Mr. French were: 
Edith. Caroline W., Mary S.. died in infancy, 
^^'indsor P.. Jr.. and Edward S. French. 

(IX) Alba j\Iarshall, only son and child of 
George Peck and his first v^-ife. Sarah R. 
(iMarshall) Ide, was born in Troy, New York. 
He was educated in the public schools and 
Troy Academy, and attended Mt. Anthony 
Seminary, Bennington. \'ermont. He began 
his business career in the collar manufactur- 
ing works of George P. Ide & Company, 
where he became familiar with all details 
of the business. December t, 1889, he was 
admitted a partner, and has been continuously 
connected with this great Troy firm since 
that date. He is a man of great business 
ability, and in his many and varied interests 
shows a quick ])erception and decision. He 
is interested in many of the public enterprises 
of Troy : he is president of the Magnetic Sep- 
arator Company, director in the Manufactur- 
ers National Bank, director in the American 
District Telegraph Company, director in the 



Troy Gas Company, president of the Rensse- 
laer County Republican Club, vice-president 
of the Troy Chamber of Commerce and 
others, and is associated on the boards of 
her benevolent and educational institutions 
with those who, like himself, are thoughtful 
of those less fortunately situated. In 1909 he 
was elected presidential elector of the twenty- 
second Congressional district and was secre- 
tary of the electoral college. He married 
Gertrude Knight, of Troy, New York. Chil- 
dren : Eleanor, Sarah Marshall, Gertrude 
Knight, Mary Ella. Gertrude (Knight) Ide 
is a granddaughter of Richard, son of Wil- 
liam Knight, of England. Richard Knight 
was born in Renham, England, died in Troy, 
New York. He married Sarah, born in Lon- 
don, England, daughter of Dr. Carman, of 
that city ; children : Mary, Emma, Catherine, 
Charles, George. Joseph, born 1845. Joseph 
Knight is engaged in the publishing business 
in central Massachusetts. He married Cath- 
erine Gertrude Van Hoevenberg ; children : 
Harold : Jessie Linda, married Charles E. 
Cluett : Amy. married Robert Cluett, Jr. ; Ger- 
trude, married Alba M. Ide. 

(The Savage Line). 
Mrs. George Peck Ide (Mary Ella Savage) 
is a direct descendant of John Savage, whO' 
settled in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1652. 
The earliest information concerning him is 
contained in the records of Hartford. Con- 
necticut, as follows : "John Savage of Flart- 
ford, was married to Elizabeth Dubbin ye 
tenth day of febru ; one thousand six hun- 
dred and fifty two." The name of his wife 
is Dublin in the Middletown land records, 
but Dubbin in the marriage record. Wlience 
John Savage came, where and when he 
landed in America is not known. As few be- 
sides Englishmen were then in New England 
it is hardly to be questionefl that he came 
from England, landed in Massachusetts, and' 
thence removed to Hartford. His will is 
signed John Savidge, but in the opening- 
declaration Sauedg. In England the common 
spelling is Savage, in parts of France. Sauv- 
'age, and in New England the records have 
the name Savadge, Savidge, Savige, Sauage, 
as well as Savage. He was "mayd free" May 
18, 1654. In 1674 he possessed one thou- 
sand two hundred and seven acres of land. 
His name is seventh in the list of members 
who organized September 4, 1668, the First 
Congregational Church of Middletown. He- 
was one of the two "'Townsmen" (select- 
man) of Middletown in 1657, and in 1673-74, 
and held the military rank of sergeant. His 
residence was in that part of Middletown' 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



109 



Tiow Cromwell, where he died March 6, 1684- 
-"85. His estate which he disposed of by will 
consisted of eisjht hundred and five acres of 
land and personal property valued at £480. 
15s. Children: i. John, born December 2, 
1652 ; married Mary Ranney. He was cap- 
tain of the "North" train band of Middle- 
town. 2. Elizabeth, married Deacon Nathan- 
iel White, and lived in Hadley, Massachu- 
setts. 3. Sarah, married Israel Wilcox, of 
Hartford, Connecticut. 4. Thomas, died in 
infancy. 5. Hannah, died in infancy. 6. 
Mary, became the second wife of John Whit- 
more (late Wetmore) ; she married (second) 
Deacon Obadiah Allen. 7. Abigail, married 
Edward Shepard, deputy from Middletown to 
the general assembly, 1710-11. 8. William, 
see forward. 9. Nathaniel, born May 7, 1671, 
married Esther Ranney. He was lieutenant 
•of the "East" train band. 10. Rachel. 11. 
Hannah. 

(H) William, son of John and Elizabeth 
(Dubbin) Savage, was born in Middletown, 
Connecticut, April 26, 1668, died January 25, 
1726-27. He was captain of the North Com- 
pany of Middletown in 1719; deputy to the 
general assembly from 1715 to 1726: deacon 
of the church in 1716. He married (first) 
May 6, 1696, Christian Mould, born 1677, 
died ^1719, daughter of Hugh and Martha 
(Coif) Mould, of New London. He married 
(second) November, 1726, Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Whitmore) Clark, widow of Daniel Clark, 
who survived him and married a third hus- 
band, Williams. Children by first 

wife, all born in Middletown, Connecticut : 
I. Martha, married (first) Jacob White, of 
Middletown; married (second) Jonathan 
Riley, of Hartford; married (third) Cap- 
tain Samuel Parker, of Coventry, Con- 
necticut. 2. William (2), see forward. 
3. Christian, married Lieutenant Sam- 
uel Shepard (his second wife), of Middle- 
town. 4. Hannah, married her first cousin, 
William Savage, son of John (2) Savage. 
5. Sarah, married Ebenezer Norton, of Farm- 
ington, Connecticut. 6. Joseph, born Sep- 
tember 21, 1711; he was commissioned cap- 
tain of Fifth Company, Sixth Regiment, 
Colonial Militia, in 1754. He married" (first) 
]\Iary Whitmore, (second) Prudence Stow. 
Four of his sons, Abijah, Simeon, Gideon and 
Nathan, served in the revolutionary army, 
Abijah being a lieutenant in Arnold's expe- 
dition against Quebec. 

(HI) Deacon William (2), son of William 
(i) and Christian (Mould) Savage, was 
born at Middletown, Connecticut, September 
18, 1699, died April 15, 1774. He was deacon, 
of the Middletown church. He married. 



June 2, 1726, Sarah Savage, his cousin, born 
September, 1700, died August 10, 1782, 
daughter of John (2) and Mary (Ranney) 
Savage. Children: i. William (3), torn 
h'cbruary 19, 1727, died October 24, 1809; 
married Martha Gibson, and had eleven chil- 
dren. This family removed to eastern New 
York, where descendants now dwell. 2. 
Elisha, born December 9, 1728, died Novem- 
ber 23, 1803; married Thankful Johnson, and 
lived in Lkrlin, Connecticut. He was ensign 
of the Fifteenth Company, Sixth Regiment, 
Colonial Militia, and afterward served in the 
revolutionary army. Eleven children. 3. 
Jonathan, born July 12, 1731, died April 4, 
1805 ; married Elizabeth Ranney ; ten chil- 
dren. 4. Amos, born September 25, 1733, died 
February 4, 1783 ; married Sarah Montague ; 
eleven children. 5. Josiah, born October 17, 
1735, died July 6, 1804; married Sarah Stow; 
eight children. 6. Stephen, born October 26, 
1737. died August 14, 1825 ; he was a soldier 
of the revolution : married Triphena Riley ; 
six children. 7. Solomon, see forward. 8. 
Daniel, born October 11, 1742, died January 
17, 1812; married (first) Martha Norton; 
(second) Mrs. Abiah, widow of Mordecai 
Lincoln ; two children. 

(IV) Dr. Solomon, son of Deacon Wil- 
liam (2) and Sarah (Savage) Savage, was 
born June 22, 1740, died January 29, 1783. 
He was a physician and served as surgeon in 
the continental army. He married (first) 
December 3, 1761, Sarah Selden, born August 
30. I743. died September 12, 1774, daughter 
of Captain Thomas and Rebecca (Walkley) 
Selden, of Haddam Neck. He married (sec- 
ond) December, 1775, Naomi Kilby, who 
survived him and married (second) Prosper 
Hubbard. Children: Solomon (2), Mary, 
Miriam, Elias, Chloe, Selden, Asa, see for- 
ward, and Elijah. 

(V) Asa, son of Dr. Solomon and Naomi 
(Kilby) Savage, was born in Hartford, Con- 
necticut, about the year 1780, died in Troy, 
New York. He married Abigail Calender; 
children : Charles, Edward Winslow Martin, 
see forward ; Dwight, Ralph, Maria, John, 
James, Emily and Alary Jane. 

(VI) Edward Winslow Martin, son of 
Asa and Abigail (Calender) Savage, was 
born in 1812 in Nassau, New York, died in 
Troy, New York, November 4, 1857. He 
married, 1838, Caroline Gotty, born in 1819 
at Enfield, near the city of London, England, 
died in Troy, New York, 1888. Children: 
Emily, Caroline, Mary Elizabeth, died young,^ 
Alice, Mary Ella, see forward. 

(VH) Mary Ella, youngest child of Ed- 
ward W. M. and Caroline (Gotty) Savage, > 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



was born November 26, 1849. She married, 
Januarj' 2j, 1869, George Peck Ide (see Ide 
VIH). 



James Draper, the Puritan, 
DRAPER son of Thomas Draper, of the 

priory of Heptonstall, vicarage 
of HaHfax, Yorksliire county, England, was 
bom at Heptonstall, 1618, died at Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, July 6, 1694. He married, at 
Heptonstall, April 21, 1646, Miriam, daughter 
of Gideon and Grace (Eastwood) Stansfield, 
of Wadsford, Yorkshire, England. She was 
born at Heptonstall, November 27, 1625, and 
died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, January, 

1697. James Draper's first residence in Amer- 
ica was in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and there 
his first American children were born. From 
Roxbury he removed to Dedham. Later he 
probably returned to Roxbury, where he and 
his wife died and are buried. He was made 
a freeman of Roxbury in 1690. Children: i. 
Miriam, born February 7, 1647, in Hepton- 
stall, England, died in infancy. 2. Susanna, 
about 1650, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, mar- 
ried, 1668, John Bacon. 3. Sarah, 1652, mar- 
ried. May 9, 1669, James Hadlock. 4. James, 
see forward. 5. John, June 24, 1656, died 
April 5, 1749, in Dedham. 6. Moses, Septem- 
ber 26. 1663. died August 14, 1693, in Boston. 
7. Daniel, May 30, 1665, died in Dedham. 8. 
Patience, August 17, 1668, married, March 
13, 1689, Ebenezer Cass. 9. Jonathan, March 
10, 1670, died February 28, 1746-47, in Rox- 
bury. 

(H) James (2), son of James (i) and Mi- 
riam (Stansfield) Draper, was born in Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, 1654, died there April 30, 

1698. He married, February 18, i68i, Abi- 
gail, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah 
(Dwight) Whiting, of Dedham, Massachu- 
setts, born in Roxbury, June 7, 1663, died 
there, October 25, 1721. She was a grand- 
daughter of John Dwight, from whom Presi- 
dent Timothy Dwight, of Yale, and other 
prominent men are descended. James Dra- 
per was a soldier in King Philip's war during 
the year 1675. He received from his father, 
part of the farm at Roxbury. This he subse- 
quently sold to John Aldis. He then bought 
the estate Ijelow Baker street, where he, and 
after his death his widow, kept an ordinary. 
James Drajjer and his wife are buried in 
the First Parish cemetery at Dedham, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Abigail, born Decem- 
ber 29, 1681 : married James Griggs. 2. Na- 
thaniel, April 2, 1684, died December 30, 1721 ; 
married, January 22, 1706, Abigail Lyon. 3. 
William, May 15. 1686, died young. 4. Eu- 
nice, June 5, 1689, died June 13, 1714; mar- 



ried, June 24, 1708, Nathaniel Aldis. 5. James,. 
1691, died April 24, 1768; married. May 2, 
1716, Rachel Aldis. 6. Gideon, 1694: mar- 
ried, April 22, 1713, Abigail Aldis. 7. Ebe- 
nezer, April 27, 1698, died June 3, 1798; 
married. May 2, 1723, Dorothy Child. 

(HI) James (3), son of James (2) and Abi- 
gail (Whiting) Draper, was born in Roxbury,. 
Massachusetts, 1691, died April 24, 1768. He 
removed to Glen Lodge, a settlement about 
two miles east of Dedham, afterward part 
of the latter. He was a captain of the trained 
band, was elected a selectman in 1746, to 
serve one year, and again in 1756, to serve 
two years. He was a prosperous man, a large 
landowner', prominent in the town affairs of 
Dedham, and much respected. He married 
(first) May 2, 1715, Rachel, daughter of John 
and Mary Aldis, born March 15, 1690, died 
May 16, 1717. He married (second), Novem- 
ber 12, 1719, Abigail, daughter of Joshua and 
Elizabeth (Morris) Child, of Brookline, Mas- 
sachusetts, born 1698, died November 23, 
1767. Child by first wife: i. John, born Janu- 
ary 29, 1716, died March 10, 1717. Children 
by second wife: 2. James, born September 22, 
1720, at Stoughton, died at Spencer, March 2, 
1781 : married (first) November i, 1743, Me- 
hitable Whiting; (second) Mrs. Martha (Bur- 
nett) Ward, a widow. 3. Abigail, December 
12, 1 72 1, at Stoughton, died November 3, 
1817 ; married (first) September 30, 1741, 
Henry White; (second) starch 7, 1750, Ma- 
jor Asa Baldwin. 4. John, June 16, 1723, at 
Stoughton, died November 8, 1745, at Ded- 
ham. 5. Joshua, see forward. 6. Josiah, April 
3, 1726, at Stoughton, died August 18, 1726. 

7. Josiah, September 12, 1727, at Stoughton. 

8. Rebecca, June 30, 1729, at Stoughton, died 
January 30, 1830. 9. Mary, September 24, 
1731, at Stoughton. 10. Abijah, July 13, 1734, 
at Dedham, died November 18, 1734. 11. Abi- 
jah, July II, 1735, at Dedham, died February 
13' ^7}>7- 12. Abijah, May 10. 1737, at Ded- 
ham; died there. May i, 1780; married (first) 
April 8, 1762, Alice Eaton; (second) March 
25, 1778, Mrs. Desire Metcalf. 13. Samuel, 
December 5, 1740, died November 29. 1750. 

(IV) Joshua, son of James (3) and Abigail 
(Child) Draper, was born at Dorchester, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 25, 1724, died at Spen- 
cer, Massachusetts, October 27, 1792. He re- 
moved from Dedham to Spencer. He was a 
member of the revolutionary committeee of 
correspondence for the years 1776-77. assessor 
from 1765 to 1 77 1, and was considered for 
those times to be a wealthy man. He married 
(first) at Dedham, Massachusetts, April 14, 
1748, Abigail Fairbanks, who died February 
17, 1762. Married (second) Widow Sarah 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



^ 



Wright, of Brookfield, Massachusetts, who 
died April 12, 1820. Children by first wife: 
1. Joshua, see forward. 2. Sarah, born March 
19, 1751, died about 1777; married. May 2, 
177 1, Jonas Muzzy. 3. Samuel, May 8, 1752; 
married his cousin, Millie Draper. 4. Abigail, 
May 2. 1756, unmarried. Children by second 
wife: 5. Asa. March 11, 1763, died at Clare- 
mont, New Hampshire ; married, July 19, 
1785, Ruth Whittemore. 6. Simeon, March 
27, 1765, married (first), August 24, 1786, 
Mary Bemis; married (second), September 
10, 1832, Catherine C. Lewis, a widow. 7. 
Ira, February 18, 1767; went to sea and was 
never heard of after. 8. Joel, June 18, 1769; 
died unmarried in Otsego, New York. 9. 
William, December 9, 1771, died December 
30> 1845. 

Abigail (Fairbanks) Draper, born Decem- 
ber 4, 1724, traced her ancestry to Jonathan 
Fairebanke (Fairbank, Fairbanks), who came 
from Sowcrby in the West Riding of York- 
shire, England, to Boston, Massachusetts, in 
the year 1633, and settled in Dedham, Massa- 
chusetts, 1636, where he built the noted "Old 
Fairbanks House," which is still standing, 
the oldest dwelling house in New England 
that has been continuously occupied by the 
builder and his lineal descendants. He was 
born in England before 1600. He married 
Grace Lee. Their youngest son, Jonathan, 
was born in England, admitted townsman in 
Dedham "ye i of ye 11 ; 1654." He died Jan- 
uary 28, 1711-12. He was a soldier' in King 
Philip's war, serving in the first or Mt. Hof>e 
campaign in 1675, also in several subsequent 
campaigns. He married Deborah, daughter 
of Edward Shepard, of Cambridge. Their 
youngest son, Jonathan, was born probably 
about 1677; lived in Dedham, south parish 
(now Norwood) : married (first) 'Slary Harts- 
horn. February 3, 1702, who died August, 
1704-05: married (second) Deborah, daugh- 
ter of Captain Samuel and Mary (Woodcock) 
Guild, of Dedham, born July 16, 1685. died 
August 3, 1773. Their eighth child and fourth 
daughter was Abigail, above-mentioned. 

(\') Joshua (2), son of Joshua (i) and 
Abigail (Fairbanks) Draper, was born in 
Spencer, Alassachusetts, May 25, 1749, died at 
Westford, New York, May 12, 1839. He 
lived for many years in Chester, Massachu- 
setts. He was a soldier in the revolutionary 
war, serving as a private in Captain Benjamin 
Richardson's company from Spencer. Colonel 
Nicholas Dike's regiment. He was at the 
battle of Bunker Hill, and at the relief of Dor- 
chester, September, 1776. The musket he 
carried is still in the possession of the family. 
His services were rewarded by a government 



pension. After the war he migrated with his 
family to New York state and settled at West- 
ford. Otsego county, where he cleared a tract 
of land of timber in what was then a wilder- 
ness, built a house on it, and engaged in farm- 
ing. After the death of his wife, 1823, he 
made his home with his son Sylvester. He 
married, August 5, 1773, Mary Pratt, bom 
in Hanover, Massachusetts, January 28, 1750,. 
died of consumption, September i, 1823. 
Children: i. Bethuel, born August 27, 1774, 
died March 25, 1814; married Polly Vaughn. 

2. Lucy, January 22, 1776, died November 9, 
181 1 : married Asa Bidlake. 3. Hazor Enor,. 
September 6. 1777: married (first), Septem- 
ber 6, 1803. Hannah Pratt; (second) Mrs. 
Ruth (Pratt) Lane, widow, and sister of his 
first wife. 4. Rufus, January 28, 1779, died 
January 19, 1822 : married Hannah Inglis. 5. 
Mary, September 14, 1780, died October x, 
1780. 6. Abijah, September 3, 1781 ; married, 
January 30, 1812, Isabelle \'an Tuyl. 7. Syl- 
vester, see forward. 8. Joshua, January 23,. 
1785 ; married Betsey \'aughn. 9. Dexter, 
December 8, 1786; married, August i, 1816, 
Oriel Babcock. 10. Abigail, April 14, 1790,. 
died April 21, 1827; married Reuben Wilder. 
II. Achsah, February 16, 1792, died June 22, 
1823, unmarried. 

(\ I) Sylvester, son of Joshua (2) and 
Mary (Pratt) Draper, was born in Chester,. 
■Massachusetts, May 14, 1783. died May 8, 
1852, in Westford, Otsego county. New York. 
He married, in Worcester, New York, Decem- 
ber 22, 1808, Sukey. daughter of Dr. Uriah 
Bigelow, a prominent physician. She was born 
at Boylston, Massachusetts, August 21, 1789, 
died at Westford, New York, June 12, 1863. 
All his children, excepting the two eldest, were- 
born at Westford, New York. Children: i. 
Sylvester Bigelow, see forward. 2. Susan 
Gregory, born May 22, 181 1 ; married, Sef)- 
tember 5. 1838, Alden Chester, of Maryland. 

3. Josiah Harrington, February 6, 1813: died 
in Albany, P'ebruary 10, 1894; married (first) 
February 22, 1837, Adelia W. Babcock: (sec- 
ond), October 15, 1861, Mrs. Helen Avery, 
of Albany; (third), November 31. 1878,. 
Fanny Rathbone, of Albany. 4. Caroline Ma- 
ria, June 19, 1815 ; died in Richmondville,. 
New York, June 3, 1896; married (first), 
January 22, 1846, Benjamin Westcott ; (sec- 
ond) July 31, 1878, Asa H. Cleveland. 5. 
Adelia Sophia, October 11, 1817; died at 
Whitestow^n, New York, March 7, 1892 ; mar- 
ried, April 13, 1842, Henry W. Wilson. 6. 
Fernando Pratt, August 9, 1819; died at San 
Francisco, California, January 16, 1896; mar- 
ried, June 16, 1846, Lucy A. Preston. 7. 
Lysander, October 2, 1821 ; died at J\laryland,. 



HUDSOX AND MOHA\\-K \'ALLEYS 



New York, April 30, 1898; married, October 

11, 1855. Rachel Anne Gurney. 8. ^^larinda, 
October 10, 1823; died at Richmondville, New 
York, ^larch 28, 1899: married, October 5, 
1853, Luther M. Robinson. 9. Lucy, August 

12, 1826, died August 14, 1827. 10. Milton, 
June 24, 1829, died in Goodland, Indiana, No- 
vember 24, 1877. II. Maria, September 12, 
1832; married (first) January 29, 1865, John 
E. Moore; (second) John H. Rider. 

(X'H) Sylvester Bigelow, son of Sylvester 
and Sukey (Bigelow) Draper, was born in 
Worcester, New York, February 19. 18 10. 
died in Albany, April 21, 1890. He removed 
to Albany in 1855, and remained there until 
his death. He married (first). Amy West- 
cott. of Milford, May 4. 1836; she died Feb- 
ruary 19, 1845. Married (second) Jane Sloan, 
of Worcester, June 14, 1846. Children by 
first wife, all born in Westford : i. Olive, 
IMay 25, 1837, died July 22, 1891. marrie^, 
July 2, 1863, Silas H. Walker. 2. Anne Eliza- 
beth, June 28, 1839. died December 19. 1885, 
in Albany : married, December 13. 1858, John 
M. Brightenger, of Albany. 3. Pedia Marin- 
da, July II, 1842. 4. Orlo Westcott, Decem- 
ber 29, 1844, died January 9, 1845. Children 
by second wife : 5. Andrew Sloan, see for- 
ward. 6. Harlen Page, June 19, 185 1, at 
Westford, married. May 14. 1874, Anabel 
Bryce. 7. Julia Isabella, July 12, 1852, at 
Westford, died there Alarch 9, 1855. 8. Mar- 
garet Jane, August 30, 1864, at Albany, died 
there July 16, 1865. 

(VIII) Dr. Andrew Sloan, son of Sylvester 
Bigelow and Jane (Sloan ) Draper, was bom 
en a farm in the town of Westford, New York, 
June 21, 1848. He attended the public schools 
of Albany from 1855 to 1863. when he won 
a scholarship at the Albany Academy, from 
which institution he graduated in 1866. Dur- 
ing his entire academic course he supported 
himself by work in the office of the Alban\ 
Ez'cnin^ Journal. Through the four succeed- 
ing years he was employed in the office of a 
leading house in the Albany lumber district 
in the summers and taught school winters. 
One winter he taught at the Westford Liter- 
ary Institute at Westford, New York ; another 
in the Albany .Academy ; a third he was prin- 
cipal of a graded school at East Worcester, 
New York. In 1870 he took the course of 
study at the Albany Law School and was 
•admitted to the bar in May, 1871. He then 
formed a partnership with his cousin, .-\lden 
'Chester, under the firm name of Draper & 
Chester, and entered upon and continued to 
practice the legal profession until 1885, when 
his practice was interrupted, and in 1887 the 
:firm dissolved. In January, 1885, he was ap- 



pointed by President Arthur one of the judges 
of the United States court of Alabama claims. 
Dr. Draper has always been an active mem- 
ber of the Republican party. He made many 
addresses in the presidential campaign of 
1868, although he was not old enough to vote 
for General Grant on election day, and he has 
been heard in every state and national cam- 
paign until he became state superintendent of 
public instruction, in 1886. In 1880-81-82, he 
was chairman of the Republican county com- 
mittee of Albany county. In 1880 he was 
elected to the state legislature, was a member 
of the standing committees on ways and 
means, judiciary, public education and print- 
ing. He was a member of the special com- 
mittee which investigated the charges of brib- 
ery against Senator Loren B. Sessions, grow- 
ing out of the celebrated contest over the se- 
lection of United States senators to succeed 
Messrs. Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. 
Piatt. In that contest Dr. Draper supported 
Mr. Conkling and Mr. Piatt. In 1883-84 he 
represented the nineteenth congressional dis- 
trict upon the Republican state committee. He 
was a delegate to the national convention in 
1884. and zealously supported the candidacy 
of General Arthur for renomination to the 
presidency. Immediately following the con- 
vention he was chosen chairman of the execu- 
tive committee of the Republican state com- 
mittee, and as such had the immediate charge 
of the business of the committee in the en- 
suing campaign. He accompanied Mr. Blaine 
upon his two famous journeys through the 
state of New York. Dr. Draper has always 
been activel}' identified with educational work. 
He was state superintendent of public in- 
struction from 1886 to 1892 ; superintendent 
of schools in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1892 to 
1894; president of the University of Illinois 
from 1894 to 1904; elected commissioner of 
education of the state of New York by the 
legislature in 1904, which office he continues 
to fill. He is a member of the Chicago His- 
torical Society and State Historical Societies 
of New York, Illinois and ^Visconsin. Dr. 
Draper is the author of a number of literary 
works, among which is the "Rescue of Cuba." 
He received the silver medal at the Paris ex- 
position for a monograph on "American Edu- 
cational Organization" ; a gold medal and two 
commemorative diplomas for educational writ- 
ings, and one of the two grand prizes for con- 
spicuous services to education, at the St. Louis 
exhibition. He has served as president of the 
National Association of School Superintend- 
ents and of the North Central Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Schools, and chair- 
man of the department of education in the 




^0?Z) 



r_^ 



HUDSON AND ^lOHAWK VALLEYS 



"3 



international congresses at St. Louis. He was 
appointed by President Roosevelt a member 
of the United States board of Indian commis- 
sioners in 1902, and is now (1909) chairman 
of the board. He received the honorary de- 
gree of LL. D. from Colgate University in 
1889. Columbia L'niversity in 1903, and the 
University of Illinois in 1905. 

Dr. Draper married. May 8, 1872, Abbie 
Louise Lyon, of New Britain. Connecticut. 
Children: i. Charlotte Leland, born Novem- 
ter 21. 1875. married. May 8, 1907. .Arthur 
A. Brown, of New York City, an officer in 
the Westinghouse Electric Companv ; resides 
in New York City. 2. Edwin Lyon, born Au- 
■gust 19. 1882, graduated from the University 
of Illinois with the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
and from Harvard University with degree of 
Doctor of Medicine; he resides in Albany, 
New York; he married. October 14, 1908, 
Frances Haeden, of Shelbyville. Illinois, and 
IS a surgeon, practicing in Albany. New York. 



This is an English family 
CHESTER name of antiquity and renown. 

One branch of the Chester 
family in America descends from the Chesters 
■of Blaby, but there is nothing to connect the 
founder of the Albany family with any par- 
ticular English branch. Probably the first of 
the name in this country, at least among the 
earliest of record, is Airs. Dorothy Chester, 
who appears to have been a woman of some 
distinction. She appears in the first division 
•of land at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1639. She 
had five lots granted her, and the town, Janu- 
ary 14. 1639. voted to "give Mrs. Chester two 
years' time to build upon her house lot in 
Hartford." She probably left Hartford or 
was deceased before 1649. It is not known 
whether she was a relation of Leonard Ches- 
ter, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, or of Sam- 
uel Chester, of New London. Neither does it 
■appear that Leonard and Samuel were rela- 
tives. Leonard Chester was from Leicester- 
•shire. England, in 1633, was an early proprie- 
tor of Watertown, and in 1635 was one of 
the settlers of Wethersfield. Connecticut. The 
Albany family descends from Samuel of New 
London and Groton. Connecticut. 

( I ) Captain Samuel Chester was born in 
England and came to Boston (one authority 
says) as master of his own brigantine. He 
-was an early settler of New London, Connec- 
ticut, where he received his first grant of 
land for a warehouse in 1664 in company 
with William Condy, of Boston, who was 
styled his nephew. The general assemblv of 
'Connecticut, May 12, 1664. ordered that "Mr. 
Hagborn's vessel that Ralph Parker and Sam- 



uel Chester had appraised at iioo be delivered 
at that price, etc." (Colonial Records, p. 
430.) He was made a freeman of New Lon- 
don in 1669. In 1671-72. Samuel Chester 
was one of those of New London who was 
complained of to the county court in Hart- 
ford by Matthew Griswold. Lieutenant Wil- 
liam Waller and others of Saybrook '"for at- 
tempts" by violence to drive them off their 
lands. He first appeared in New London 
in 1663 and engaged in the West India trade 
as owner, factor and commander. Their ware- 
house was on Close Cove. He was a sea cap- 
tain, and commanded the "Endeavor" for 
several trips to the West Indies as early as 
1666. He also had an interest in a vessel 
called the "New London Tryall." with Well- 
man and Parker, which Miss Caulkins says 
was the first merchant vessel owned there. 
Though he was a practical seaman, he appears 
also to have been a merchant. After 1689 a 
vessel was built for John Wheeler, a promi- 
nent maritime man at New London, for the 
European trade and sent out commanded by 
Captain Samuel Chester. Miss Caulkins fur- 
ther says (p. 353, "History of New London") 
that he was much employed in land surveys 
and was appointed in 1693 by the general 
court one of the agents to meet the commis- 
sioners from Massachusetts, to renew and set- 
tle the boundaries between the two colonies. 
He had a large landed estate, partly on the 
east side of the river, now Groton, covering 
the ground where Fort Griswold and the Gro- 
ton Monument now stand. Also large tracts 
to the north and south of Groton Point, now 
called Eastern Point, on which his sons, Abra- 
ham, John and Jonathan, settled and reared 
large "families. A deed to Captain Samuel 
Chester was signed by the Indian chief, Un- 
cas. Tune 13, 1683. for a grant of several 
thousand of acres of land in Colchester. He 
had a large tract in the north parish, bought 
of Owanoco and Josiah. !\Iohegan sachems. 
He lived upon the east side of the river, where 
he dwelt at the time of his death. Jonathan 
Chester, his son, sold in 1777 to the Connecti- 
cut state government the land where Fort 
Griswold and the Groton Alonument now 
stand. His skill as a surveyor was of great 
service to him in laying out lands in the new 
settlements, and he was esteemed a loyal, just, 
trusty and worthy man. He married (first) 

;\Iary . and (second) Hannah . 

His chiklren. whose names have been pre- 
served and recorded were: Abraham; John, 
probably died in infancy ; Susannah ; Samuel ; 
Mercv ; Hannah ; John, see forward ; Jona- 
than.' His will, dated in 1708, names only 
Abraham, John. Jonathan and Mercy Bur- 



114 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



rows. The children were baptized in New 
London. Captain Chester died about 1710. 

(11) John, son of Captain Samuel and Han- 
nah Chester, was born about 1690, baptized 
at Groton, May 29. 1692, died there June i, 
177 1. He was a large land owner and farmer, 
a thorough business man, and active in state, 
community and church affairs. He married, 
November i, 17 16. Mary (or Mercy), daugh- 
ter of Thomas Starr, an early ship-builder of 
New London. Their children were: John, 
see forward; Thomas, Benajah, James, Jo- 
seph, Simeon, Catharine and Levi. 

(HI) John (2), son of John (i) and Mary 
(Starr) Chester, was born in Groton, Connec- 
ticut, September 9, 171 7, died November 17, 

1762. He married Abigail . Children: 

John, see forward ; Simeon. 

(IV) John (3), son of John (2) and Abi- 
gail Chester, was born at Groton, Connecticut, 
August 28, 1761, died at New London, Au- 
gust 30, 1804. He served in the revolutionary 
war as a member of Captain William La- 
tham's artillery company of matrosses, sta- 
tioned at Groton, having enlisted July 6, 1780, 
and served until May i, 1781, when he was 
discharged. He married his cousin, Frances, 
born October 24, 1770, at Groton, died Au- 
gust I, 1853, at Westford, New York, young- 
est daughter of his uncle, Thomas Chester, 
son of John and Mary (Starr) Chester. Chil- 
dren : Calvin, John Eldridge, Frances Mary, 
Laurinda, Alden, see forward. 

(\') Alden, son of John (3) and Frances 
(Chester) Chester, was born at New London, 
Connecticut, May 26, 1803, died at Westford, 
Otsego county, New York, March 4, 1857. 
His father died when he was but three months 
old. His mother married (second) Deacon 
John Kelso, February 16, 181 2, and he re- 
moved witli them when a boy of nine to 
Westford, New York. He was a cabinet 
maker and a manufacturer of sashes, blinds 
and doors. He was a public-spirited man and 
a true friend of education, and was one of 
the founders of the Westford public library. 
He married (first) Mary H. Chapiiel, of 
Maryland, New York, March 12, 1834, who 
bore him a son, Dwight, born in Maryland, 
New York, March 2, 1835 : after receiving his 
education in the public and parish schools of 
Westford, he engaged in manufacturing there 
until 1862. and after that was a merchant in 
New York City four years, when he was ap- 
pointed manager for the Aetna Life Insurance 
Company for Massachusetts, and is still so en- 
gaged. He was town clerk of Westford in 
1859 and supervisor in 1861. He removed to 
Newton Center, Massachusetts, in i86fi; was 
a member of the common council of the city 



of Newton. 1876-77-78 : of the board of alder- 
men in 1879-80-81-83-84, and president of 
that body four years. He was a member of 
the house of representatives of Massachusetts 
in 1891-92-93-94. He has been for many 
years and still is president of the Newton 
Trust Company, and is treasurer and trustee 
of several charitable and religious societies. 
He married, September 7, 1862, Mary J. 
Storrs, of Worcester, New York ; children : 
Mary Edna, born April 14, 1866, died at New- 
ton Center, Massachusetts, March 4, 1904, and 
Lizzie, born March 8, 1868, died August 11, 
1868. Alden Chester married (second) Su- 
san Gregory Draper, September 5, 1838, sec- 
ond child and eldest daughter of Sylvester and 
Sukey (Bigelow) Draper, (See Draper VII). 
Children: i. Horace, born October 29, 1842; 
was for several years after his marriage sta- 
tion agent and telegraph operator at Schenevus, 
New York ; after that he was a private banker 
there for many years, and during a portion of 
that time was cashier of the Bank of Worces- 
ter, five miles distant from his home. He 
removed to Maiden, Massachusetts, 1897, and 
since that time has been engaged with his 
brother Dwight in the insurance business with 
offices in Boston. He has been a member of 
the city council of Maiden for several years. 
He married, September 8, 1867, Anastasia E. 
Hill; children: i. Carey R.. married (first) 
Alice M. Hebard, (second) Lela Parker; ii. 
Francelia ; iii. Horace Coryell, married Eliza- 
beth R. Parker ; iv. Alden Hill, died in in- 
fancy ; V. Lola Ethel. 2. Rev. Arthur, born 
February 22, 1847, died in Brooklyn. New 
York, November 12, 1889. He was educated 
for the ministry at Union Theological Semi- 
nary in New York and at the Chicago Theo- 
logical Seminary. He was pastor of Congre- 
gational churches at Onarga, Illinois. Sandus- 
ky. Ohio, and P)rooklyn, New York. He was 
the founder of the Bushwick Avenue Congre- 
gational church in lirooklyn, of which he was 
pastor at the time of his death. He was a 
man of superior education and was proficient 
in many languages. 3. Alden, see forward. 

(VI) Judge .Alden (2), youngest son of 
Alden (i) and Susan Gregory (Draper) Ches- 
ter, was born in Westford, Otsego county, 
New York, Septemlier 4, 1848. His early edu- 
cation was obtained in the district school and 
at the Westford Literary Institute, where he 
was a teacher for a time. Before attaining 
his majority he served as a clerk in a whole- 
sale commission house in New York and also 
in a country store in his native village and 
worked in the postoffice. He then took up 
telegraphy and secured a position on the old 
Albany arid Susquehanna railroad as operator 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



"5 



in cliarc;e of an office at East Worcester, 
where he remained two years. He edited a 
newspaper in Otsego county, and then served 
as a clerk for one year in the Aetna Life In- 
surance Company in Boston, where he began 
the study of law under the instruction of a 
lawyer of his acquaintance. In 1869 he en- 
tered the Columbia College Law School in 
New York City, where he was graduated LL. 
B. with the class of 1871, winning the prize in 
Political Science, this being one of only five 
prizes given to a graduating class of ninety- 
nine members. He was admitted to the bar 
at the general term in New York City in May, 
1 87 1, and began the practice of law at once 
in Albany with his cousin, Andrew S. Draper, 
now state commissioner of education, then 
just beginning the practice of law. In 1876 
Hon. William S. Paddock was a member of 
the firm of Paddock, Draper & Chester. Mr. 
Paddock retired in 1882, Mr. Draper in 18S7, 
leaving Mr. Chester, who continued the busi- 
ness alone. Mr. Chester was a Republican 
and was early honored by that party with 
political preferment. In 1874-76 he was dep- 
uty clerk of the New York assembly, and sec- 
retary for many years of the Albany county 
general committee. From 1881 to 1884 he 
was a member of the board of public instruc- 
tion in Albany, serving the last year as its 
president. He was instrumental in having the 
high school library thrown open to the public. 
In 1882 he was appointed assistant United 
States district attorney for the Northern Dis- 
trict of New York under the Hon. Martin I. 
Townsend, and in this capacity tried many 
important cases for the government in dif- 
ferent parts of the state : he held that office 
until 1885, when he resigned to attend to his 
private law business, his partner, Mr. Draper, 
having been appointed judge of the court of 
Alabama claims. He was assistant corpora- 
tion counsel of the city of Albany, 1894-96. 
In the latter year Governor Morton appointed 
him a member of the commission to prepare 
a uniform charter for cities of the second class 
and in November, 1895, ^^ resigned from the 
commission on being elected a justice of the 
supreme court of New York state, in the 
third judicial district, and was the first Re- 
publican elected to that office in that dis- 
trict in over thirty years : in 1909 he received 
the unanimous nomination of both parties for 
reelection, and is now serving his second term. 
In November, 1902. he was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Odell to the appellate division of the 
supreme court, in the third judicial department 
of the state, and since that time has been serv- 
ing as a member of the court, having been re- 
appointed by Governor Hughes. On January 



I, 1910, he retired from service in the appel- 
late division, and is now serving at the trial 
and special terms of the supreme court. 

In 1885, when he returned to his legal prac- 
tice, he devoted his attention to a general law 
business, numbering among his clients many 
life and fire insurance comjjanies. In 1S83, he 
completed and annotated the insurance laws 
of the state for the state insurance department, 
and is now (1909) engaged as editor of the 
legal and jutlicial history of the state. He is 
president of the board of trustees of the Al- 
bany Academy for Girls ; president of Grace- 
land Cemetery ; vice-president of the Albany 
Medical College and of the Albany Exchange 
Savings Bank ; special lecturer on the Federal 
Judicial System in Albany Law School ; gov- 
ernor of Union University, and is a member 
of the American Society of International Law 
and of the National Geographic Society. 

Judge Chester married, October 5, 1871, 
Lina, daughter of Ezra R. Thurber, of East 
Worcester, New York. They have a daugh- 
ter. Amy, born July 19, 1877, wife of Charles 
Van Merrick, an architect of Albany, New 
York : they have a son, Alden Chester Mer- 
rick, born October 14, 1906. 

Through his maternal line Judge Chester 
descends from James Draper, fourth son of 
Thomas Draper, of Heptonstall, Yorkshire, 
England. (See Draper, on preceding pages.) 

Susan Gregory, eldest daughter and second 
child of Sylvester fq. v.), and Sukey ( Bige- 
low) Draper, was born May 22, 181 1, at Wor- 
cester, New York, died at Westford, New 
York, ]\Iay 30. 1892. She became the second 
wife of Alden Chester, to whom she was mar- 
ried September 5, 1838. (See Chester V). 
Children : Horace, Arthur and Alden Ches- 
ter. 

(The Brcwslcr Line). 

The "Pilgrim" ancestry of Judge Alden 
Chester begins with Elder William Brewster, 
"chief of the Pilgrims and one of the May- 
flower's passengers." William Brewster, son 
of William, was born during the last half of 
1566 or the first half of 1567. The date is de- ' 
termined by an affidavit made at Leyden, June 
25, 1609, in which he, his wife Mary, and son 
Jonathan, declare their ages to be respectively 
fortv-two, forty and sixteen years. The place 
of his birth is not known, but is supposed to 
have been Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, Eng- 
land. His father, W'illiam Brewster, was ap- 
pointed by Archbishop Sandys in January, 
1575-76, receiver of Scrooby, and bailifi' of 
the Manor House in that place belonging to 
the Archbishop, to have life tenure of both 
offices. The parish registers of Scrotiby do 
not begin until 1695, and no record of his 



ii6 



HL'DSON AND MOHAW^K VALLEYS 



birtli. baptism or marriage was discovered by 
William Paver, a distinguished local antiquary, 
who held a commission for nearly a quarter 
of a century to report all items that he found, 
relating to the Pilgrims. His father was 
"Post" at Scrooby, and it is said his grand- 
father held the same office. Elder Brewster 
was a student at "Peterhouse" (the oldest of 
the fourteen colleges then forming the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge), but it does not appear 
that he ever took his degree. In Scrooby he 
lived "in good' esteeme amongst his friends 
and ye gentlemen of those parts, espetialy the 
godly & religious doing much good in promot- 
ing and furthering Religion." His residence 
in Scrooby was the old Manor House, and 
there the members of the Pilgrim church were 
accustomed to meet on the Lord's Day, where 
he "with great love entertained them when 
they came, making provision for them to his 
great charge." The Pilgrims attempting to 
remove to Holland in 1607, were imprisoned 
at Boston, England, through the treachery of 
the master of the ship that was to transport 
them. Elder Brewster was said by Bradford 
to have been the "cheefe of those that were 
taken at Boston and suffered ye greatest loss ; 
and of ye seven that were kept longst in prison 
and after bound over to ye assises." We also 
learn that "after he reached Holland he suf- 
fered many hardships and spent most of his 
means in providing for his many children." 
During the latter part of the twelve years 
spent in Holland, he increased his income 
very much by teaching and by the profits from 
a printing press which he. by the help of some 
friends, set up at Leyden. When the church 
at Levden resolved to emigrate to Virginia, 
Elder Brewster was "desired" by those chosen 
to go first "to goe with them," while John 
Robinson, the pastor, stayed with the majority 
who should follow later. Thus it was that he, 
his wife Mary and two young sons were 
among the passengers of the now-famous ves- 
sel "Mayflower," which drop])ed anchor in 
Plymouth harbor, December 16, 1620. That 
he drafted the Mayflower "Compact" of No- 
vember 21, 1620, seems almost certain. That 
he was the moral, religious and spiritual lead- 
er of the colony during its first years of peril 
and struggle, and its chief civil adviser and 
spiritual guide until the time of his death 
seems quite certain. He was in every respect 
the co-equal and colleague of Pastor John 
Robinson in all the measures for preparing 
the voyage to .America, and shares with Car- 
ver and Cushman the honor of procuring the 
requisite London assistance. He did not 
shrink from even the hardest manual labor, 
and Pjradford savs, "Yet when the church had 



no other minister, he taught twise every Sa- 
both and yt both powerfully and profitably to 
ye great contentment of ye hearers, and their 
comfortable edification." 

The different historians thus comment on 
the good elder's military service: 

"Elder Brewster was in no way unwilling 
to take his part and bear his burden with the 
rest." "He partook with them of labor, hun- 
ger and watching, his Bible and arms being 
equally familiar to him : and he was always 
ready for any duty or suffering to which he 
was called." "He was able to use his armor 
as well as his Bible." "After one-half of the 
colonists died in the 'first sickness,' Captain 
Standish had under him 20 men. In the first 
rank are Governor Bradford and Elder Brew- 
ster. The good elder fights as he prays, and 
though he would far rather convert an enemy 
than hurt him, he would not dream of allowing 
him the first fire." "If Elder Brewster prayed 
for protection against his enemies, he took 
good care that his gun was ready and his 
sword sharp, so that he could do his part to- 
ward securing the blessing asked." 

Elder Brewster's two swords, his pistol, 
dagger and armor, are mentioned in the in- 
ventory taken after his death. One of his 
swords was presented to the Massachusetts 
Historical Society in 1798. His wife Mary, 
whose maiden name has not yet been discov- 
ered, "dyed at Plymouth in New England the 
17th of Aprill 1627" (Brewster Book). El- 
der Brewster survived her many years, and 
"dyed at Plymouth in New England the loth 
of Aprill 1644" (Brewster Book). .August 
20. 1645. a final division of the elder's estate 
was made between "Jonathan and Love his 
onely children remayncing." Children of El- 
der William and AJary Brewster: i. Jona- 
than, see forward. 2. Patience, married 
Thomas Prence. 3. Fear, married Isaac Al- 
lerton. 4. A child who died and was buried 
at Leyden. 5. Love, a "Mayflower" passen- 
ger, married Sarah Collier, and was of Dux- 
bury. 5. Wrestling, came in the "Mayflower" 
witii his parents and brother Ixive. He was 
living Mav 22, 1627, but died before the set- 
tlemen of his father's estate. He was unmar- 
ried. 

(II) Jonathan, "eldest son" of Elder Wil- 
liam and Mary P.rewster, was born in Scroo- 
by, England, .August 12, 1593. died in Connec- 
ticut, .August 7. 1659, and was buried in the 
Brewster cemetery at Brewster's Neck, Pres- 
ton, Connecticut. He came to .America a year 
later than his distinguished father, landing 
in 1 62 1, one of the passengers of the ship 
"Fortune." He was deputy of the general 
court, Plymouth Colony, in 1639-41-42-43-44, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



117 



from Duxbury, Massachusetts. In 1649 lie 
removed to New London, Connecticut, where 
he was admitted an inhabitant, February 25, 
1649-50. His farm lay partly in the town of 
New London and partly in the later estab- 
lished town of Norwich. He was deputy to 
the Connecticut general court in 165055-56- 
57-58. During his residence in Duxbury he 
was one of the principal men in the forma- 
tion of the settlement and in the establishment 
of its church. He sometimes practiced before 
the court and as attorney, and is also styled 
"gentleman." He was military commissioner 
in 1637, and during the Pequot war a member 
of the Duxbury committee to raise forces in 
the "Narragansett Alarm" of 1642, and a 
member of Captain Myles Standish's Dux- 
bury company in the military enrollment of 
1643. He held title to a large tract of land 
in Connecticut, deeded to him by the great 
Indian Sachem L^ncas. In a letter written 
to Sarah, widow of his brother. Love Brew- 
ster, dated September i, 1656, he says that he 
and his whole family "resolved for Old Eng- 
land" the following year. It is possible that 
two of his sons, William and Jonathan, did 
settle in England, but the remainder of the 
family remained in Connecticut. He is buried 
in the Brewster cemetery, where in 1855 his 
descendants erected a plain granite shaft to 
his memory and that of his wife, who is re- 
membered in imperishable granite as "A noble 
specimen of an Enlightened heroic Christian 
gentlewoman." She was Lucretia Oldham, of 
Darby, and was married to Jonathan Brewster 
"Aprill loth 1624." She died March 4, 1678- 
79. Children: i. William (2), served seven- 
teen days in the Narragansett expedition, and 
there is no subsequent notice of him ; he prob- 
ably settled in England. 2. Mary, married 
"John Turner of Scituate the Elder." 3. Jon- 
athan, probably settled in England, as there is 
no mention of him after 1650. 4. Ruth, mar- 
ried (first) John Pickett, who "dyed at sea 
returning from Rarbadoes" ; married (second) 
Charles Hill, recorder of New London, and 
clerk of the county court. 5. Benjamin, mar- 
ried Ann Darte ; he was a man of prominence, 
served nine terms as deputy ; was lieutenant 
of the New London troop in 1673 '•nd captain 
of the military company of Norwich in 1693. 
6. Elizabeth, married (first) Peter Bradley, of 
New London; (second) Christopher Christo- 
phers, mariner. 7. Grace, married Captain 
Daniel, son of Rev. Daniel and Mary (Fisher) 
Wetherell, of Scituate, Massachusetts. From 
1680 to 1 7 10 he was more prominent in pub- 
lic affairs than any other inhabitant in the 
town. He was town clerk, moderator, justice, 
judge of the county court and judge of pro- 



bate. No man in the county .stood higher in 
point of talent and integrity. 8. Hannah, see 
forward. 

(Ill) Hannah, youngest child of Jonathan 
and Lucretia (Oldham) Brewster, was born 
at Duxbury, Massachusetts, November 3, 1641. 
"She was in full communion with the First 
Church New London Nov. 25 1691." She 
married, December 23, 1664, Samuel Starr, 
one of the early settlers of New London, and 
a prominent man in the town holding the hon- 
orable office of county marshal (sheriff) from 
1674 to his death. No will, inventory or rec- 
ord of the settlement of his estate has been 
found, but a deed executed by his widow 
Hannah was executed February 2, 1687-88, 
and it is probable that his death had then but 
recently occurred. Children: i. Samuel Starr 
(2), born December 11, 1665, was living in 
1687. 2. Thomas, see forward. 3. Comfort 
Starr, born August 7, 1671 ; no further record 
is found ; she probably died young. 4. Jona- 
than, born February 23, 1673, died at Gro- 
ton, August 26, 1747. He was a land trader. 
He was elected constable at the first town 
meeting in Groton, 1705, deputy to the gen- 
eral court 17 12- 14, and member of the gover- 
nor's council, 1711-14. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Captain James and Mary (Vine) 
Morgan, of Groton, who survived him and 
married (second) Deacon Thomas Adgate, of 
Norwich. There were ten children of the first 
marriage. 

(I\') Thomas, second child of Samuel and 
Hannah (Brewster) Starr, was born Septem- 
ber 27, 1668, died at Groton, Connecticut, Jan- 
uary 31, 1711-12. He was one of the "paten- 
tees of New London, Connecticut. October 
14, 1704, but soon after settled in Groton on 
his large farm bordering on the river." He 
was a shipwright and built the sloop "Sea 
Flower." He married, January i, 1693-94, 
Mary, daughter of Captain James and Mary 
(Mne) Morgan, born March 20, 1670, died 
September 14, 1765. She survied him as she 
did her second husband, William Peabody. She 
was a sister of Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan 
Starr. 

(V) Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary 
(Morgan) Starr, was born June 29, 1696, at 
Groton, Connecticut, where she died April 15, 
1774. She married, November i, 1716, John, 
son of Samuel Chester. (See Chester 11). 



The family name of Wells, or 
WELLS Welles, is derived from the Nor- 
man-French "val," a vale or val- 
ley, and its plural, "vals," is from the Latin 
"vallis." It first occurs with the prefix "de" 
in the ablative plural, "de vallibus," meaning 



HUDSON AND ]\IOHAWK VALLEYS 



"from the valleys," subsequently as de Welles, 
and finafly as Welles or \\'ells. When mem- 
bers of the family first came to America the 
form Welles almost prevailed ; but the most 
common form at the present time is Wells. 
The Wells Arms — Shield : Or, a lion, rampant, 
double-queued, sable, armed and langued 
gules. Crest : a demi-lion, double-queued, of 
the shield. Motto: Semper paratus. (Al- 
ways ready.) 

The origin of the Wells family is in the 
House of Vaux, of the ancient province of 
Neustria. In the year 911, Charles III. of 
France ceded to Rollo, the Norwegian viking, 
who at the head of a band of Scandinavian 
pirates had captured Rouen on the Seine, the 
larger part of this province, which was there- 
after called Normandy. As early as the year 
794, the House of \'aux occupied a prominent 
position and had intermarried with many of 
Europe's reigning families. 

The earliest record found of the English 
branch of the House of Vaux, in which the 
Wells family had its origin, is that of Harold 
de Vaux, Lord of Vaux in Normandy, who 
having conferred his seignory upon the Abby 
of the Holy Trinity, founded at Caen in the 
department of Calvados, France, by Queen 
Matilda, came into England about the year 
1 120, with his sons, Hubert, Ranulf and Rob- 
ert, and settled in Cumberland county in the 
lake and valley region of northwestern Eng- 
land. The sons thereupon took the name of 
de Vallibus, signifying "From the Valleys," 
indicative of their dwelling in that region. 

Robert de \'allibus, a lineal descendant of 
Hubert de \allibus, the eldest son of Harold 
de \'aux, is designated in the English records 
of 1 145 as Robert de Welles, and his descend- 
ants bore this name as Lords de Welles of 
Rayne Hall, Essex county, England. About the 
year 1 194. Adam, a grandson of Robert hold- 
ing the Manor of Welles, near Alford, Lin- 
colnshire, is on record as Adam de Welles. 
He died without issue, and was succeeded in 
his manor by his brother, William, and he by 
his son William and grandson Adam. The 
latter, Adam de Welles, was summoned to 
parliament, February 6, 1299, as first Baron 
Welles. He was constable of Rockingham 
Castle and warden of the forest. King Ed- 
ward I. of England granted to him, in 1299, a 
coat-of-armor. His successors in the barony 
are as follows : 2nd, Robert, son of Adam, 
1311; 3rd, Adam, brother of Robert, 1320; 
4th, John, son of Adam II., 1345; 5th, John, 
son of John and a distinguished soldier in 
France and Scotland, 1361 ; 6th, Leo, grand- 
.son of John II., killed in 1461, at Towton 
Field; "th, Richard, son of Leo, 1469; 8th, 



Robert, son of Richard, who died without is- 
sue : 9th, Richard Hastings, brother-in-law 
of Robert, 1483. 

It is an easier matter to trace a line in the 
British nobility, descending as it does through 
the eldest son or those succeeding to the title, 
than to perfect a genealogy of one of the 
younger sons who does not achieve in that 
manner an entry upon the records. The 
younger sons intermarried with and became a 
part of the middle class, and the outcome was 
God-fearing, liberty-loving people, from whom 
many of the Puritans and early emigrants to 
America descended. The Wells family is one 
of the oldest in England, dating back for 
eight hundred years and from difTerent off- 
shoots of this old English family all the vari- 
ous branches of the Wells family in America 
are descended. 

(I) \\'iniam \\'ells, the progenitor in Amer- 
ica of the branch of the family noted in this 
sketch, according to a family tradition, was 
born in 1755, in or near Londonderry, Eng- 
land, which is a small market town, formerly 
called Newton, in the parish of Burneston, in 
the North Riding of Yorkshire. Diligent 
search of the records there, however, at the 
instance of the family's chronicler, has failed 
to show the connection between the families 
living there at this time and those in this 
country, nor does this circumstance prove the 
tradition untrue. Another tradition, coming 
very direct, has it that William Wells came 
to America when a young man, accompanying 
some English troops previous to the revolution, 
but when hostilities broke out he was found 
fighting for the cause of liberty. 

The Pension Bureau records show that he 
enlisted from Chesterfield, Massachusetts, for 
a term of five years, as a private in a com- 
pany commanded by Captain William Watson, 
in Colonel Bonney's regiment, and that he 
served about three years during the first en- 
listment. He participated in the battles of 
Bunker Hill, White Plains, Bennington, Fort 
Miller, at Saratoga, when General Burgoyne 
surrendered, and was wounded in the head at 
the battle of White Plains, supposed mortally ; 
but recovered by having his head trepanned. 
He was made lieutenant, to take the place of 
his superior killed in the battle of Bemis 
Heights in 1777, and continued as such until 
his return home in 1778. He served in 1780 
for five months and thirteen days in Lieuten- 
ant Benjamin Pike's company, with the troops 
sent from Massachusetts to reinforce the con- 
tinental army under General Washington ; 
also enlisted, August 10, 1781, in Captain 
Ebenezer Strong's company. Colonel Barna- 
bas Sears' Hampshire county regiment ; 



HUDSON AND iMOHAWK WVLLEYS 



119 



marched to Albany, August 17, 178 1 ; served 
at Saratoga and in defense of the northern 
frontier, and received an honorable discharge 
November 20, 178 1. 

Not long after the close of the revolution, 
he and his family removed to Pownal, \'er- 
mont, settling in the southern part of the 
town, near the Massachusetts line, which 
property, owned in 19 10 by Marcus A. Dunn, 
was known as the Wells Farm. Record of 
deeds filed at Pownal, show that William 
Wells, yeoman, purchased fifty acres March 
9, 1797, from Enos Briggs, yeoman, paying 
$133.33, and he sold the same property, Au- 
gust 27, 1798, for $300, to James Hall, of 
Pownal, and on the latter paper he signed 
himself "William Welles." He removed with 
his family in 1798 to Hampton, Washington 
county. New York, where he cleared land 
and built a log house in what was at that time 
a sparsely settled section of the country. In 
the war of 1812, when the county was threat- 
ened by invasion by the British, by way of 
Lake Champlain, although aged three-score 
years, he shouldered his musket and enlisted 
September 2, 1814, in Essex county. New 
York. Captain Augustus Cleaveland's com- 
pany in the Ninth Regiment, New York mil- 
itia, and when discharged. September 9, 18 14, 
was sixty-five miles from his home. He died 
in Hampton, New York, February 5, 1825. 
and was buried there. 

William Wells married Eleanor Hickey, un- 
doubtedly in the year 1778, for the records of 
Chesterfield, Hampshire county. Massachu- 
setts, under date of November 9. 1778, show 
their intention of marriage. Both were then 
residents of that town. She was of Scotch- 
Irish descent, and was born about 1760 in the 
north of Ireland, and is said to have come to 
America when about fifteen years old. After 
her husband's death, she removed from Hamp- 
ton, New York, to Pownal, \'ermont, to re- 
side with her oldest daughter, Betsey, who 
had married Zadock Pratt of that place in 
1798 and she died there. April 3, 1838. as is 
shown upon her tombstone in the old Lovat 
burial-ground at Pownal. Children: i. Ste- 
phen, born in Massachusetts, about 1780. 2. 
Betsey, born in Massachusetts, in 1782; died. 
Pownal. \"ermont. June 5 1845 ; married. Pow- 
nal, 1798. Zadock Pratt: tw^elve children. 3. 
William, born in Pownal. \'ermont. Septem- 
ber 18. 1784; see forward. 4. Calvin, born, 
Pownal, \'ermont, 1785, died. Painesville. 
Ohio, November 9. 187 1 ; married. May 7. 
1814, Betsey E. Parks : seven children. 5. 
Polly, born, Pownal, \'ermont, March 11, 
1787: died. Lansingburg. New York, Septem- 
ber 3, 1837: married. North Granville, New 



York, December 24, 1809, Reuben Doty; nine 
1819. 7. George, born Pownal, \'ermont, 
1788, died Hampton, New York, October 12, 
1819. 7. George, born, Pownal Vermont, 
May II, 1793, died, Whitehall, New York, 
May 17, 1859: married, Hampton, New York, 
1816. Hester Doolittle ; eleven children. 8. 
Joseph, born, Pownal, 1795. drowned in canal 
near Syracuse, New York, April 11, 1817. 
9. Nancy Ann, born Pownal, September 28, 
1797, died, Mexico, New York, January 28, 
1876; married, Hampton, New York, about 
1815, John M. Eddy; four children. 

(II) William (2), son of William (i) and 
Eleanor (Hickey) Wells, was born in Pownal, 
\'ermont, September 18. 1784. He removed 
with his father's family in 1798 to Hampton, 
New York, and there helped clear up a tract 
of farm land and erect thereon a log house, on 
what in 19 10 was known as the [Melvin farm 
in Hampton Hollow. He was a soldier in 
the war of 1812, enlisting at Granville, Wash- 
ington county. New York, in Captain Martin 
Lee's company of riflemen, Colonel Pliny Ad- 
ams' One Hundred and Fifty-fourth regiment. 
New York militia, his service commencing on 
September 11, 1814. The soldiers in his com- 
pany were discharged, and he returned seven- 
ty-five miles to his home, directly after the 
battle of Plattsburgh. In 1837 he removed to 
a farm in the eastern part of Whitehall. New 
York, on the road from the Alethodist Episco- 
pal brick church to Poultney, \'ermont, and 
subsequently purchasing the farm adjoining on 
the west, removed to it and died there. Janu- 
ary 26, 1873. He married, at Hampton. New 
York. November 7, 1806. Lucinda Streator, 
born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachu- 
setts, June 21. 1789. daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Kibbee) Streator. John Streator 
was born in Woodstock, Connecticut. Novem- 
ber 19, 1761 ; married, March 16. 1784; died, 
Hampton. New York, July 10, 1813. His 
wife was born in Monson, Massachusetts, July 
27. 1763; died Windham, Portage county, 
Ohio, January 5. 1867. Children, born in 
Hampton, New York: i. Lucina, June 19, 
1808, died May 31, 1871 ; married, December 
ID. 1829. Edward R. Norton; six children. 
2. Eleanor, February 9. 1812. died, Wethers- 
field, New York, December 6, 1859: married, 
Granville, New York. Benjamin Rice : five 
children. 3. William Chauncey, October 18, 
1 8 16, died, Broadalbin. Fulton county, New 
York, November 26, 1889; married, in 1848, 
Mary A. Potter ; four children. 4. Betsey, 
September 27, 1821, died in Lemont, Illinois, 
May 5. 1868; married. Rutland, N'ermont, 
April 10, 1848, Reuben Smith : two children. 
5. Electa. June 11. 1823, died. AVhilchall, New 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



York, June 6, 1866; married Smith Benjamin, 
of Dresden, Washington county. New York ; 
two children. 6. Luther, September 25, 1825, 
died Wethersfield, Wyoming county. New 
York, July 2, 1847. 7. Marcia Ann, August 
12, 1827, died, Danby, \'ermont. December 13, 
1866; married, Danljy. March 2j . 1857, Ebe- 
nezer A. Smith ; no children. 8. Julia, July 
24, 1829 ; living in Clarendon, \'ermont, in 
1910; married. Danby, \'ermont, March 27, 
1857, Daniel P. Eddy; six children. 9. Les- 
ter, November 7, 183 1 ; see forward. 

(HI) Lester, son of William (2) and Lu- 
cinda (Streator) Wells, was born in Hamp- 
ton, New York, November 7, 1831. He lived 
for several years in Fair Haven, Vermont, and 
later in Hydeville, ^'ermont, where he was en- 
gaged in the marble business, and removed in 
1867 to the Wells homestead, located in the 
eastern part of Whitehall, New York, where 
he resided until 1907, when he and his family 
removed to the adjoining town of Hampton, 
and they were living there in 1910. He is a 
retired farmer. He married, at Fair Haven, 
\'ermont, December 15, 1859, Fanny B. 
Welch, born February 14, 1839, daughter of 
John M. and Julia (Hawes) Welch. Chil- 
dren: I. Ida Lucinda, born Fair Haven, Ver- 
mont, May 31, 1861 ; married, Whitehall, New 
York, September 19, 1883, Francis N. Hall, 
born Whitehall. August 31, 1861, son of John 
A. and Ellen ( Martin ) Hall : children : i. Eunice 
Velma, born Whitehall, February 22, 1892; 
ii. Gordon Lester, born Whitehall, October 18, 
1895 ; iii. Harold Francis, born Whitehall, 
July 26, 1899. 2. Willis Emmet, born. Fair 
Haven, Vermont, March 22, 1863; married. 
Fair Haven, July 12, 1892, Eunice J., born in 
West Haven, Vermont. September 18, 1868, 
daughter of John and Eunice L. (Needham) 
Moore; children: i. Willis Whittier, born 
Whitehall, July 30, 1894: ii. Gertrude Eunice, 
born at Keene, New Hampshire. April 3, 1899. 
3. Wallace Herbert, born in Hydeville, town 
of Castleton, Vermont, August 25, 1865 ; mar- 
ried (first), Whitehall, New York, January 4, 
1888, Cora, born in Whitehall, July 17, 1865, 
died there, September 4, 1897, daughter of 
William J. and Lucinda (Parks) White ; child : 
Grace Anna Wells, born Rutland, Vermont, 
July 13, 1890. Wallace Herbert Wells mar- 
ried (second) Mrs. Bertie L. Ewing, and they 
were living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 
1910. 4. Cora Addie, born in Whitehall, New 
York, May 15, 1867: married, in Whitehall, 
February 12, 1889, Charles J. Inman, born in 
Hampton, New York, June 3, 1869, son of 
Charles J. and Jane B. (Mallary) Inman, and 
in 1910 he was manager of the Standard Oil 
Company, Springfield, Massachusetts ; child : 



Ida Hilma Inman, born in Hampton. New 
York, March 19. 1891, student at Alt. Holyoke 
college in 19 10. 5. Rollin Albert, born in 
Whitehall, New York, April 20, 1869 ; mar- 
ried, in Poultney, Vermont, 1888, Alena S.,. 
daughter of Wallace and Mary (Spaulding) 
Herrick ; children : i. Frances E., born in 
Keene. New Hampshire, December 3, 1888, 
died, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, July 22, 1905 ; 
ii. Marion, born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 
October 20, 1892. 6. Frederick Howard, born 
in Whitehall, New York, September 28, 1870; 
see forward. 7. Effie \'iola, born in White- 
hall, New York, March 29, 1872, died there, 
December 4, 1899. 8. Lester, born in White- 
hall, New York, November 27, 1877, died^ 
Joplin, Missouri, October 16. 1900. 

(IV) Frederick Howard, son of Lester and 
Fanny B. (Welch) Wells, was born in White- 
hall. New York, September 28, 1870. He was 
educated in the public schools of his native 
place, and later entered the Albanv Business 
College, from which he graduated in 1891. 
In 1889-90 he was a teacher in the public 
schools of Whitehall. He entered the office 
of D. McDonald & Company, gas meter manu- 
facturers, Albany, New York, in 1891, as 
bookkeeper and cashier, and occupied the po- 
sition of office manager there in 1910. He 
was a member of the board of directors of 
the Albany Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion from 1904 to 1909, and recording secre- 
tary in 1908-09. He is a member of the Al- 
bany Club ; of the .Albany Chamber of Com- 
merce; the Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of 
the Revolution, curator of the Chapter in 
1908 ; the Society of Colonial W^ars ; Society 
of the War of 1812 ; member of Wadsworth 
Lodge, No. 417, Free and Accepted Masons, 
and of the official board of Trinity Methodist 
Episcopal church. He is the author of his 
family genealogy, entitled "William Wells and 
His Descendants, 1755- 1909," ])ublished in .Al- 
bany, New York, in 1909. He married, in .-M- 
bany, New York, June 21, 1899, Elizabeth, 
born in Albany, September 24, 1873, daughter 
of William Henry and .Annie (Beatty) Mc- 
Burney. Children, born in .Albany, New 
York: Ruth Edna Wells, July 9, 1900: How- 
ard Lester Wells, .August 6, 1902 : William 
Henry ^^'ells. June 17, 1906. 

(The McBurncy Line). 

The ancestry of Mrs. Frederick Howard 
Wells, ncc Elizabeth McBurney, extends 
through a direct line leading to the McBur- 
neys of Scotland, "Covenanters," who left that 
country for the north of Ireland at the time of 
the persecution previous to the revolution of 
1688. She was the daughter of William 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



Henry and Annie (Beatty) McBumey, who 
were married, Albany. July 24, 1872, by Rev. 
Samuel F. Morrow, D. D. They also had 
another child, Ruth Craig' McBurney, born 
in Albany, New York, January 25, 1876; grad- 
uate of the New York State Normal College 
in 1897, instructor in public schools of Sche- 
nectady. New York, in 1910. William Henry 
McBurney was born in Albany, September 27, 
1845. conducting the business of a grocer and 
commission merchant in 1910, and was resid- 
ing at No. 455 W^ashington avenue, Albany. 
His wife died, Albany, January 10, 1880, and 
he married. Albany, November 10, 1897, Mrs. 
Louisa Beeney Meeker. He was the son of 
James McBurney, who married, Albany, Au- 
gust II, 1836, Elizabeth Hutchinson, born 
1810, died, Albany, May 7, 1895. 

James ^TcBurney was born in 1803, died, 
Albany, New York, ^larch 11. 1847, son of 
Alexander an'd Eleanor (McElroy) McBur- 
ney. who came from the north of Ireland with 
their family and settled in Delaware county, 
New York, about 1807. 

Alexander McBurney. father of James Mc- 
Burney, was born in 1759, died in Kortright, 
Delaware county. New York. February 18, 
1823. His wife, Eleanor McElroy, was born 
in 1769, and died at the same place, June 29, 
1839. 

Annie Beatty, mother of Mrs. Frederick 
Howard Wells, was born in Hindoostan, In- 
dia, July 24, 1844, died in Albany, New York, 
January 10. 1880. 



The Wells family of Johnstown 
\\'ELLS descend from Hugh Wells, of 

Connecticut. The name is an old 
and honored one in England, where it dates 
from 1 120 in Cumberland and Norfolk. 
Adam Welles was summoned to parliament 
February 6, 1299, as first Baron Welles. He 
was constable of Rockingham Castle and war- 
den of the forest. There are only four Eng- 
lish peerages older than this now in existence. 
In New England the family is an earlv and 
prominent one. In the early history of Johns- 
town and Fulton county the family appear as 
first settlers, manufacturers, business and pro- 
fessional men. and has been closely identified 
with the development and progress of that lo- 
cality. 

( I ) Hugh \\'ells, bom in Essex county, 
England, 1590, died in Wethersfield, Connecti- 
cut, about 1645. He came to America in 1635, 
probably in the ship "Globe." He was of 
Hartford, 1636, and appears in Wethersfield 
records 1645. where he is supposed to have 
died about the same time. He married, in 
England, Frances , who survives him, 



and married (second) Thomas Coleman, of 
Hartford, Connecticut. She died in 1678. 
Children : Thomas, see forward ; Ensign 
Hugh, born about 1625, married Mary 
Roscoe ; Mary, married Jonathan Gilbert, of 
Hartford. Connecticut, an innkeeper, who- 
died in 1682, and she continued the inn until 
her death, July 3. 1700 : John, born about 1628, 
was of Stratford and Hadley, Massachusetts. 

(II) Thomas, son of Hugh and Frances 
Wells, was born in Colchester, England, about 
1620, died between September 30 and Decem- 
ber 14, 1676. He was one of the first "en- 
gagers" or settlers of Hadley, Massachusetts, 
where he went from \Vethersfield in 1659,. 
after having been a house and land owner 
there nine years. He was a surveyor and 
farmer. He owned lands in Connecticut and 
also property in England. He married, May, 
1651. Alary, daughter of William Beardsley, 
of Hartford. She survived him. and married 
(second) Samuel Thomas. Children of Thom- 
as and Mary Wells, Lieutenant Thomas, born 
January 10, 1652; Mary. Sarah, John, Jona- 
than, John, Samuel (see forward), Mary, 
Noah, Hannah. Ebenezer. Daniel, Ephraim 
and Joshua, born April. 1673. 

(III) Samuel, seventh child of Thomas and 
Mary (Beardsley) Wells, was born at Had- 
ley, Massachusetts, 1622, died August 9. 1690. 
He married Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel 
Clark of Northampton, December 11, 1682. 
Child : Samuel, of whom further. Sarah 
Clark was a granddaughter of Lieutenant 
William Clark, born in Dorsetshire, England. 
1609, settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, be- 
fore 1640. In 1659 he was of Northampton, 
where in 1661 he organized the train band of 
sixty men and commanded them in King Phil- 
ip's and other Indian wars. He was an incor- 
porator of Northampton, and for twenty years 
selectman and judge of county court. He 

married (first) in England, Sarah ; 

(second) Sarah Cooper, 1676. He died July 
18, 1690. His son, Nathaniel Clark, was bap- 
tized in Dorchester, "11 month 1640." He 
married. May 8. 1663, Mary Meakins. Sarah, 
daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Meakins 
Clark, married Samuel Wells (i). 

(IV) Samuel (2), only child of Samuel and 
Sarah (Clark) Wells, was born in Hartford, 
Connecticut, July 7, 1688. He settled in the 
town of Farmington. just over the line. He 
married. May 26. 1709, Rachel Caldwell, great- 
granddaughter of Deacon Edward Stebbins, 
an original proprietor of Hartford, and dep- 
uty to the general court several sessions, from 
1639 to 1656. He had a home lot in Hart- 
ford, extending from the meeting house 
square to Front street. He married and had_ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK A'ALLEYS 



a daughter Elizabeth. Thomas Caldwell mar- 
ried, in 1658, Elizabeth Stebbins, widow of 
Robert Wilson. Edward Caldwell, son of 
Thomas and Elizabeth (Stebbins) Caldwell, 
was born November i, 1660. and married 

Elizabeth . Their daughter, Rachel 

■Caldwell, married Samuel Wells (2). 

(\") John, son of Samuel (2) and Rachel 
(Caldwell) Wells, was born in Farmington, 
Connecticut, October 8, 17 10, died January 28, 
1795. He settled in West Hartford, where he 
was a member of the church. He married 
(first) Jemima Smith, June 13, 1731 ; (sec- 
ond) Sarah Saylord, December 23, 1735; 
(third) Hannah Baker, July 20, 1738. He 
had fifteen children by his three wives. Han- 
nah Baker, third wife of John Wells, was a 
great-granddaughter of John Baysey, an ori- 
ginal proprietor of Hartford, died August, 
1671, and his wife, Elizabeth, who died 1673. 
Lydia Baysey, died May 16, 1700, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth Baysey. She married 
John Baker. Baysey Baker died September 
4, 1723, son of John and Lydia (Baysey) 
Baker, married, April i, 1696, Hannah Wil- 
let, daughter of Nathaniel. Hannah Baker, 
daughter of Baysey and Hannah (Willet) 
Baker, married John Wells ( i ) , and was his 
third wife. 

(VI) John (2), son of John (i) and Han- 
nah (Baker) Wells, was born August 23, 
1739, at West Hartford, Connecticut, where 
he belonged to the Ecclesiastical Society. 
About 1784 he removed to Johnstown, New 
York, where he resided until his death. He 
married Mrs. Lois Foote, daughter of Samuel 
and Lois (Loomis) Foote, and widow of 
Eleazer Alerrill, of Farmington, Connecticut, 
(see Foote). Children: i. Lindy, died at 
age of three years. 2. Rhoda, married J(ihn 
Herring, of Auburn. New York. 3. John, 
died in infancy. 4. John, married and died at 
Kaskaskia, Illinois. 5. Lindy (2), married 
Rood. 6. Lucy, twin of Lindy, mar- 
ried Charles Easton, of Utica and New York 
City. 7. Eleazer, see forward. 8. Clarissa, 
married M. Mason of Kingsboro, New York. 
■9. Nathan Perkins, born 1786, in Johnstown; 
was many years cashier of the Johnstown 
bank. 

(VH) Eleazer, .son of John (2) and Lois 
(Foote) Wells, was baptized in West Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, 1782, by Rev. Dr. Nathan 
Perkins, pastor of the church to which his par- 
ents belonged, and who baptized all his broth- 
ers and sisters except Nathaniel P., his name- 
sake. He died November 26, i860, at Johns- 
town, New York. He was an infant of two 
years when his parents removed to Johns- 
.town, where he was educated and ever after- 



ward lived. He engaged in milling and farm- 
ing, owning a great deal of real estate in the 
county, including the historic farm and resi- 
dence of Sir William Johnson, known for a 
century and a half as "Johnson Hall." He 
resided at the "Hall," where he was married 
and where his children were born. He was a 
prominent, influential man. He married, 
June 15, 1809, .Amy Akin, born May 6, 1788, 
died December 24, 1858 (see Akin). Chil- 
dren: I. Sally Maria, born April 22, 1810, 
married Daniel Edward. 2. George W., July 
15, 181 1 ; married Helen Yard. 3. Almira W., 
March 30, 1813; married Hiram Yauney. 4. 
Eleazer H., March 27, 1815; died and buried 
at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, aged twenty-one 
years, unmarried. 5. Ann Sarah, born Janu- 
ary 2, 1817; married Colonel Rodney Hall 
Johnson. 6. Elizabeth, December 6, 1818; 
married Jacob Burton. 7. Louisa, October 
2j, 1820; married Mclntyre Eraser. 8. John 
E., August 7, 1822; married (first) Sarah 
Steele; (second) Margaret Burton. 9. Rhoda, 
December 25. 1823; married Major John 
Henry Gross. 10. Catherine, March 20, 1825; 
married Judge John Stewart. 11. Nathan 
Perkins, December 20, 1826, died 1853, un- 
married. 12. David Akin, see forward. 13. 
Edward Akin, see forward. 

(VHI) David Akin, fifth son and twelfth 
child of Eleazer and Amy (Akin) Wells, was 
born at "Johnson Hall," near Johnstown, Ful- 
ton county. New York, May 17, 1828, died 
November 29, 1903. He was educated in the 
public schools and at Johnstown Academy. 
He worked on the farm with his father until 
1845, when he became a clerk in the dry goods 
store of Yauney & Edwards, and later was 
clerk in the store of Burton & Gross, Johns- 
town. In 1848 Mr. Gross retired and Mr. 
Wells was a(lniitte<l a partner, continuing un- 
til 185 1, when he disposed of his interest to 
his brother, Edward A. Wells. David \. 
then formed a partnership with Marcellus Gil- 
bert, as Gilbert & Wells, and began the manu- 
facture of gloves. They continued in success- 
ful operation for eighteen years until 1869. 
when the senior ])artner died. Mr. Wells car- 
ried on the business alone for a year or two, 
when his factory burned, entailing a heavy 
loss. Close attention to business had under- 
mined his health, and he now enjoyed a period 
of complete' rest for several years. He was 
then chosen vice-president of the Fonda, 
Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad Company, 
just inaugurated, and entered actively into 
the building and equipment of the road. He 
was active in its management after the road 
was opened for business in 1870, and may 
justly be given a large share of credit for its 




/ichtcf^ ^. ^J^ 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK WALLEYS 



123 



successful career. He was a director of the 
Peoples' Bank of Johnstown; president of the 
Savings Hank since organization ; president 
Glrtversville I'^oundry and Machine company ; 
president of the Opera House Company since 
organization. He was actively interested in 
many other business enterprises of the city, 
giving to all not only his financial support but 
the benefit of his mature judgment and long 
business experience. He was always an active 
Republican, and while never aspiring to office 
held several public jjositions of trust and hon- 
or. In i860 he was elected treasurer of Ful- 
ton county. In 1880 and 1881 he was chosen 
to represent his district in the state legisla- 
ture, and has served as trustee and president 
of the village corporation. He married. April 
io,i830,Alida ii. Johnson, born May 17.1832, 
daughter of George and Frances Johnson. 
Children: i. ,\ babe, dying at birth. 2. Mar- 
ccllus ( lilliert. died February t6, i86g. 3. 
Eleazer .Merrill, born February I, 1853, see 
forward. 4. Xathan Perkins, born July 23, 
1855; associated in business with his father. 
5. David -Akin (2), born December 21, 1858, 
see forward. 6. Anna G., born May 7, 1862; 
married Joseph D. Oliver, one of the proprie- 
tors of the Oliver Chilled Plow Company of 
South Iknd. Indiana. 

(IX) Eleazer Merrill, son of David .\kin 
and Alida G. (Johnson ) Wells, was born in 
Johnstown, New York, February i, 1853, and 
died March 20, 1909. He married, July 3, 
1872, Elsina F. Mills, born in Gloversville, 
New York, August 6, 1851. Child: John E. 

(IX) David Akin (2), youngest son and 
fourth child of David Akin ( i ) and Alida 
G. (Johnson) Wells, was born in Johnstown, 
December 21, 1858. He was educated in the 
public schools. After finishing his studies 
he entered the superintendent's office of the 
Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville railroad, 
and remained there several years. He then 
formed a connection with the Coal Company 
of Fulton county, which existed for twentv- 
eight years, when Mr. Wells retired from 
active business life. He resides in Johnstown, 
where he lives the retired life of a gentle- 
man of culture and means. He married. De- 
cember 16, 1909, in Johnstown, Katherine, 
daughter of John and Mary Hogan. They 
had other children : Austin, Walter, Agnes, 
married John Howell ; Anna, married E. W. 
Shults : jane, married William Mathis. 

(VIII) Edward Akin, thirteenth child and 
sixth son of Eleazer and .Amy (.Akin) Wells, 
was born in "Johnson Hall," Johnstown, Ful- 
ton county. New York, October 6, 1830. He 
was educated in the public schools and under 
private tutors, graduating under Professor 



Bannister at Johnstown. He was connected 
with the dry goods business of his brother, 
David .Akin Wells, in Johnstown, and later 
purchased the business, which lie conducted 
successfully many years. He was at the same 
time deeply interested in other business en- 
terprises to which he gave personal attention 
and direction. Fie superintends the cultiva- 
tion of the home farm and estate "Johnson 
Hall," containing between 500 and 600 acres, 
and operated the grist mill belonging to the 
estate. This active bu.siness life included 
glove manufacture, and continued throughout 
many active years until failing health com- 
pelled his retirement. His business respon- 
sibilities precluded all participation in public 
official life, and he took no active part in 
politics, although he had always given hearty 
allegiance to the Republican party. He was 
a member of the Presbyterian church. He 
died June 19, 1910, in Johnstown, Xew York, 
conscious of having borne well his part in 
the growth and development of the city in 
which his activities lay. 

He married .Ann Elizabeth Burton. Chil- 
dren : I. Eleazer. died at age of nineteen vears. 
2. Elizabeth, died at age of six years. 3. 
Elias Burton, died at age of twelve years. 4. 
Edward Akin (2), now of Rochester, New 
York ; married Bessie Parish. 5. Jennie, mar- 
ried Edwin L. Fonda. 6. John E., died' aged 
twelve years. 7. Elias Burton, see forward. 
8. Charles, died in infancy. 

(IX) Elias Burton, fifth son and seventh 
child of Edward Akin and Ann Elizabeth 
f Burton) Wells, was born in Johnstown, Xew 
York, October 28, 1869. He "was educated in 
the public school and at Johnstown Academy. 
In 1888 he began business, dealing in real 
estate and insurance, operating in these lines 
ten years until 1898. In that year he estab- 
lished his present business, the manufacture 
and preparation of dye stufifs and chemicals 
used in dressing skins used in glove manu- 
facture. In rgio he added to his other lines a 
leather department and business. Among the 
many compounds and preparations which he 
manufactures for tanners and curriers is a 
process for making washable leather, invented 
by himself, that has proved very valuable to 
the glove makers, being especially adapted to 
gloves and mittens worn by persons exposed 
to wet weather. He is a most capable, suc- 
cessful business man, and is one of the sub- 
stantial men of his city. He is a Republican 
in politics. He married, October 12, 1892, 
Jennie Holmes, born .April 7, 1872, daughter 
of John Catlin (born September 3, 1829, 
died July 21. 1899) and Ellen E. (born Octo- 
ber 9, 1840. died October 9, 1880) (Kirby) 



124 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Holmes. Child: Elizabeth, born ;\Iay ii, 

1897. 

(The Loomis Line). 

Joseph Loomis, the emigrant, sailed from 
London, England, April 3, 1636. in the ship 
"Salem and Ellen." He settled first in Brain- 
tree. ]\Iassachusetts, then in Windsor, Con- 
necticut. He died November 25, 1658. He 
married Mercy White, June 13, 1614. She 
died August 23, 1652, leaving issue. 

(II) Deacon John, son of Joseph and Mercy 
(White) Loomis, was born in England in 
1622, died September 2, 1688. He was deputy 
to the general court in 1666-67-75-87. He 
married, February 8, 1648, Elizabeth, born 
about 1625, daughter of Thomas Scott, who 
came in the ship "Elizabeth," 1634, died No- 
vember 6, 1643. He was an original pro- 
prietor of Hartford, Connecticut. 

(III) Timothy, son of Deacon John and 
Elizabeth (Scott) Loomis, was born July 27, 
1661, died May 19, 1710. He married, Alarch 
20, 1689. Rebecca Porter, born March 8, 1666, 
died May 20, 1750. daughter of John Porter 
(2), born in England, 1620. He married 
(second) Mary, daughter of Thomas Stanley, 
in 1650, Rebecca was a granddaughter of 
John Porter, the emigrant, who came to 
America and settled at Windsor, Connecticut. 

He married Rose , and died April 22, 

1648. His wife died July. 1647. 

(R' ) Ichabod, son of Timothy and Rebecca 
(Porter) Loomis, was born January 25. 1692- 
93, died February 21. 1776. He married, De- 
cember 20, 1716, Hepzibah Loomis, born 1(598, 
died May 20, 1750. 

(V) Lois, daughter of Ichabod and Hepzi- 
bah (Loomis) Loomis, was bqrn November 
26. 1724; married Samuel Foote, November 
24, 1743. Hepzibah Loomis, wife of Ichabod, 
was a great granddaughter of Joseph Loomis, 
the emigrant, through his .son Nathaniel, born 
1638, died July 23, 1728; married, November 
24, 1654, Elizabeth Moore, daughter of John 
and granddaughter of Thomas Moore, the 
emigrant. 

(Ill) David, son of Nathaniel and Eliza- 
beth (Moore) Loomis, was born January 11, 
1667, died January 9, 1751-52: married, De- 
cember 8, ifx)2, Lydia, daughter of John 
Marsh. 

(1\") Hepzibah, daughter of David and 
Lydia (Marsh) Loomis, married Icliabid 
Loomis, both being of the fourth generation 
of the Loomis family in America. 

(The .M<in Line). 

The .'\kins were of Scotland, where they 
embraced the peculiar doctrine of the So- 
ciety of Friends, or Quakers. On account of 



their religion the Quakers refused to bear- 
arms or take the required oath. This sub- 
jected them to severe persecution, which they 
emigrated to America to escape. They settled' 
in Dartmouth. Massachusetts, where they soon 
found that with tlie Puritans religious' free- 
dom meant freedom only for those of their- 
own religious faith. The Quakers were ban- 
ished from Massacliusetts, some even suf- 
fering death. 

(I) John Akin, founder of the family in 
America, born in Scotland, in 1663, came 
to America with others of his sect in 1680, 
settling in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where 
in 1687 he married Mary Briggs. When per- 
secution again drove him from his home, he 
with others of his family settled in -New 
Netherlands, where the Dutch did not disturb 
a man for his religious belief. He married a 
second wife, and died June 13, 1746, leaving 
eight sons and seven daughters. 

(II) David, eldest son of John and Mary 
(Briggs) Akin, was born in 1689, and died 
1779. He settled on "Quaker Hill," town of 
Pawling, Dutchess county. New York, a lo- 
cality that has long been the family seat. He 
married, at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 
171 1, Sarah Allen, born 1692. They had six 
sons and four daughters. 

(III) James, son of David and Sarah (Al- . 
len) Akin, was torn October 18, 1728. He 
married Patience Howard. Children : Ed- 
ward, see forward; Benjamin, married (first) 
Sarah Holloway, (second) Widow Canuflf; 
Joseph, married Elsie Holloway : Beniah, mar- 
ried Hannah Tweedy ; Susannah, married 
(first) Haviland, (second) Abiel Al- 
len: Rachel, married (first) David Ferris, 
(second) Hitchcock. 7. Phoebe, mar- 
ried Noble Bennett : An-iy, niarried Joseph 
Hungerford : Annie, n-iarried Sylvanus Sam- 
mons. 

(I\') Edward, .son of James and Patience 
(Howard) Akin, married Elizabeth Russell, 
of Johnstown, New York. He had sons 
James, Ira, ■•'Itlian, .Vbram and David, liv- 
ing at the time of his death. One son, Con- 
sider, died young. His daughters were: 
Phoebe, married Abram Poole : Rhoda, mar- 
ried .Abram Synder : Amy, married Eleazer 
Wells (see Wells VH) : Sally, married Nathan 
P. Wells : Patience, married William I. Dodge ; 
Amanda, married William Bowen. 

(The Foote Line). 
(I) Nathaniel Foote, the first settkr, came 
from England, when and from what part un- 
known. The first record of him is in Water- 
town, Massachusetts, in 1633, when he took 
the oath of freeman. He is next found in 




m 



/^^:=_/72% 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



125 



•^thc first records of Wethersfield, Connecticut. 
In 1644 he was appointed a delesjate to the 
.y;cneral court. He married, in Ensjland. about 
1615. Elizabeth, sister of John Deming, one 
of the first settlers of Wethersfield. She sur- 
vived her husband, and married "Mr. Thomas 
Welles, magistrate." about 1646, afterwards 
governor of the Connecticut colony. She died 
July 28, 1683. Children of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth (Deming) Foote: Nathaniel, see 
'fonvard; Robert, Elizabeth, Mary, Frances, 
Sarah, and Rebecca. 

(II) Nathaniel, eldest son of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth (Deming) Foote, was born in Eng- 
land about 1620, died 1655. He follmved the 
fortunes of his jiarents, and with them settled 
in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he mar- 
ried, in 1646, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
Smith. Children : Nathaniel, Samuel, Daniel 
and Elizabeth. 

(III) Samuel, second son of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth Foote, was born May i, 1649. He 
settled in Hatfield, Massachusetts, where he 
married, in 1671, Mary Merrick, of Spring- 
field. He died September 7, 1689, and his 
widow died October 3, 1690. Children: 
Nathaniel, Mary, Samuel (slain by the In- 
dians at Deerfieid, February 29, 1704). Mary 
(2), Sarah, Eleazer, Thomas and Daniel. 

(I\ ) Daniel, youngest child of Samuel and 
Mary (Merrick) Foote, was born February 
6. if)7(). died July 15, 1740. He was of Hart- 
ford, and of Simsbury, Connecticut, remov- 
ing to the latter place in 1721. He purchased 
a large farm there, and met his death by fall- 
ing from a load of hay under the wheels, 
which passing over him caused such injuries 
that he died an hour thereafter. He married, 
in Hartford. November 19, 17 18, Mary Coll- 
yer, who died June, 1769. aged 71 years, 
(laugliter of Joseph Collyer. Children, all but 
the first born in Simsbury, Connecticut : Sam- 
uel, see forward: Mary, Daniel (2), Joseph, 
John, Rachel, Sarah and Rachel (2). 

(Y) Samuel, eldest child of Daniel and 
Sarah (Collyer) Foote, was born in Hartford. 
Connecticut, October 4. 17 19. died September 
18, 1775. He married. November 24, 1743. 
Lois Loomis. Children: Samuel, Ijrtis (see 
forward), Mary, Lucy. Timothy, Elijah, Lucy 
(2), Grove, Hepzibah and Roger. 

( \T ) Lois, eldest daughter and second child 

■of Samuel and Lois (Loomis) P'oote, was 
born .April 5, 1746. She was married (first) 
to Eleazer Merrill, of Farmington, Connecti- 
cut. Mav 29, 1765, son of Moses Merrill. He 

■died May 16, 1769. leaving two children, 
Eleazer and Lois. She married (second) John 
Wells (2), October, 1770, and had nine chil- 

•dren. ( See Wells \T.) 



Professor William Wells, Ph.D.. 
\\'ELLS LL.D.. was born in New York 

City, 1820. died at Schenectady, 
New York, December 12, 1907. His boy- 
hood and youth were passed in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, where his parents removed 
when he was nine years of age. His academic 
education was obtained in Philadelphia, where 
he made good progress toward that mastery 
of foreign tongues which later made him fa- 
mous. In 1846 he made his first visit to Eu- 
rope. He spent a year in Vienna, as an unofficial 
attachee of the American legation, also pur- 
suing studies at the University. Then he 
went to Berlin, where he matriculated at the 
I'niversity and entered upon a course of study 
which led in due time to the degree of Ph.D. 
in 1848. Those were the days of revolution 
in Europe, when Louis Phillipe was driven 
from the throne of France, when the Crown 
Prince of Prussia, afterwards the Emperor of 
Germany, William I. was compelled by popu- 
lar hatred to leave his country for a time ; 
when Hungary was in open revolt against 
Austria, and when the Chartist agitation 
threatened revolution even in England. Pro- 
fessor Wells was deeply interested in these 
great events happening around him. He had 
an interesting experience in the Berlin riots 
that taught him that he was not able to cope 
with the Prussian cavalry. He next went to 
the German parliament at Frankfort-on-the- 
Main, as secretary to the special .American 
embassy to that body. He remained during 
the entire session as correspondent of the 
A'cTC York Herald, then went to Paris, where 
he spent a college year as a student at the 
Sarbonne and the College de France. After- 
wards he traveled over a large part of Eu- 
rope, returning to the United States in 185 1. 
He spent a year in Cincinnati. Ohio, where 
he had the honor and pleasure of making the 
address of welcome to Louis Kossuth, on the 
occasion of the Hungarian patriot's visit to 
that city. 

In 1852 he was elected professor of modern 
languages in Genesee College, Lima, New- 
York. There he remained twelve years, dur- 
ing part of the time acting also as principal 
of the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. In 1865 
he was called to the Chair of Modern Lan- 
guage and Literature at Union College. 
Schenectady. New York, thus beginning the 
connection that was maintained unbroken for 
over forty years. In 1872 he received the 
degree of LL.D. from the Indiana Asbury 
L'niversity. now known as De Pauw Uni- 
versity. In 1887 the professorship at Union 
College was enlarged by the addition of the 
lectureship on current history. In the interest 



126 



HUDSON AND :\IOHA\\K \-ALLEYS 



of that work he visited the southern states of 
the Union, the West Indies, Mexico, Centra! 
America, Alaska, Cahfornia, the Rocky Moun- 
tain region, and later made an extended tour 
comprising every country of Europe from the 
North Cape, with its strange vision of the 
midnight sun, to Greece and Constantinople, 
Asia Alinor, Egypt, to the Cataracts of the 
Nile and the other countries of Northern Af- 
rica. On his return from this, his fourth visit 
to the Old World, he was welcomed home by 
the alumni of Union College with a hearty 
demonstration in New York harbor, which 
attested the deep respect and afifection with 
which he was regarded by Union College men. 
The results of his observations and reflection 
during his tours were embodied in a series of 
lectures, delivered annually to the senior class 
and the general public. In the spring of i8go 
Dr. Wells celebrated his seventieth birthday 
and the fiftieth anniversary of his entrance 
upon the profession of teaching, the same year 
marking the completion of a quarter-century's 
work at Union College. Fifteen years longer 
he continued his connection, when the burden 
of years proved too heavy and he was retired 
professor emeritus. His beautiful home was 
on the college grounds and there he celebrated 
his eighty-seventh birthday, April 4, 1907. He 
was beloved of the students, to whom he had 
endearingly become "Uncle Billy." At a meet- 
ing of the Chicago Alumni Association twen- 
ty-five alumni of the college banqueting at 
Chicago sent him this telegram : "Twenty- 
five nephews from Chicago and the North- 
west extend heartiest greeting, and best wishes 
for many years more with Old Union." His 
activities were not confined by college walls. 
By voice and pen he was long known as one 
of the foremost educators. He lectured in 
all the great cities of the United States from 
Boston to San Francisco. He was the first 
European correspondent of the Nczv York 
Herald, and during his last great tour abroad 
was s]iecial correspondent of the Neiu York 
Mai! &nd Express. For over twenty years 
he was in charge of the foreign department of 
tiic Methodist Reriew. and was a frequent 
editorial and general contributor to all the 
leading papers of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Able articles from his pen also ap- 
peared in the Independent. Scribner's Month- 
ly and the Century Afa^i^acine. He was asso- 
ciated with Dr. Taylor I.ewis in the prepara- 
tion of the "Book of (ienesis for Lange's 
Commentary," and translated the Book of Ec- 
clcsiastcs for the same work. When the phil- 
anthropist, Daniel Drew, had in contemplation 
the founding of Drew Theological Seminary, 
Professor Wells was one of the men who were 



called upon for advice and assistance. He 
took an active part in the foundation of the 
seminary and was ever after on the board of 
trustees. He was a devoted Methodist and for 
twenty-five years superintendent of the Sun- 
day school of State Street Methodist Episco- 
pal Church at Schenectady. He was elected 
and served as lay delegate to the general con- 
ference of his church in 1872, the first year 
laymen were admitted as delegates. He was 
again elected to the general conference of 
1876 and served as one of the secretaries of 
that conference. At his death fitting memo- 
rials were passed by different bodies, from 
which we quote the faculty in part : 

"He was not only immensely useful to the col- 
lege by liis scholarship and attainment, but made 
for himself a place in the hearts of the students, 
which he kept long after graduation. For nearly 
half a century he has been closely and affection- 
ately connected with every one's thought of the 
college. As a personal friend Professor Wells 
was loved and honored, not only by the faculty, 
students and alumni of Union, but far more wide- 
ly; for his sympathy and interests had brought 
him into connection with many persons and 
many institutions, and he came to no work or oc- 
cupation where he did not attain the affection as 
well as the respect of those with whom he was- 
associated." 

again : 

"The passing years but added to the kindliness 
of his nature, to his devotion to the College, and 
to his love for his pupils of the past and present."' 
Kot inappropriately was he called "The Grand 
Old Man of Union College." 

Professor Wells married, July, 1854, .\lice 
Yeckley, born at Gorham, Ontario county, 
New York, March 15, 1836, died at Schenec- 
tady. April 26, 1906. She was educated at 
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee 
College (afterwards Syracuse University). 
They removed to Schenectady in 1865, and 
there resided until death. Like her husband, 
Mrs. Wells was a devoted Christian worker 
in the Methodist Episcopal church, especially 
in missions and work among the young. She 
was for many years president of the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society of the First 
( State Street ) Church and for twelve years 
president of the W'oman's Auxiliary of the 
^'o^^lg Men's Christian Association. She or- 
ganized and was president of the Mother's 
Club connected with the Young Women's 
Christian Association. She was closely iden- 
tified with the social life of the college, and 
in all respects was a worthy helpmeet and 
companion. One child, Alice M. Wells, sur- 
vives her parents, residing in Schenectady, 
New York. 

(The .Arnold Line). 

Alice Yeckley (Mrs. Professor William 
Wells) was a descendant through her mother, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



127 



Mary Arnold Yeckley, from the famous Ar- 
nold family of Ens^land. who traced their 
descent and origin to the ancient Princes of 
Wales. 

The Arnold family is one of t^^reat anti- 
quity and honorable mention in the early an- 
nals. The ilescent is traced to Ynir, King of 
Gvventland, who flourished about the middle 
of the twelfth century. King Ynir descended 
through a second son from Cadwalader, last 
King of the liritons. The ancient Castle of 
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, England, built 
by Cadwalader, may yet be seen, although in 
ruins. The line briefly told is traced from a 
son of each generation. 

(I) Ynir, King of Gwentland, married 
Nesta, daughter of Justin, King of Glamor- 
gan. 

(H) Meiric, King of Gwentland, married 
Eleanor of the house of Trevor. 

(HI) Ynir \'ichan, King of Gvventland, 
married Gladice, daughter of the Lord of 
Ystradyw. 

( IV ) Carador, Lord of Gwent, married 
Nesta. daughter of Sir Rydereck le Gros. 

(V) Dyenwall, Lord of Gwent, married 
Joyes, daughter of Hamlet, son of Sir Druce, 
Duke of Balladon of France. 

(VI) Systal, Lord of Upper Gwent, mar- 
ried Annest, daughter of Sir Peter Russell, 
Lord of Kentchinch in Hereford. 

(V'H) Arthur, married Jane, daughter of 
Lein, Lord of Cantrosblyn. 

(\Tn ) Meiric. married Annest, daughter of 
Cradock. 

(IX) Gwillim, married Jane, daughter of 
Ivon, Lord of Lighs-Taby-vont. 

(X) Arnholt Esq., married Janet, daughter 
of Phillip Fleming, Esq. 

(XI) Arnholt (2) Esq., married Sibyl, 
daughter of Madoc. 

(XII) Roger Arnold, of Llanthony in Mon- 
mouthshire, first of the family to adopt a sur- 
name, married Joan, daughter of Sir Thomas 
Gamage. 

(XIII) Thomas Arnold, successor to the 
estates in Monmouthshire, married Agnes, 
daughter of Sir Richard Warnstead. 

(XI\') Richard Arnold married Emmate. 
daughter of Pearce Young. 

(X\') Richard Arnold (2). born in Somer- 
setshire, removed to Dorsetshire, England, be- 
canie seated at Bagbere, and was Lord of the 
Manor. His name appears on the "Subsidy 
Rolls" of the county of Dorset, 1549. He 
W'as patron of the churches of Blanford and 
Bingham Melcombe. His manor house at 
Bagbere was standing until 1870, when it was 
demolished. His will was probated July 9, 
1595. He desires "To be buried in the Parishe 



Church of Million, in the He called Jesus He 
as we go to the Lower." 

(XVi) Thomas, second son of Richard Ar- 
nold, of Bagbere, Dorsetshire, England, is 
mentioned in his father's w-ill. He removed 
to Cheselbourne and seated himself on an es- 
tate, formerly the property of his father. He 
was twice married. His first wife Alice bore 
him six sons. By his second wife he had 
three children. 

(X\'II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas (i) 
Arnold, was born in Cheselbourne, Dorset 
county, England, baptized April 18, 1599, died 
in Providence, Rhode Island, Seiitember, 1674. 
He was the founder of this branch of the 
Arnold family in America. He came to the 
New World in the ship, "Plain Joan," in May, 
1635, and soon settled at Watertown, Mas- 
sachusetts. May 13, 1640, he was made free- 
man. April 2, 1654, he was fined five pounds 
for neglecting public worship for twenty days. 
April 2, 1655, was fined ten pounds for neg- 
lecting public worship for forty days. He 
had lands allotted him on the several distribu- 
tions and seems to have been a man of means. 
He was deputy, 1666-67-70-71-72, and a mem- 
ber of the town council. He married twice : 
by first wife he had: Thomas, Nicholas and 
Susanna. His second wife Phoebe, daughter 
of George and Susanna Parkhurst, died in 
1688. Children: Ichabod. Richard, see for- 
ward, Thomas, John, Eleazer and Elizabeth. 

(X\TII) Richard, son of Thomas (2) and 
Phoebe (Parkhurst) Arnold, w'as born at 
Watertown, Massachusetts, March 22, 1642- 
43. died April 22. 17 10. He was a inan of 
superior ability : held many official positions ; 
member of the general assembly and assistant 
governor of Sir Edmond Andros at Boston. 
He was repeatedly chosen to act with commit- 
tees in the adjustment of boundary disputes, 
with neighboring colonies and to settle differ- 
ences among fellow townsmen. He was dep- 
uty twelve sessions between 167 1 and 1708, 
assistant in the intervening years when not 
deputy. In 1707-08 he was speaker of the 
house of deputies. He married (first) Mary, 
died 1695, daughter of Thomas and Alice 

Angell. He married (second) Sarah . 

died 1712. Children; all by first wife: Rich- 
ard ; John, see forward : Thomas : ]\Iary, mar- 
ried Thomas Steere. 

(XIX) John, son of Richard and Mary 
(Angell) Arnold, was born in Providence, 
Rhode Island. November i, 1670, died Oc- 
tober 27, 1756. He was the first settler of 
Woonsocket, Corihect|cut : one of the organ- 
izers of the Society of Friends in Northern 
Rhode Island, and built their first meeting 
house. When Smithfield became a town in 



128 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1 73 1, he was the first president of the council. 
He was one of the committee who ran the 
northern boundary hne in 17 18. In 1712 he 
buih his corn and flouring mill on the Island 
near Woonsocket Falls. He was a miller by 
trade and became a very wealthy man for his 
day. He married (first) Mary, born 1675, 
daug'hter of Nathaniel and Joana (Inman) 
Mowry, (second) October 31, 1742, Hannah 
Hay ward. Children, all by first wife: Wil- 
liam, John, Daniel, Anthony, see forward ; 
Seth, Israel, Anna, Susanna and Abigail. 

(XX) Anthony, son of John and Mary 
(Mowry) Arnold, was born March 12, 1704. 
By will of his father he received sixty acres 
of land near the Falls. Woonsocket, Connecti- 
cut. This included "An Island, with two corn 
mills, and a fulling mill thereon.'' He sold 
this property and removed to Cromwell, 
Dutchess county, New York. He also re- 
ceived from his father "five pounds, current 
money." He married and left two children : 
David and Sarah. 

(XXI) David, son of Anthony Arnold, was 
born May 27, 1733. died 1822. He had four 
sons and three daughters. 

(XXII) Jonathan, son of David Arnold, 
was born March i, 1771. died November 13, 
1851. He left two sons and three daughters: 
Seth, Anthony, Mary, Hannah and Sarah. 

(XXIII) Mary, daughter of Jonathan Ar- 
nold, was born February 9, 181 1, died March 
26, 1883. ^larried Josiah Yeckley, June 3, 
1833, and had two children: Alice, see for- 
ward; and Jonathan Arnold Yeckley, born 
April 6, 1841, died September 16, 1903. witli- 
■out issue. 

(XXIV) Alice, only daughter of Josiah and 
Mary (Arnold) Yeckley, was born in Gor- 
ham, Ontario county. New York, March 15. 
1836, died April 26, 1906: married. July. 
1854. Professor William Wells. (See Wells.) 

(XXV) Alice M., only child of Professor 
William and Alice (Yeckley) Wells, was born 
in Schenectady. New York, where she still re- 
sides (1909), the only surviving member of 
the family. She was educated at Syracuse 
University. She is a communicant of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Member of the 
Young Women's Christian Association, of 
which she is president (1910), and a member 
of the Woman's Club, Mohawk Golf Club. 

NoTK. — The mystery as to the origin of the 
■"Old Stone Mill," at Newport, doubtless 
created the legend that it was constructed by 
the Norsemen in the tenth or twelfth century. 
Longfellow gave it immortality in "The Lofty 
Tower," in his "Skeleton in Armor," and 
much time has been wasted upon it by sav- 
ants. The mill stood on Governor Benedict 



Arnold's farm, and in his will he clearly in- 
dicates the purpose for which it was intended 
and used : "My body I desire and appoint to 
be buried at ye Northeast corner of a parcel 
of ground, containing three rods square, being 
of and lying in my land, in or near the line 
or path from iny dwelling house, leading to 
my Stone Wind Mill in ye town of Newport." 
The bones of the first governor of Rhode 
Island under Charles IV (1633) rest within 
the grounds belonging to Hon. Charles C. Van 
Zant, governor of Rhode Island in 1870. The 
stone that marks the spot is so mossgrown 
that it is impossible to d'ecipher the inscription. 



The name Bleecker is de- 
BLEECKER rived from the Dutch, signi- 
fying one who bleaches or a 
bleacher by trade, in those days conducting 
the washing as a wholesale business in Hol- 
land by the side of a stream. The Bleecker 
arms : Per blue azure and argent ; on the 
first two chevronels embattled counter, embat- 
tled or ; on the second an oak branch proper, 
fruited or; motto: Fide et constantia. 

(I) Jan Janse Bleecker, a native of Meppel, 
province of Overyssel, Holland, was born July 
9, 1 64 1, son of Jan Bleecker. He came to 
this country in 1658, and settled in New Am- 
sterdam, now New York City. Later on he 
removed to Albany. He was not only a trader 
who was widely known, but was a man of 
considerable prominence, as is certified bv the 
number of public offices he held beginning 
witli the year in which Albany received its 
charter as a city, 1686. In that year he was 
appointed the first city chamberlain ; cap- 
tain of militia, Indian \\'ar. 1689; was Indian 
commissioner, 1691-94; recorder, 1696-1700; 
justice of the peace, 1697, and member of 
the provincial assembly, 1698-1701. Mare 
important than any of these high positions, he 
was made the seventh mayor of Albany, by ap- 
pointment from the representative of the 
Crown, the Earl of I'ellomont, and held that 
office 1700-01. He belonged to the Reformed 
Protestant Dutch Church in America, and, 
dying in Albany, November 21, 1732, he was 
buried in that church edifice, as was the cus- 
tom of his day. He married Margariet (or 
Grietjen) Rutse, daughter of Rutger Jacob- 
sen Van Schocnderwoert, January 2, 1(167. 
She was born in 1647, died in 1733. Chil- 
dren : Johannes, born iW)8 ; Rutger, see 
forward ; Nicolaas ; Catharine ; Jane ; Marga- 
ret; Hendrick, baptized April, 1686; Rachel, 
baptized November 14, 1688; Maria, baptized 
I'^ebruary 7, 1692. 

(II) Rutger (Jansen), .son of Jan Janse 
and Margariet Rutse (\'an Schocnderwoert) 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



129 



Bleecker, was born in Albany, May 13, 1675, 
and resided at the northwest corner of North 
Pearl and Steuben streets. He was a merchant 
of considerable means, and a member of the 
Reformed Protestant Dutch church. He was 
city recorder, 1725, and his older brother, Jo- 
hannes, was the eighth mayor, serving 1701- 
•02, receiving his appointment from Lieu- 
tenant-Governor John Nanfan. He was ap- 
pointed the fifteenth mayor of Albany by Co- 
lonial Governor William Burnet, and held of- 
fice from November 8, 1726, to November 10, 
1729. He died in Albany, August 4, 1756. 
He married Catalyna (or Catalina) Schuyler, 
daughter of David I. Schuyler, and widow of 
Johannes Abeel, the second mayor of Albany, 
May 26, 1712. She was baptized October 10, 
1686, and was buried in the Dutch church, 
October 25, 1747. Children: Johannes, bap- 
tized February 8, 1713, see forward; Mar- 
garita, baptized October 8, 1714, married Ed- 
ward Collins ; Jacobus, baptized December 9, 
1716: Myndert, baptized July 3, 1720. 

(HI) Johannes (Rutgerse), son of Rutger 
(Jansen) and Catalyna (Schuyler) Bleecker, 
was baptized in Albany, February 8, 171 3. He 
was a surveyor and made one of the most use- 
ful of the city maps. He died in 1800. He 
Jiiarried, August 5, 1743, Elizabeth Staats, 
born October 3, 1725, daughter of Barent 
Staats. Children : Rutger, baptized July 5, 
1743, married Catharine Elmendorf ; Barent, 
"baptized June 5, 1748; Barent, baptized No- 
vember 18, 1750; Barent, baptized Novem- 
ber 12, 1752, buried Novembtr 5, 1756; Ja- 
cobus, baptized October 23, 1755, see forward; 
"Catalina, baptized October 15, 1758; Barent, 
baptized June 9, 1760, married Sarah Lansing, 
■daughter of Gerrit Lansing, no children ; Jo- 
hannes, born October 4, 1763, died Decem- 
ber 29, 1833. 

(IV) Jacobus (or James) Johannsen, son of 
Johannes and Elizabeth (Staats) Bleecker, 
was born in Albany, October 14, 1755, died 
there February 18, 1825. He married, No- 
vember 18, 1782, Rachel Van Sant, born 1759, 
died March 22, 1837. Children : Katalyna, 
married Barent Sanders ; Sally, married 
Charles Piatt, died 1832 ; Garrett \'an Sant, 
see forward. 

(V) Garrett \'an Sant, son of Jacobus (or 
James) and Rachel (Van Sant) Bleecker, was 
born in the fine mansion of his grandfather, 
Garrett Van Sant, on South Pearl street, Al- 
bany. August 2. 1790, died January 12, 1856. 
He had no profession, but spent his entire 
time in looking after his interests. He was 
an active member of the South Second Re- 
iormed Church. He was a good citizen, liberal 
to the poor, visiting the alms house every 



week. He married (first), February 6, 181 1, 
Margaret \'an der \'oort, died October 10, 
1827; married (second), February 8, 1829, 
Jane Shepard, born June 12, 1801, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Shepard, of Albany, and was 
of English descent. For a lengthy period he 
was an alderman of the third ward. Chil- 
dren: Rachel, born September 25, 181- ; mar- 
ried, February 25, 1829, Dr. Visscher Winne; 
Elizabeth Staats, born December 3, 1814; mar- 
ried James Bleecker Sanders, of Albany ; 
James \'an der \'oort, born April 25, 1817; 
married Ann Kinnear; Margaret Louise, born 
June 22, 1819; married, June 10, 1840, Henry 
A. Allen ; Garrett Van Sant, Jr., born Oc- 
tober 12, 1821 ; married Mary McCullock ; 
Anna, born April 17, 1824; married Stephen 
Wakeman Clark ; Charles Edward, born July 
15, 1826; married Grace Strobel, he being the 
fifty-first mayor of Albany and serving from 
May 6, 1868, to Alay 5, 1870, and died in 
Albany, January 31, 1873. Children, by sec- 
ond wife: Sarah Jane, born February 7, 1831 ; 
married, March 15, 1855, Robert Reed; 
Thomas Shepard, born February 23, 1833 ; 
married, November 4, 1863, Kate McCullock; 
William Rutger, born June 11, 1839, died 
unmarried; Matilda Eliza, born July 12, 1835; 
married, April 11, 1867, Jacob Henrick Ten 
Eyck (see Ten Eyck family). 

Jacob H. Ten Eyck, son of Herman and 
Eliza (Bogart) Ten Eyck), was born in 
Albany, August 17, 1833. died there March 24, 
1898. He was educated at the Albany Acad- 
emy, and started as a clerk in a bank. In 
1856 he went to Cuba and devoted three 
years to railroading. He returned to Al- 
bany, and in 1861 he raised Company G. Third 
New York \'olunteers ; was commissioned a 
captain of state militia, and shortly after was 
mustered into the United States service. He 
served nearly two years, was promoted major 
of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth New 
York Volunteers, and was stationed in Vir- 
ginia with the Eleventh Army Corps. He 
resigned in 1864 on account of ill health, and 
returned to Albany, where he resided until 
his death. He held many important posi- 
tions of trust ; was trustee of the Albany Sav- 
ings Bank ; director of the .\lbany Insur- 
ance Company for about twenty years ; presi- 
dent of the Great Western Turnpike Com- 
pany, and was connected with a number of 
manufacturing enterprises both in his own 
city and in Troy. He was alderman of the 
old seventh ward for two years ; one of the 
founders of the Fort Orange Club, the lead- 
ing social institution in his city, and was 
its president at the time of his death; for 
ten years he was a member of the \'olunteer 



I30 



HUDSON AND iMOHAWK VALLEYS 



Fire Department; was for a long period an 
officer of the Albany Burgesses' Corps, and 
also commissary of the Tenth Regiment. He 
was a member of the New York Command- 
ery, Loyal Legion of America ; Jacob H. Ten 
Eyck Post, No. 154, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, of Albany, was named in his honor. 
He was president of the board of trustees 
of the North Dutch First Reformed Church, 
of Albany, for twenty years, and was the 
oldest member of the board of managers of 
the Homeopathic Hospital. Mrs. Ten Eyck 
furnished a room in the hospital as a memorial 
to her husband. 



Coenraedt Ten Eyck, who 
TEN EYCK came from Amsterdam, 
Holland, about 1630 or 
1635, and settled in New Amsterdam, married 
Maria Boele. Children : Jacob, see forward ; 
Dirck ; Margariet ; Tobias ; Coenraedt ; Hen- 
drick; ]Matthys; Margariet; Andries ; and 
Metje. 

(II) Jacob, son of Coenraedt and Maria 
(Boele) Ten Eyck, was born in Holland, 
died in Albany. He married Gertruy, born in 
1654, daughter of Barent Coeymans (who 
married a daughter of Andries De Vos). In 
her will, as a widow, made September 6, 1716, 
proved July 10, 1736, she mentions the names 
of all their children excepting Andries, who 
died in 1635. and Hendrick. Children: Coen- 
raedt, born April 9, 1678. see forward; Barent, 
married, September 30, 1700; Nelletje Scher- 
merhorn ; Hendrick (or Hennik), born De- 
cember 22, 1680; Mayken, born April 2, 1685; 
married, December 26, 1712, Andries Van 
Petten, of Schenectady ; Andries, baptized 
March 25, 1688, died February 27, 1735; An- 
neken, baptized August 20, 1693; married 
Johannes Bleecker, died December 9, 1738. 

(III) Coenraedt (2), son of Jacob and 
Gertruy (Coeymans) Ten Eyck, was born in 
Albany, April 9, 1678, buried in Albany, Janu- 
ary 23, 1753. He married, September 24, 1704, 
(church record) or October 10, 1703 (family 
Bible), Geertje. daughter of Anthony and Ma- 
ria (\'an der Poel) Van Schaick, the latter 
a daughter of Teunis Cornelise Van der Poel. 
Oiildren ; Jacob Coenraedt, born April 21, 
1705, see forward; Maria, born July 3, 1707; 
married Gerrit Bradt; Gerritje, born July, 
1710, died young; Anthony, born September 
17, 1712; Barent, born September 29, 1714; 

married Effie ; Catrina, born January 

29, 1717, died November 11, 1741 ; Andries, 
born December 18, 1718; married Anna Mar- 
garita Coeymans ; Anna Margarita, born Feb- 
ruary 12, 1721 ; Tobias, born May 18, 1723; 
married, February 6, 1758, Judittkje Van Beu- 



ren; Gerritje, born July (or August), 18 (or 
19), 1728; married Pieter Gansevoort. 

(IV) Jacob Coenraedt, son of Coenraedt 
(2) and Geertje (Van Schaick) Ten Eyck, 
was born in Albany, April 21, 1705. He was 
a man of prominence, and was appointed 
mayor of Albany (the twenty-second execu- 
tive of that city) by Governor George Clin- 
ton, October 3, 1749, and held office from. 
October i, 1748, until October 15, 1750. He 
was a man of considerable wealth, and had 
a character which made him noted as a man 
of strictest integrity. He was a commissioner 
of Indian affairs from November 16, 1752, 
until June 15, 1754; member of the committee 
of safety, 1775; judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas. He resided at one time in the old 
first ward, and also had a place on the Troy 
road, and was a member of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. He died in Albany, Septem- 
ber 9, 1783. He married, in Albany, August 
I, 1736, Catharina Cuyler, born in Albany,. 
February 18, 1710, died in Albany, November 
22, 1790, daughter of Abraham and Cantje 
(Bleecker) Cuyler. Children: Anthony, born 
September 17, 1739, see forward; Conrad, 
born November 27, 1741 ; Abraham Jacob,, 
born November 29, 1743; married, April 14, 
1769, Annatje Lansing; Catharine, born 
I\larch 14, 1746. 

(V) Anthony, son of Jacob Coenraedt and 
Catharina (Cuyler) Ten Eyck, was born in, 
Albany, September 17, 1739. He resided in 
Schodack, New York, and was a member 
of the convention of 1787 which ratified the 
constitution of the United States ; was first 
judge of Rensselaer county, until sixty years 
of age, and a member of the state senate for 
eight years. He married, February 18, 1775, 
Maria Egberts. Children: Catharina, born 
December 14, 1776, died single ; Egbert, bom 
April 18, 1779; married Rebecca Pearce; An- 
thony, born July 9, 1783, died young; An- 
thony, bom December 23, 1784; married C. 
Johnson ; Coenraad Anthony, born October 19, 
1789, see forward; Maria, married J. Van 
Allen. 

(VI) Coenraad Anthony, son of Anthony 
and Maria (Egberts) Ten Eyck, was born in 
Schodack, Columbia county, New York, Oc- 
tober 19, 1789, died June 10, 1845. He was 
sheriff of Albany county nine years and coun- 
ty clerk six years. He married his cousin, 
Hester Gansevoort, daughter of Jacob and 
Magdalena (Gansevoort) Ten Eyck, who re- 
sided in Whitehall Place. She was bom Jan- 
uary 4. 1796, died April 6, 1861. Children: 
Leonard, born March 12, 182 1 ; married Ellen 
Bullock ; Mary, born September 6. 1822, died 
young; Anthony, born June 22, 1824; Jacob, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



131 



born July 4, 1826; married Eliza Folger Cof- 
fin; Abraham Cuyler, born October i, 1830, 
see forward; Clinton, born May 31, 1833; 
married Kate Monteath Wilson; Catharine, 
born May 28, 1836, died single. 

(VH) Abraham Cuyler, son of Coenraad 
Anthony and Hester Gansevoort (Ten Eyck) 
Ten Eyck, was born October i, 1830, on 
Montgomery street, in Albany, which locality 
was then the "court part of the town" and 
later was converted into a site for the hand- 
some new union railway station for all the 
roads entering Albany. He was educated at 
the Albany Boys' Academy. His elder 
brother, Jacob, being a "Forty-niner," of Cali- 
fornia gold field craze, persuaded him to make 
the trip to the West, which he did, and on 
arrival he became a successful contractor, 
but on account of the death of his brother 
Anthony, who had been deputy attorney-gen- 
eral of New York state, 1852, he was called 
East. When returning, the ship on which he 
sailed was shipwrecked in a severe storm in 
Golden Gate Harbor, and he was one of the 
nineteen saved out of a list of one hundred 
and twenty-five passengers aboard. An in- 
cident connected with his escape is still told 
in the family, that he carried with him, ac- 
cording to the custom of the place and those 
days, a bowie knife, which he used to good 
efifect in cutting loose his belt, weighted with 
gold, and thus freed over five thousand dol- 
lars to sink to the bottom of the sea. It was 
a most fortunate display of alertness and 
had there been no sharp knife so conveniently 
at hand, doubtless his fate would have been 
similar to the scores of the gold-seekers whose 
fortune carried them to death. Following his 
marriage, which occurred within a few years 
of his return, he resided at No. 199 State 
street, which became the site of the new capi- 
tol, and after that he removed with his large 
and growing family to Whitehall Place, the old 
historical home of General John Bradstreet, 
of the British forces, used as his headquar- 
ters during the campaigns against the Indians 
and French. This house was built about 1750 
by General Bradstreet ; located about one 
hundred and fifty yards to the west of what 
became Delaware avenue, and the highway 
near it was long known as Whitehall road ; 
its household furniture was the envy of all 
the neighbors : many interesting oil portraits 
hung upon its walls, and at the large recep- 
tions the family silver figured prominently: 
one room had been used by General Bradstreet 
as his office, and another had been dedicated 
as the "death chamber." After the war the 
house was purchased from General Brad- 
Street by Leonard Gansevoort, brother of Gen- 



eral Peter Gansevoort; it was remodeled and 
enlarged in 1776 or 1780, becoming a man- 
sion, one hundred and ten feet in front and 
seventy-five feet deep. The property con- 
tained some two thousand acres and came into 
the Ten Eyck family by the marriage of Mag- 
dalena, daughter of Leonard Gansevoort, to 
Jacob Ten Eyck, eldest son of Abraham Ten 
Eyck. Jacob Ten Eyck was a man of promi- 
nence, being judge of Albany county, assem- 
blyman, and held other minor offices. The 
destruction of this house by fire in 1883 was 
the greatest misfortune in the life of Mr. Ten 
Eyck ; the place was known as Ten Eyck Park. 
In politics Mr. Ten Eyck was a Democrat. 
He was a member of the First Reformed 
Protestant Dutch Church, a man of strong 
convictions, a staunch friend to all who were 
favored with his intimacy and possessed of 
hosts of friends. Everyone realized that he 
was unusually generous, even to the extent 
of a fault, and while not a lawyer, in later 
years his advice was sought on many ciuestions 
by his acquaintances. 

Abraham Cuyler Ten Eyck married, Al- 
bany, November 27, 1855, Margaret Matilda, 
born in Albany, April 14, 1837, daughter of 
Henry Burhans Haswell, born in Kingston, 
New York, June i, 1803, son of John and 
Margaret (Burhans) Haswell, married at 
Sing Sing (Ossining, New York), June, 1836. 
Henry B. Haswell was an attorney of promi- 
nence, country clerk for six years, alderman, 
school commissioner and secretary to the board 
of education for over twenty-five years. He 
had been private secretary to Hon. William 
H. Seward when secretary of state, and he 
died in Albany, August 10, i86g. Her 
mother was Elizabeth Trowbridge, daughter 
of Samuel and Rachel (Mabie) Trowbridge, 
born in Sing Sing (Ossining), New York, 
jNIarch 9, 1809, died in Albany, May, 1882. 
A. Cuyler Ten Eyck died in Albany, March 
23, 1900, and was buried in the Albany Rural 
Cemetery. His widow, in 1910, was residing 
with her son, Hon. Jacob Lansing Ten Eyck, 
at his home. No. 226 Lark street. By inherit- 
ance, she possesses a great many pieces of 
highly artistic old furniture and a quantity 
of colonial silver of beautiful design and 
workmanship, which are the envy of all the 
connoisseurs who behold it. Children, born 
in Albany : Hester Gansevoort, born August 

29, 1856, see forward; Conrad Anthony, May 

30, 1858; unmarried in 1910; Henry Has- 
well, December 16. 1859, died Albany, De- 
cember 23, 1867; Jacob, October 11, 1861, 
died young; Rachel, September 14, 1862, see 
forward; Jacob Lansing, July 8, 1864, see 
forward ; Cuyler, February 26, 1866, see for- 



132 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ward ; Peter Gansevoort, Bethlehem, Novem- 
ber 7, 1873, see forward. 

(Vni) Hester Gansevoort, first-born child 
of Abraham Cuvler and Margaret Matilda 
(Haswell) Ten Eyck, was born in Albany, 
August 29, 1856. She married, Albany, De- 
cember 12, 1883, James Edgar Brooks, of 
Normansville, Albany county, New York. He 
was born in New Scotland, Albany county, 
New York, February 16, 1853, died Novem- 
ber 19, 1884, in Normansville, New York. 
Child : James Edgar Brooks, born in Nor- 
mansville, New York, September 20, 1884, and 
was a civil engineer, residing in Albany, in 
1910. 

(VHI) Rachel, daughter of Abraham Cuy- 
ler and Margaret Matilda (Haswell) Ten 
Eyck, was born in Albany, September 14, 1862. 
She married, at Schodack Landing, Rensse- 
laer county. New York. May 19, 1887, Rev. 
John Gabriel Gebhard, D.D., of Mount \^er- 
non. New York. He was born in Hudson, 
New York, November 2, 1857, son of Charles 
William and Celia (McCord), Gebhard. Chil- 
dren : Peter Ten Eyck, born in Mellenville, Co- 
lumbia county. New York, October 28, 1888; 
Charlotte Elizabeth, born in Mellenville, De- 
cember 28, 1890; Karl, born in Herkimer, No- 
vember 14, 1892; John Gabriel, Jr., born in 
Herkimer, February 23, 1894; Wessel Ganse- 
voort, born in Herkimer, March 4, 1897 ; Ra- 
chel Haswell, born in Herkimer, July 4, 1898; 
Paul, born in Yonkers, New York, October 
24, 1900. 

(VHI) Jacob Lansing, son of Abraham 
Cuyler and Margaret Matilda (Haswell) Ten 
Eyck, was born in Albany, July 8, 1864. He 
attended the local primary schools and gradu- 
ated from the Albany high school, after which, 
in 1 88 1, he entered the employ of Hand & 
Babbitt, wholesale lumber dealers in the "Dis- 
trict." The following year he was with T. P. 
Crook & Company, provision merchants, as 
assistant bookkeeper. He took an early inter- 
est in political gatherings, and in 1883 or- 
ganized the Young Men's Democratic 
Club, with the object of purifying pri- 
maries and elections. He studied law 
in the office of Norton Chase and 
John A. Delehanty, and at the same time, as 
agent of the Barber Asphalt Paving Company, 
induced the Albany, Troy and Schenectady 
corporations to employ asphalt pavement. He 
attended the Albany Law School of Union 
I'niversity, and was admitted to the bar in 
November, 1888. The next year he formed a 
law partnership with William S. Dyer, which 
continued until 1905. He was assemblyman 
from the Third Albany district in 1895, and 
was the only Democrat elected on the entire 



ticket of the county. He was made chairman 
of the Democratic city committee in 1900, and 
1903-06, was a member of the grievance com- 
mittee of the New York State Bar Associa- 
tion. He is a member of the American Society 
of International Law ; belongs to the Reformed 
Dutch Church, of Delmar, New York ; James 
Ten Eyck Lodge, No. 831, Free and Accept- 
ed Masons, and is a member of the Fort 
Orange Club. He married, September 3, 1889, 
at Berne, Albany county. New York, Kate, 
daughter of Zeb. A. and Lucy E. (Gallup) 
Dyer, both of Berne, New York. She was 
born at Berne. Child : Abraham Cuyler, born 
at "Whitehall," Albany, July 10, 1890; gradu- 
ate of the Albany Academy, class of 1905; 
entered the United States Naval Academy, 
May, 1908. 

(VHI) Cuyler, son of Abraham Cuyler and 
Margaret Matilda (Haswell) Ten Eyck, was 
born in Albany, February 26, 1866, and fol- 
lows the profession of an artist. He married, 
Albany, March 3, 1895, Eva Mary Wieland, 
born in Albany, August 24, 1869, daughter of 
Frederick G. and Catherine (Fisher) Wieland. 
Children : Julia Dent Grant, born in Bethle- 
hem Centre, Albany county, New York, May 
12, 1896; Albert Vander \''eer, born in Beth- 
lehem Centre, March 18, 1898; Hester Ganse- 
voort, born Albany, February 6, 1900. 

(VHI) Peter Gansevoort, son of Abraham 
Cuyler and Margaret Matilda (Haswell) Ten 
Eyck, was born in Whitehall Place, Albany, 
November 7, 1873. He was the last person 
born in the old, historic mansion, Gansevoort 
Home, built a century before Mr. Ten Eyck's 
birth, and known as "Whitehall," located in 
the town of Bethlehem, Albany county, New 
York. His earliest education was received 
at the Albany Boys' Academy, which pre- 
pared him for entrance to the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute in Troy, where he studied 
engineering. Following his profession, he 
has advanced along these lines, civil engineer 
in charge of the work of laying out Beaver 
Park in Albany, under the superintendent 
of parks ; inspector of signals on the Mohawk 
division of the New York Central line, and 
then supervisor of signals for the same; engi- 
neer of signals, in charge of both the con- 
struction and maintenance of all signals on 
the New York Central line ; engineer of sig- 
nals of the Federal Railway Signal Company, 
and vice-president and general manager of the 
last named company ; also frequently acting 
as consulting railway engineer. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics. Was a member of the Third 
Signal Corps of the Third Brigade, National 
Guard, State of New York. He joined the Del- 
ta Phi fraternitv and is a member of Master's 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



133 



Lodge, Free and Accepted JMasons. He is con- 
nected with the following clubs; Transporta- 
tion, New York City; Fort Orange, Albany; 
University, as trustee; also a member of the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 
American Railway Engineering and Mainte- 
nance of Way Association, Railway Signal As- 
sociation, Albany Institute and Historical and 
Art Society. He is a member of the Second 
Dutch Reformed Church, of Albany. ]\Ir. Ten 
Eyck married, in Albany, April 15, 1903, Ber- 
tha Flore'ita Dederick, born in Albany, July 
31, 1875, daughter of Peter Kells Dederick, 
of Albany, inventor and wholesale manufac- 
turer of agricultural implements, and at one 
time was said to have received the third great- 
est number of patents issued in the United 
States to any one person. He was born in 
Claverack, Columbia county. New York, Feb- 
ruary I, 1838, son of Philip W. Dederick, born 
in Claverack, January 24, 1806, died in Al- 
bany, and Anna Maria Kells, born in Clave- 
rack, February 24, 1810; died in Albany, who 
were married in Claverack, December 28, 
1833. Her mother's maiden name was 
Marietta Michael. She was born in Clav- 
erack, December 24, 1843, daughter of 
John Lewis Michael, born in Claverack, De- 
cember 12, 1815, died in Claverack in autumn 
of 1872, and Elizabeth iXIiller, born May 5, 
1818, at Humphreyviile, died in Claverack, Oc- 
tober 9, 1906, who were married in Claverack, 
April 22, 1834. Child: Peter Gansevoort Ded- 
erick, born in Yonkers, New York, April 3, 
1905. 



The Olcotts, of Albany, New 
OLCOTT Y'ork, descend in a direct, un- 
broken male succession from 
Thomas Olcott, the emigrant ancestor of the 
Connecticut branch of the family, who was 
among the first settlers of the town of Hart- 
ford, and one of the founders of the trade 
and commerce of the colony of Connecticut. 
He came from England with the Winthrop 
company in 1630. There is reason to believe 
that he was one of the "goodly company" of 
men, women and children who, in June, 1635, 
left Newton and other settlements in ^lassa- 
chusetts to plant a new colony in the Con- 
necticut valley. They came through the wild- 
erness until they reached the mouth of the 
Chicopee river, near what is now Springfield, 
and followed down the banks of the Connecti- 
cut to the spot where, in the autumn before, 
the settlement of what is now Hartford, but 
then called Suckiange, was commenced. ]\Ir. 
Olcott had been educated in England, was a 
merchant, and brought with him the experi- 
ence and fruits of successful enterprise. In 



common with Edward Hopkins, Richard Lord, 
William Whiting and others he engaged in 
trade, for which the Connecticut was supposed 
to atTord great facilities, especially in the traf- 
fic of furs. Mr. Olcott first located himself on 
a lot on the east side of the Public (now State 
House) Square. He subsequently became the 
purchaser of one of the lots assigned to 
Edward Hopkins in the original distribution 
of the town among the first settlers. This lot 
comprised the whole square fronting on Main 
street and bounded by Pearl, Trumbull and 
Asylum streets. On the southeast corner he 
erected a dwelling for his own occupation, 
which continued in the family for several 
generations. Thomas Olcott died in 1654, 
aged about forty-five years. His wife, Abi- 
gail, died May 26. 1693, aged seventy-eight 
years. Children : Thomas, see forward ; Sam- 
uel ; John, baptized February 3, 1639; Eliza- 
beth, baptized December 7, 1643; Hannah. 

(II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas (i) and 
Abigail Olcott, emigrant, was born about 
1635. There seems to be no record of his 
death — that he lived to advanced age and until 
the year 1719 appears by the land records of 
Hartford, wherein is recorded a deed of land 
from him to his son, Thomas Olcott, Jr., dated 
February 14, 1719. His wife, Mary, "died May 

3, 1721, at Windsor, Connecticut. Children: 
Abigail, died March 14, 1688, at Springfield, 
Massachusetts ; Mary ; Thomas, see forward ; 
Samuel, died May 10, 1693 ; John, drowned 
May 25, 1685; Timothy, born 1677, died April 

5, 1754: married (first) ; (second) 

Mary Field, widow of Ebenezer Field, and 
daughter of Ebenezer Dudley, of East Guil- 
ford, Connecticut; she died April 20, 1740; 

(third) Elizabeth , who died August 29, 

1764. 

(HI) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) 
Olcott, of Hartford, married, 1691, Sarah 
Foote, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, who died 
July 24. 1756, in the eighty-sixth year of her 
age. Children : Abigail, died at age of eight- 
een years; Sarah, born December 12, 1694; 
married a Mr. Dean, of Plainfield, Connecti- 
cut; ]\lary, born November 21, 1696; married 
a Mr. Stoughton; Cullick, born April 18, 1699, 
died 1732; Nathaniel, born September 11, 
1701 ; married Hannah, daughter of Nathaniel 
Pitkin, of East Hartford; Josiah, born March 
2. 1703. died February 8, 1785; married. May 
15, 1740, Penelope, daughter of Rev. Jonah 
Beckwith, of Lyme, Connecticut ; Margaret, 
born April 12, 1705; married Richard Ely, 
of Lyme, Connecticut; Hannah, born August 

4, 1707: Elizabeth, born November 17, 1709; 
married Colonel John Pitkin, of East Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, brother of Governor Wil- 



134 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK ^■ ALLEYS 



liam Pitkin, and great-grandson of William 
Pitkin, one of the first settlers of Hartford; 
a child, born 1712, died in infancy; Thomas, 
see forward. 

(IV) Thomas (4), son and youngest child 
of Thomas (3) Olcott, of Hartford, was born 
in 1713, died May 3, 1795. He was a resi- 
dent of Stratford, Connecticut. lie married 
(first), 1736, Sarah, daughter of John Easton, 
of Hartford. She died ]\Iarch 30, 1756; mar- 
ried (second) Sarah, widow of Hezekiah 
Thompson, of Stratford, Connecticut, and 
daughter of Zachariah Tomlinson, November 
10, 1737. She died May 11, 181 1, in the 
eighty-ninth year of her age. Children by 
first wife: Josiah, born July 17, 1737, died at 
age of ten years ; Sarah, born August 17, 1742 ; 
married Thomas Hawley, of Stepney : John 
Easton. born July 24, 1749; married Hannah 
Sands, of Long Island, New York. Chil- 
dren by second wife: Thomas, born October 3, 
1758: married (first) Mary, daughter of An- 
drew Thompson, of New Haven, Connecticut; 
(second), March, 1821, Lucy Mitchell; Josiah, 
see forward; Hannah, born January 25, 1762; 
married, about 1780, Beach Judson of Strat- 
ford, Connecticut : Mary, born April 3, 
1763: married. March 18. 1784: Cap- 
tain Nehemiah Gorham, who served in the 
revolutionary war; Anna, born 1765; married, 
August 30. 1769, Isaac Bronson, of Bridge- 
port, Connecticut. 

(V) Josiah, son of Thomas (4) Olcott, 
was born at Stratford, Connecticut, July 19, 
1760, died in Hudson, New York, January 24, 
i860, in the one hundredth year of his 
age. He was educated in New Eng- 
land, and settled in Hudson, Columbia 
county. New York, then a thriving 
city, with a large fleet of sea-going 
vessels largely engaged in the whaling in- 
dustry, that annually brought to the city many 
tons of whalebone and many thousand barrels 
of whale oil. In 1785 he engaged in the 
manufacture of cordage with Thomas Jenkins; 
built a rope walk six hundred feet in length, 
and did an extensive business in the making 
and wholesaling of rope of all kinds and sizes. 
After the death of his partner he continued 
the business alone. He was a shrewd and 
capable business man of energy and direct 
purpose. The qualities that made his own life 
a success were transmitted to his posterity as 
will Ije seen in the following generations. His 
long and useful life ended in Hudson and 
covered a century which saw the colonies 
emerge from dependencies into a great united 
independent nation. The second war with 
Great Britain, the war with Mexico, had ter- 
minated just as the nation was plunging into 



the great civil war. He married Deborah, 
daughter of Thomas and Deborah Worth, of 
Nantucket, Massachusetts, June 7, 1794. Chil- 
dren : Thomas Worth, see forward ; Frederick, 
born January 16, 1797, died ]\Iarch 29, 1816; 
Ann Maria, born November 11, 1798; married, 
September 27, 1819, Richard I. Wells, of 
Coxsackie, New York ; Alfred, died in in- 
fancy ; Ophelia, born February 18, 1803, died 
October 10, 1839; married, December 28, 
1836, William Henry Folger, of Hudson, New 
York; Theodore, born May 28, 1805; married 
(first). May 5, 1834, Eliza Yates; (second), 
October i, 1840, Mary Jenkins; Jane Matilda, 
born March 28, 1806, died April 9, 1837; Or- 
rin, died in infancy ; Horatio Josiah, born 
January 4, 1810; married, September 6, 1831, 
Harriet M. Leonard ; Egbert, born October 
18, 1812, died May 22, 1873; married, Sep- 
tember 5, 1837, Mary E. L. White; Mary, 
died in infancy ; Caroline and Cornelia, twins, 
born December 4. 181 8; the former named 
(lied March 26, 1885, and the latter Novem- 
ber 13, 1899. 

(VI) Thomas Worth, son of Josiah and 
Caroline (Worth) Olcott, was born in Hud- 
son, New York, May 22, 1795, died March 
23, 1880, in Albany. He was educated in 
the Hudson schools, and began his long and 
successful career in finance as a clerk in the 
Columbia Bank of Hudson, where he re- 
mained two years. He rapidly grasped the 
fundamental principles governing monetary 
law. His active mind and quick, decisive char- 
acter made him an unusually valuable em- 
ployee, and when the Mechanics' and Farm- 
ers' Bank opened its doors for business, July 
29, 181 1, he was one of the clerical force. 
On that date began his remarkable connec- 
tion with that institution ; a connection last- 
ing nearly seventy years, the last forty-four 
years of which were spent in the president's 
chair. His rise was rapid ; six years after 
the bank opened its doors for business, he 
became cashier ; nineteen years later, in June, 
1836, he was elected president. The Me- 
chanics' and Farmers' Bank, whose success, in 
a large degree must be, and is, by general 
consent, credited to the genius of Thomas 
Worth Olcott, was the third bank incor- 
porated in Albany and was chartered osten- 
sibly for the benefit of the mechanics and 
farmers of Albany county. Its charter pro- 
vided that none but mechanics and farmers 
should be elected as bank officers, but some 
years later was amended so as to authorize the 
president and directors without reference to 
their occupation or business. It is a noted 
fact, and one that created considerable discus- 
sion and comment, that the entire first board 




/^/^^/rmc.^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



135 



of directors were Democrats. It had been 
understood that two Federalists would have 
A place on the board and they were later 
substituted. Mr. Olcott was the fifth presi- 
dent, and at his death he was succeeded by 
his son Dudley, who is the present incum- 
bent (1910). The first period of the bank's 
history ended by expiration of charter in 1833. 
At the expiration of the second charter in 
1853 the bank closed up its aflfairs, when 
the stockholders received one hundred and 
fifteen per cent., besides their stock in the 
new bank, which renewed the charter for 
twenty years and went into operation again 
with tlie same officers. 

During the civil war the bank closed up its 
atifairs and organized in 1865 under the Na- 
tional Banking laws, having previously oper- 
ated as a state bank. In 1868 they again 
chartered under state banking laws, aban- 
doning the national system. The career of 
the bank has been one of unvarying pros- 
perity excepting only a short period in 1817 
when the capital became impaired, owing to 
the financial troubles growing out of the de- 
pression following the war with Great Brit- 
ain, 1812-14. In 1855 the Mechanics' and 
Farmers' Savings Bank was incorporated with 
Thomas W. Olcott as the first president, suc- 
ceeded in 1880 by his son Dudley. While 
Mr. Olcott was eminently the man of atifairs. 
and held a position in the financial world 
second to none and was recognized as a great 
banker, his obligations to his city as a citizen 
did not rest lightly upon him. He was an 
active, as well as a leading member of the 
■boards of several of the public charitable 
and educational associations that have made 
Albany famous. His private benevolences 
were many and cannot be recorded ; his pub- 
lic service can. He was vice-president of 
the first board of directors of Albany Law 
School organized in 1851, the fourth school 
of its kind organized in the United States. 
In 1853 he was elected president of the board, 
continuing until his death in 1880. He was 
president of the first board of directors of 
Dudley Observatory, a scientific institution 
founded through the munificence of Mrs. 
Blandina Dudley, widow of Charles E. Dud- 
ley, with the co-operation of leading citizens 
of Albany. The observatory profited greatly 
through the generosity of Mr. Olcott and that 
of his sons, the latter furnishing the funds for 
refitting Olcott Meridian Circle (named for 
its donor), housing it in a suitable building 
and remounting it on the new site. He was 
president of the Albany Agricultural and Arts 
Association; president of Albany Hospital, in 
which he took a deep and lasting interest; 



trustee and president of Albany Girls' Acad- 
emy : trustee of the Boys' Academy ; presi- 
dent of Albany Cemetery Association. 

In addition to these institutions, all of which 
he served faithfully, giving largely of his rare 
executive ability and unerring judgment, his 
purse was ever open for all good causes, earn- 
ing jiini the title of the "most charitable man 
in Albany." Returning to his business life 
he was president of the Albany and West 
Stockbridge Railroad Company, afterward 
merged into the Boston & Albany system, and 
later trustee of the sinking fund commis- 
sion, appointed to retire the bonds issued 
by the city of Albany to aid in the construc- 
tion of the road. The retirement of these 
bonds was successfully accomplished under 
the guidance of Mr. Olcott and is still re- 
ferred to as the "greatest piece of financiering 
ever accomplished in Albany." When Sec- 
retary Chase was perfecting plans for a Na- 
tional Bank system he held frequent iiUer- 
views with Mr. Olcott and was largely guided 
by his wise counsel. In 1863 he declined a 
flattering offer from President Lincoln of the 
position of first comptroller of the currency, 
but he declined all public office except such 
as related to the promotion of education or 
other local interests. 

During his business life he developed a won- 
derful quality of quick, decisive action; strong 
in his opinions, he was always open to con- 
viction and ready to accept the views of 
others. His ability to judge human nature 
and read men was another marked quality. 
His courage was another attribute that rend- 
ered him conspicuous ; nothing daunted him 
and failure was a word with which he was 
unacquainted. He was identified with the 
Christian life of Albany as member and trus- 
tee of the Second Presbyterian Church. His 
political life was inconspicuous. In early life 
and up to i860 he was a Democrat; then for 
the remainder of his life a Republican. He 
was strongly Union in his sentiments and 
served on the committee having in charge 
the recruiting and equipping of the One Hun- 
dred and Thirteenth New York Regiment 
(Seventh Regiment, New York Volunteer Ar- 
tillery). His only other public offices that can 
be construed as political were as bridge com- 
missioner to select the site of the lower bridge 
across the Hudson at South Ferry street, and 
his appointment to the state board of regents. 
His home in Albany was in the midst of a plot 
of about three acres of ground and there he 
gratified his love for flowers and plants to 
the fullest extent and spent his hours of lei- 
sure in their cultivation. He was quiet, un- 
ostentatious and domestic in his tastes and 



136 



HUDSON AND IMOHAWK VALLEYS 



habits, giving little evidence of being the 
wealthy and distinguished financier. He died 
at his home in Albany in his eighty-fifth year, 
continuing his active business life until his 
last illness. 

He married Caroline, daughter of Daniel 
Pepoon, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, August 
17, 1818. She died March 12, 1867. Chil- 
dren: I. Frederick Worth, born August 10, 
1820, died November 2, 1822. 2. Thomas, 
born December 31. 1821, died August 27, 
1873: married (first), April 3, 1844, Lucia 
Marvin Fowler, who died August 25, 1850; 
(second), October 5, 1853, Harriet M. Leon- 
ard, who died January 13, 1861 ; (third), Feb- 
ruary 19, 1863, Emma McClive. 3. John 
Josiah, born March 11, 1823, died April 10, 
1899. 4. Robert, born July 26, 1824, died 
May 10, 1859. 5. !Mary Marvin, born April 
II, 1826, died April 25, 1892. 6. Theodore, 
born May i, 1828, died February 27, 1907; 
married, October 2, 1856, Ann Hazleton May- 
nard. 7. Alexander, born August 10, 1829, 
died April 21, 1887; married. May 21, 1856, 
Catherine Amanda Mallory. 8. Grace, born 
April 5, 1834, died August 7, 1834. 9. Dud- 
ley, died in infancy. 10. Dudlev (2), see 
forward. 11. Frederick Pepoon, see forward. 

(VH) Dudley, son of Thomas Worth and 
Caroline (Pepoon) Olcott, was born in Al- 
bany, New York, September 21, 1838. He 
was educated in the Albany B(pys' Academy, 
and afterward attended the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute in Troy, where he took a 
course in civil engineering. In 1858 he be- 
came connected with the Mechanics' and 
Farmers' Savings Bank, of Albany, as ac- 
countant. This position he held for seven 
years, when he became assistant cashier of 
the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, later cash- 
ier. For thirteen years he was casliier of this 
bank, until December 31, 1878, when he was 
chosen vice-president. In March, 1880, he 
was elected president, succeeding his father. 
LTnder his wise and able management the 
bank has continued its successful life, and is 
one of the strong, conservative financial in- 
stitutions of the state. He is thoroughly 
versed in the laws governing finance, is de- 
voted to the institution over which he pre- 
sides, and is recognized everywhere as one of 
the clearest-headed and ablest financiers of the 
state. He was president of the Alhany Bank- 
ers' Association, and represents the Mechan- 
ics' and Farmers' in the leading bank associa- 
tions of the country. In 1861 he toured Eu- 
rope, since which time his service has been 
continuous, saving only his annual summer 
vacation, which is sjient in Canada. The con- 
nection of the Olcotts, father and son, now 



covers the period of a full century, 1811 — 
191 1. Seventy-five of these years have seen 
them occupying the president's chair. This 
is both a wonderful and an unusual record, 
probably unequaled in point of continuous 
service. j\Ir. Olcott has no outside business 
interests although he is devoted to the welfare 
of many of the leading public institutions of 
Albany. He is a member of the board of gov- 
ernors of the Albany Hospital ; president of 
the Albany Cemetery Association ; trustee of 
Home for Aged Men; trustee of Albany Or- 
phan Asylum ; trustee of the Albany Academy 
for Girls, and aids other good causes by his 
influence and liberality. He served his state 
one term as paymaster general, appointed by 
Governor Fenton in 1867. He served the city 
of Albany as park commissioner, was treasur- 
er and later president of the commission dur- 
ing its entire existence. Politically he is a 
Republican, but his devotion to business pre- 
cludes all idea of public ofiice. He is a mem- 
ber of the Fort Orange and Country clubs, Al- 
bany, and of the Metropolitan. L'nion League, 
and Down Town clubs, of New York City. 
He is fond of the solitude of the great woods, 
and each summer, for the past thirty-one years 
has spent his vacation at Ristigouche river, 
Canada, where his favorite sport, salmon fish- 
ing, is his daily occupation. Mr. Olcott's home 
is the old family mansion in Albanv, in the 
midst of the beauties created and loved bv his 
father, which he perpetuates and continues in 
loving remembrance. He is unmarried. 

(\TI) Frederick Pepoon, son of Thomas 
Worth and Carolina (Pepoon) Olcott, finan- 
cier, who died at his home, "Round Top," 
near Bernardsville, New Jersey, April 15, 
1909, was born in Albany, New York, Febru- 
ary 23, 1841. Upon graduation from the Al- 
bany Academy he entered the bank of which 
his father was the head, and there secured 
the training and knowledge in financial mat- 
ters which characterized his business career 
and placed him in the highest rank of modern, 
conservative financial men. For a time he 
was engaged in the lumber business, also 
a partner with Blake Brothers & Company, 
bankers and brokers. In 1882 he accepted 
the nomination and was elected comptroller 
of the state of New York, which position 
he occupied for a term of two years. In 1884 
he declined the Democratic nomination for 
governor and accepted the presidency of the 
Central Trust Company, of New York City, 
where he remained until 1905; retiring in that 
year on account of ill-health to his favorite 
residence and farm, "Round Top," Bernards- 
ville, New Jersey. In addition to his connec- 
tion with the Central Trust Company, Mr. 






^J^^iiM'r/f^ 




'^^/'ai'criZ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



137 



Olcott was president of the Galveston, Hous- 
ton & Henderson Railroad, a director of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad 
and other railroads, of the Bank of America 
and of the Morristown Trust Company of 
New Jersey. Personally Mr. Olcott was 
known as a man of broad, philanthropic ten- 
dencies, taking personal interest in the politi- 
cal and social welfare of the community, and 
ever ready to assist those less successful in 
the battle of life. He was greatly interested 
in horticulture, and his gardens were famous 
for the production of choice plants and rare 
flowers. He was also a breeder of trotting 
horses. Mr. Olcott was a member of the 
L'nion League, New York Yacht, Metropoli- 
tan, Manhattan and Down Town clubs, of 
New York, and of the Morristown Club. He 
married Mary Esniay, by whom he is sur- 
vived, together with a son, Dudley, and one 
dauirhter. 



The Pruyn arms : "Shield : A 
PRUYN field of gold or saffron, on which 
are placed three martlets of natu- 
ral color, without beaks or feet, turned to the 
fore part (dexter side), one in the base of 
the shield and the remaining two in chief, at 
either side. Crest : A barred or tournament 
helmet adorned with a mantling of gold or 
safifron and black, on the top of which, on a 
twisted band (wreath) or diadem of the an- 
cient kings, of the same colors, between two 
wings of yellow or gold, is placed a martlet 
like those on the shield ; but having feet and 
beak, looking toward the dexter side, like 
all of these are seen depicted." (The last 
phrase refers to a drawing given on a Dutch 
parchment of 1527.) 

(I) Johannes (John) Pruyn. a Hollander, 
was the progenitor of the family in America. 
It is believed that his immediate family was 
confined to two sons, Francis (see forward), 
and Jacques. Jacus or Jacob. The latter was 
enrolled among the "Small Burghers" of New 
Amsterdam, April 18. 1657. He purchased 
a house and lot "outside of the Gate of this 
city" February 19, 1659, from Sybout Classen. 
Those of the first three generations in this 
country varied at times the spelling of the 
family name, appearing as Pruyn, Pruyne, 
Pryne and Pruen. 

(H) Francis Pruyn (who frequently wrote 
his name Pruen) was called Frans Jansen, be- 
ing the son of Johannes (John) Pruyn, and 
was in Albany with his wife, Aeltje (or Alida, 
as early as 1665, when he was a tailor. It is 
recorded that in 1668, representing Jacques 
Cornelise \'an Slyck. he conveyed a piece of 
property in the colony of Rensselaerwyck 



to one Jan Labatie, and later in the same year 
bought for himself a lot at the northwest cor- 
ner of Maiden Lane and James street. On 
February 19, 1686-87, he bought from Jo- 
hannes Clute and wife, Bata, for which he paid 
the sum of two and twenty beavers, a lot on 
Broadway, about the third south from Steuben 
street, running through to James street. His 
son, Johannes, afterwards occupied the house 
built thereon. Being a Papist, in January, 
1699, he refused to take the oath of allegi- 
ance to King \\'illiam, but expressed himself 
as willing to swear fidelity. However, Jo- 
hannes Pruyn, his son, subscribed. His wife, 
Alida, joined the Reformed Protestant Dutch 
church in 1683. She died September 20, 1704, 
and he died May 6, 1712. Children: Anna, 
married Warner van Yveren ; Johannes, born 
January 5, 1663, married, September, 1705, 
Emelia Sanders ; Hendrick, married Anna 
Hofmans ; Maria, married Elbert Gerritse ; 
Christine, married Johannes Gerritsen ; Made- 
leine, born January 8, 1676: Samuel, see for- 
ward; Helena, married Jacob Lansing; Frans, 
born September 28, 1683; married "Margar- 
ita"; Bernardine (Barentje), born April 11, 
1686; married John Evertsen ; Arnold 
(Arent), born May 24, 1688; married, No- 
vember 21, 1 714, Catryna Gansevoort. 

(HI) Samuel, son of Frans Jansen (Fran- 
cis ) and .-Xlida Pruyn, was born December 2, 
1677; buried January 27, 1752. In 1703 he 
was one of those "who furnishel labor or ma- 
terials for the Dominie's house." In 1720 his 
name appears on the list of freeholders in 
the old third ward of Albany. He lived, 
between 1703-27. at the northeast corner of 
Maiden Lane and James street. He married, 
January 15, 1704, Maria, born June 14, 1681, 
daughter of Jacob Cornelise and Jeanette 
(Quackenbush) Bogart. Children: Francis 
Samuelse, born March 15, 1705, see forward; 
Alida, baptized November 17, 1706; buried 
January 3, 1727; Jacob, baptized February 
10, 1712; buried June 27, 1752; Maria (or 
Maritie), baptized September 20, 1713; buried 
September 5, 1746; Johannes S., born July 

14, 1723; married Jannetie van Aalsteyn. 
(IV) Francis Samuelse, son of Samuel and 

Maria (Bogart) Pruyn, was baptized March 

15, 1705 (Jacob Bogart and Anna van Yveren, 
sponsors) ; died August 27, 1767. He was 
firemaster, 1731-32; assistant alderman, 1745- 
46, and alderman from the second ward. 1761- 
62. He married (first) .Anna ; (sec- 
ond) Alida, daughter of \\'arner and Anna 
(Pruyn) van Yveren, baptized August 6, 
1704. Children: Francis, born January 16, 
1 71 7; Anna, born October i. 1726. died 
young: Samuel, October 2, 1727, died young; 



138 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Samuel, September 15, 1728, married, Feb- 
ruary 7, 1756, Xeeltje Ten Eyck; Anna, April 

20, 1732, died in New York City, December 

21, 1747; Casparus, Alay 10, 1734, see for- 
ward) ; Johannes Francis, December 23, 1739; 
inarried Gertrude Ten Eyck ; died March 23, 
1815; Jacob Francis, July 22, 1744; married 
Hendricke Van Buren. 

(\') Casparus, son of Francis Samuelse 
and Alida (Van Yveren) Pruyn, was born 
May 10, 1734 (Jacob and Maria Pruyn, spon- 
sors). His name appears as lieutenant on the 
roll of the First Albany County Regiment; 
in 1785 he was an assessor of the second ward ; 
was some years an elder of the Reformed 
Dutch church, and this memorandum refers 
to his government aid: "This is to certify that 
Casparus Pruyn has due to him from the 
United States the sum of Seventy-one pounds 
four shillings specie, for work done for the 
use of the Indians, by the request of the 
Commissioners of Indian Affairs, in 1779- 1780. 
P. Van Rensselaer." He died October 7, 181 7. 
He married, December 19, 1762, Catherine 
Groesbeck, born May 8, 1737, died February 
17, 1788, daughter of David and Maria (Van- 
derpoel) Groesbeck. Children: Maria, born 
April 17, 1764, died March 14, 1821 ; Alida, 
January 12, 1765, died September 11, 1767; 
Franciscus, baptized September 16, 1767, died 
September 27, 1768; Francis Casparus, 
July 19, 1769, see forward; David, August 24, 
1771 ; married Huybertie Lansing; died Jan- 
aiary 20, 1843; Alida, December 11, 1773; 
Wiflem, March 11, 1776. 

(\T) Francis Casparus, son of Casparus 
and Catherine (Groesbeck) Pruyn, was born 
July 19, 1769, baptized by Dominie Eilardus 
Westerlo, with Samuel Pruyn and Neeltje 
Ten Eyck, sponsors, and died June 14, 1837. 
He married, August 30, 1791, Cornelia Dun- 
bar, born January 11, 1770, died July 12, 
1844, daughter of Levinus and Alargaret 
(Hansen) Dunbar, the latter being a niece of 
Mayor Hendrick Hansen. Children: Caspa- 
rus Francis, see forward ; Catharine, born 
January 3, 1794 ; married Adrian V'an Sant- 
voord ; Levinus, October 4, 1796; married 
Brachie (Bridget) Oblenis ; David, January 
26, 1799, died young; Margaret (twin to Da- 
vid), married William I. Pruyn; David, No- 
vember 20, 1801, lost at sea; Gertrude, mar- 
ried Samuel Randall ; Alida, married William 
Boardman : Maria, married David Bensen; 
Cornelia, married Owen Munson. 

(VII) Casparus Francis, son of Francis 
Casparus and Cornelia (Dunbar) Pruyn, was 
"born May 26, 1792; was baptized with Cas- 
parus Pruyn (grandfather) and Mary Pruyn 
(aunt), sponsors. When thirteen years old. 



he entered the office of the Van Rensselaer 
estate, his uncle, Robert Dunbar, being the 
agent to conduct affairs of the extensive prop- 
erty. When Mr. Dunbar resigned in 1835 
he was appointed agent for the manor. It was 
a position requiring considerable executive 
ability, and he filled the post with satisfaction. 
When General Stephen Van Rensselaer, the 
Patroon, died January 26, 1839, the estate was 
divided, that portion on the east shore of the 
Hudson river going to William Paterson Van 
Rensselaer, so Mr. Pruyn removed to Bath, 
Rensselaer county, to be in the vicinity, and 
became the agent of the "East Manor," con- 
tinuing as such until the autumn of 1844, 
when he resigned. He died February 11, 
1846. Mr. Pruyn was married by Rev. John 
M. Bradford, April 19, 1814, to Ann Hewson, 
born January 27, 1794, died February 12, 
1 84 1, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth 
(Fryer) Hewson, of Albany. Children: Rob- 
ert Hewson, born February 14, 1815, see for- 
ward) ; Francis, November 2, 1816; married 
Isabella Kirk; Elizabeth, December 16, 1818, 
died Februai-y 6, 1842; Cornelia, December 
5, 1820, married Charles Van Zandt; Mary, 
January 27, 1823, died young; Alida, March 
9, 1825, married, January 16, 1845, James C. 
Bell, died November 2, 1895; William Fryer, 
February 28, 1827, married Gertrude Dun- 
bar X'isscher; Edward Roggen, July 12, 1829; 
Augustus, October 23, 1831, married Catalina 
Ten Eyck ; Mary, April 3, 1834, married 
Montgomery Rochester, 

(VTII) Robert Hewson, son of Casparus 
Francis and Ann (Hewson) Pruyn, was born 
in Albany, February 14, 1815, and was bap- 
tized by the Rev. John Melancthon Bradford, 
pastor of the "North" Dutch Church. His 
home life in childhood trained him in rever- 
ence, patriotism and industry, attributes which 
gave him prominence in after years. In 1825 
he entered the Albany Academy, where his 
classical education under Dr. Theodoric Ro- 
meyn Beck and his education in the sciences 
under Professor Joseph Henry, the eminent 
scientist-discoverer, was most thorough. He 
then entered Rutgers' College, from which he 
was graduated in 1833. On leaving college he 
became a law student in the office of Hon. 
Abraham Van \'echten, a jurist of recognized 
ability ; city recorder, senator, assemblyman, 
attorney-general and member of the consti- 
tutional convention of 1821. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1836, and shortly after was ap- 
pointed attorney and counselor for the cor- 
poration of Albany, holding office for three 
years, and for a like period was a member 
of the city council, in which body he was one 
of the most active members in public affairs. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



139 



He was judge-advocate from 1841 to 1846, on 
"the staffs of Governors William H. Seward, 
William C. Bouck and Silas Wright, Jr.; 
member of assembly in 1848-49-50, from the 
third district of Albany county, a member 
of the Whig party. "In 1850, he was the 
\\'hig candidate for speaker of assembly. The 
Democracy had a tie vote with the Whigs, but 
it havmg become apparent to Mr. Pruyn that 
one of the ^^ hig members could not properly 
hold his seat, Mr. Pruyn abstaining from vot- 
ing, and the Democratic candidate was chosen. 
The appreciation of this high-minded course 
was shown shortly afterward. The speaker 
was called home by family affliction, and the 
Democrats elected Mr. Pruyn speaker pro tem- 
pore.' In 185 1 i\lr. Pruyn was again ap- 
pointed judge advocate-general, this time by 
Governor Washington Hunt. In 1854 he was 
again an assemblyman and chosen speaker. 
In that office he displayed courage and such 
marked justice that never was there a single 
one of his rulings in the chair appealed from. 
Governor Myron H. Clark, on i\Iarch 5, 1855, 
ap{)ointed him adjutant-general, and in i860, 
when there was intense e.xcitement in politics, 
he came within si.xty-two votes of being elect- 
ed to the assembly, although the Lincoln elec- 
toral ticket had tenfold that majority in that 
district against it. 

President Lincoln appointed ^Nlr. Pruyn 
United States minister to Japan, as successor 
to the Hon. Townsend Harris, in September, 
1861, who was the first diplomatic representa- 
tive of any country to that isolated kingdom. 
It was at a time when it was most essential 
for this country to be represented by a man 
of firmness and possessing strong convictions 
of his own in order to maintain an equality 
among the great powers. There being no cable 
communication, nor even steamship inter- 
course at that time, the minister was largely 
left to exert his own resourcefulness and re- 
sponsibility more largely rested on him than 
on the diplomats sent later by this country. 
It was common occurrence that if an inquiry 
regarding the policy to be pursued on a certain 
feature were sent to Washington, the reason 
for it might have so changed by the time of 
receiving the reply, that the minister found 
it necessary to act along a far dift'erent course. 
He was thus forced to contest for influence 
among the trained diplomats of the world, 
and while the task was undoubtedly enormous, 
even so much higher in the public's estima- 
tion did he rise. In 1863 two naval e.xpedi- 
tions were undertaken against the transgress- 
ing Daimio of Chosu, whose vessels had fired 
on the American merchant steamer "Pem- 
broke." The allied forces in the latter en- 



gagement demolished the fortifications of 
Chosu, and Mr. Pruyn demanded an indemnity 
of three million dollars or, in lieu, the opening 
of new ports. Later the sum of $i,5oo,cxx) 
was turned over to the state department 
at \\'ashington, and the effect of the Ameri- 
can representative's insistence was so salutary 
that it exerted a lasting benefit, opening the 
eyes of Japan as a nation to white man's 
methods so as to be the true initiative of its 
desire for education and the modem methods 
of the powers. Minister Pruyn became an 
authority for all America on the arts and in- 
stitutions of Japan, and in apprising the state 
department through his voluminous reports on 
his observations and reasons for his acts, 
furnished much beneficial information. On his 
return to the L'nited States in 1867, Minister 
Pruyn was the candidate for lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, but was not elected, and an attack of 
diphtheria at the time caused him to retire 
from public life for a few years. In 1872 
Governor John T. Hoffman appointed him 
on a non-partisan commission to frame amend- 
ments to the state constitution, and this im- 
portant body made him its presiding officer. 

Mr. Pruyn was chosen the president of the 
National Commercial Bank of Albany, an in- 
stitution noted for its soundness throughout 
the civil war, when it afforded great aid to 
the government, and for more than half a 
century it has continued to be a depository 
for the general funds of the state. He was 
vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank, 
a trustee of the Metropolitan Trust Com- 
pany, of New York City ; trustee of Rutgers' 
College ; president of the board of directors 
of the Dudley Observatory ; vice-president 
of the board of trustees of the Albany Medical 
College, and on the executive committee of 
the State Normal College ; member of The 
Albany Institute, and of the Young Men's 
Association, being its president in 1838, and 
a governor of the Fort Orange Club. He 
was made a Mason in Master's Lodge. No. 
5, before he left for Japan, and upon his re- 
turn was connected with the Ancient and 
Accepted Scottish Rite, delivering the ora- 
tion at the dedication of the Temple in Sep- 
tember. 1875. 

He brought from Japan a great number of 
rare art treasures, and his collection of carved 
ivories is regarded as one of the finest in the 
world. He received the degree of M..A. from 
Rutgers in 1865, and of LL.D. from Williams. 
He was devoted to his church and advanced 
its work very materially, and all who knew 
him bear witness to his honor, charity and 
unusual qualities of intellect. He died Sun- 
day, February 26, 1882, of embolism of the 



140 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



brain, and was buried in the family lot in 
the Rural Cemetery on the 28th. 

Mr. Pruyn married, November 9, 1841, 
Jane Ann, born June 28, 181 1, daughter of 
Gerrit Yates and Helen (Ten Eyck) Lansing. 
Children : Edward Lansing, born August 2, 
1843, died in San Francisco, February 8, 
1862; Robert Clarence (q. v.), born in Al- 
bany, October 23, 1847; Helen Lansing, Sep- 
tember 13. 1849, died May 5, 1854; Charles 
Lansing, born in Albany, December 2, 1852. 

(IX) Charles Lansing, son of Robert Hew- 
son and Jane Anne (Lansing) Pruyn, was 
born in Albany, December 2, 1852. He took 
the entire course of study at the Albany Boys' 
Academy, and graduated in 1868. He then 
entered the scientific department of Rutgers 
College, and graduated in the class of 1871. 
This college later bestowed on him the degree 
of ]\LS. Mr. Pruyn was fond of outdoor ex- 
ercise, and took an active part in the creation 
of the Ridgefield Athletic Association, being 
one of its founders who secured the funds 
for the field and club-house where the young 
men of Albany might enjoy healthy exer- 
cises. He was closely concerned in the inter- 
ests of the Albany Academy as trustee, and 
aided the students in the acquisition of an out- 
door rink for winter sports, created in the 
rear of the building, which induced the young 
men to spend their recreation hours within the 
influence of the school. Mr. Pruyn was a val- 
ued member of the boards of many of the 
leading institutions, where his advice was ap- 
preciated. He was for many years the presi- 
dent of the Albany Embossing Company, a 
local enterprise which was rapidly expanding, 
and of the Albany Forge, a new concern for 
the city. He was a director of the State Nor- 
mal College: a trustee of the Albany .Savings 
Bank ; a director of the New York State Na- 
tional Bank ; of the Union Trust Company, of 
the Albany Medical College and of the Dud- 
ley Observatory. He was a member of the 
Albany Institute and Historical and Art So- 
ciety ; the University and Albany Country 
clubs, and president of the Fort Orange Club. 
He served some years as a park commissioner 
of the city of Albany. Mr. Pruyn was of a 
genial, courteous, lovable disposition, and not 
a person in the entire city had a greater num- 
ber of firm friends in the professional and 
business comnuuiity. He was fond of the arts 
and refinements of life, and helpful to others 
in a marked degree. His was a life regarded 
by all as one beyond reproach and worthy of 
emulation. He and his family resided for 
some years on Willett street, facing Wash- 
ington Park, wherein were many of the ob- 
jects of art brought from Japan by his father, 



as well as a number of paintings by such 
artists as Diaz, Myer von Bremen, Cole and 
Huntington. From there they removed to the 
more spacious residence. No. 5 Elk street, 
with a charming outlook upon the Academy 
Park, and finally he purchased the hand- 
some house of the late J. Howard King, No. i 
Park place. He had also a summer residence, 
attractive in itself and location, at Altamont, 
some fourteen miles from Albany, and it was- 
there that he died, after a brief illness, July 
7, 1906. 

Mr. Charles Lansing Pruyn married, Oc- 
tober II, 1877, Elizabeth Atwood, born Oc^ 
tober 31, 1853, daughter of William Trimble 
and Elizabeth Mary (x\twood) McClintock, 
of Chillicothe, Ohio. They had three children. 
She died December 20, 1884, and to her mem- 
ory he erected the altar and reredos in St. 
Peter's Church, which is so generally ad- 
mired. He married (second), October 20, 
1886, Sarah Gibson, born December 25, 1851, 
daughter of Sebastian Visscher and_ Olivia 
Maria (Shearman) Talcott. (See Talcott 
IX.) Children, by first wife: i. Elizabeths 
McClintock, born June 14, 1S78. 2. Jane 
Anne Lansing, born in Albany, December 
15, 1880; married, April 20, 1902, P'ranklin 
Townsend, born in Albany, son of the late 
Dr. Franklin and Margaret (Reynolds) 
Townsend : children : Franklin, born in Al- 
bany, February, 1904: Charles Lansing, born- 
in Albany, January, 1906. 3. Sarah McClin- 
tock, born in Albany, November 17, 1884,. 
died July 22, 1885. Children by second wife:. 
4. Caspar Lansing, born September 29, 1887, 
see forward. 5. Olivia Shearman Talcott, 
born in .Mbany, October 25, 1892. 

(X) Caspar Lansing, son of Charles Lan- 
sing and Sarah Gibson (Talcott) Pruyn, 
was born in Albany, September 29, 1887. He 
was educated at liie .Albany Academy and 
the Lawrenceville School. Thereafter he 
went to Princeton College in the class of 
191 1, but had to leave the second year on 
account of illness. After leaving college he 
devoted bis attention to the fire insurance 
business. A member of St. Peter's Church, 
a Pepublican in politics. He married, April 
22, 1909, Helen, born September 29, 1888, 
the daughter of Peter Ham and Delia (Fri- 
day) I.athrop, of Albany. 

Criu- Taloitl I.iiu). 
TIk- family name of Talcott is derived 
from the Welsh "tal," high, and "cott, cot, 
cote," Anglo-Saxon, meaning cottage, that 
is, a high cottage or a cottage on a high 
place; i. e., cottage on the hill: or it may 
have come from the .Saxon "toll," a grove, and 




I 



HUDSON AND MOH.WMv VALLEYS 



141 



"cott," cottage in the grove. The correct 
spelling of the name has been the subject 
of much controversy. Examining the writing 
of the first known ancestor, it is found that 
in the body of his will, John, of Colchester, 
England, 1606, he spelled it "Taylcot," and 
also "Talcoat," signing it "Taylcot," and his 
wife wrote it in her will "Talcoat." His son, 
John, of Braintree, wrote it in his will "Taile- 
coat," and his son, John, of Hartford, wrote 
it in his will "Tallcott." and his wife, Doro- 
thy, signed hers "Talcott." In the Heralds 
College, London, it appears in the records 
spelled "Talcot," and that dates back to 1558; 
but in 1634 it appears there as "Talcott." 
Sebastian V. Talcott, in his genealogical vol- 
ume, groups quite a few under each of these 
divisions : Tailcot, Tailecot, Talcoat, Talcot, 
Talcott, Tailcot, Tallcott and Taylcot. The 
pronounced form in use throughout the nine- 
teenth century in America has been Talcott. 

The Talcott arms : x^rgent on a pale sable, 
three roses of the field. Crest : A demi-griffin 
erased. Argent, gorged with a collar sable, 
charged with three roses of the first. Motto : 
Virtus sola nobilitas. The family was origi- 
nally of Warwickshire, England. Previous 
to 1558, John, a descendant from this family, 
was living in Colchester, Essex county. In 
the British Museum one may examine the 
Harlean Manuscripts containing the Herald's 
visitation of Esse.x county, in 1558, and find 
the Talcott arms and pedigree. 

(I) John Talcott, the first known of the 
name, resided in Colchester, Essex county, 
England, where he possessed real estate and 
considerable personal property. He was twice 
married, and had two sons by the first wife, 
John and Robert, and also a daughter. John 
settled in Braintree, about fourteen miles from 
Colchester, and died there in 1604, before his 
father, leaving a family of children, all 
minors, the eldest of whom was John, who 
came to New England. Robert became an al- 
derman and justice of the peace in Colchester. 
By his second wife he had two sons, Thomas 
and John, and four daughters. Thomas was 
rector of the churches of St. Mary and Mile 
End, in Colchester, and chaplain to the Earl 
Marshal. John, living at the same period with 
his half-brother, John, went to Spain, and was 
a merchant in Madrid. The five daughters 
of John (of Colchester) married and resided 
in or near that place. He died about No- 
vember I. 1606, in Colchester, England, and 
his lengthy will was probated on the twelfth 
day of that same month. He married (first) 
a Wells, and had three children; (second) 
Marie Pullen, and had six children. Children : 
I. John, see forward. 2. Robert, married 



Joanna Drake, and died in 1641. 3. A daugh- 
ter, married Barnard, and had John 

and Mary. 4. Thomas, married Margaret 
Biggs, of Suffolk county. 5. Grace, married 
John Death, after 1606. 6. Joanna, married 
Knewstuble. after 1606. 7. Marie, mar- 
ried Marshall, before 1606. 8. Eme, 

married Thomas Adler, before 1606. 9. John, 
left for Madrid, Spain. 

(II) John (2), son of John (i) and 

(Wells) Talcott, was born probably in Col- 
chester, England, previous to 1558. He died 
in Braintree. about fourteen miles from the 
place of his birth, in the early part of 1604. 
His wife was Anne, daughter of William 
Skinner. Children: i. John, see forward. 2. 
Rachel, died unmarried in 1623. 3. Anne. 
4. Mary, married (possibly) Bagot Eggleston, 
in England, and came with him to Dorchester, 
in 1630. 5. Grace, unmarried in 1623. 6. 
Sarah, unmarried in 1623. 

( HI) John (3), son of John (2) and Anne 
(Skinner) Talcott, was born in Braintree, 
Essex county, England. He was left a minor 
on the death of his father, in 1604, and was 
an only son. He came to Boston with the 
Rev. Mr. Hooker's company in the ship 
"Lion," commanded by Captain Mason, which 
sailed from England. June 22, 1632, with one 
hundred and twenty-three passengers, and ar- 
rived there on Sunday, September 16, 1632. 
This company settled first in Newtown or 
Newton (Cambridge), Massachusetts, and he 
was admitted a freeman by the general court 
at Boston, November 6, 1632 ; was a repre- 
sentative in the general court for Newtown, 
May 14, 1634, and chosen selectman Febru- 
ary 4, 1634. He was the fifth greatest pro- 
prietor of houses and lands in the town, out 
of eighty enumerated in the registry of 1634, 
"of those only who were considered towns- 
men." He owned four houses in what was 
called the "west end," and maintained in re- 
pair thirty-si.x rods of public fence. The peo- 
ple of Rev. Mr. Hooker's company becoming 
dissatisfied with the location, obtained per- 
mission from the general court to remove to 
the Connecticut river, whereupon, the petition 
being granted, John Talcott sold all his prop- 
erty in Newtown to Nicholas Danforth, May 
I, 1636, and left with about one hundred 
of the company. He had the carpenter, Nicho- 
las Clark, go there a year ahead, and build 
him a residence on the site where the North 
Church stood in 1876, which was the first 
house erected in Hartford, Connecticut. He 
gained considerable prominence there, and was 
styled "The Worshipful Mr. John Talcott." 
He was one of a committee appointed May i, 
1637, to consider and report on the propriety 



142 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



of a war with the Pequot Indians, and it was 
accordingly declared. Up to the time of his 
death, he was one of the chief magistrates 
of the colony. He died in Hartford, in March, 
1660, and his name was inscribed upon a 
monument erected by citizens to perpetuate 
the memory of the founders of the Colony 
of Connecticut. He married Dorothy, daugh- 
ter of Alark and Frances (Gutter) Mott, of 
Braintree, England, and she died in Hartford, 
Connecticut, in February, 1670. Children: 
I. i\Iary, married Rev. John Russell, June 28, 
1649: died about 1655. 2. John, married 
(first) Helena Wakeman, October 29, 1650; 
(second) Mary Cook, November 9. 1676; died 
July 23, 1688. 3. Samuel, see forward. 

(IV) Captain Samuel, son of John (3) and 
Dorothy (Mott) Talcott, was born about 1634- 
35, probably in Newtown (Cambridge), 
Massachusetts, died in Wethersfield, Connec- 
ticut, November 10, 1691. He was one of 
the original proprietors of the town of Glas- 
tonbury, Connecticut, and owned the lot pur- 
chased by his father in 1643, still owned, in 
1876, by his descendants. He was graduated 
from Harvard in 1658, and was the scholar 
of the family, consequently his father be- 
queathed to him all his books, except his 
"Martyr Book," which he left to John. From 
these two sons, Samuel and John, are de- 
scended all of the Talcott name in America. 
Samuel was commissioner for Wethersfield 
from 1669 to 1684; deputy to the general 
court from 1670 to 1684, and was its secretary 
during the session of October, 1684. He was 
made lieutenant of Wethersfield trained band 
on May 12, 1677; lieutenant of the troop, Oc- 
tober 14, 1679, and captain of the troop of 
Hartford company, October 16, 1681. He 
married, November 7, 1661, Hannah, daugh- 
ter of Hon. Elizur and Mary (Pynchon) Hol- 
yoke. Children: i. Samuel, born in 1662; 
married Mary Ellery; died April 28, 1698. 2. 
John, born in 1663, died young, after 1691. 
3. Hannah, born in 1665, married Major John 
Chester, November 25, 1686; died July 23, 
1741. 4. Elizur, born July 31, i66g; married 

Sarah . 5. Joseph, born February 20, 

1671 ; married Sarah Deming, April 5, 1701 ; 
died November 3, 1732. 6. Benjamin, born 
March i, 1674, see forward. 7. Rachel, born 
April 2, 1676: married Peter Bulkley, March 
21, 1700; died November 22, 1702; no chil- 
dren. 8. Nathaniel, born January 28, 1678; 

married Elizabeth , March 18, 1703; 

died January 30, 1758. 

- (V) Deacon Benjamin, son of Captain 
Samuel and Hannah (Holyoke) Talcott, was 
born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, March i, 
1674, died at his homestead in Glastonbury, 



Connecticut, November 12, 1727. He had re- 
moved to that place and built a house into 
which he moved on November 22, 1699, it 
being the farm inherited from his father, pur- 
chased of Samuel Sherman in 1643. The- 
house was a large building on Main street, 
and was fortified as a place of refuge for the 
family from Indians. When taken down, in 
1854, there were quantities of bullet marks in 
its walls. He married, January 5, 1699, Sa- 
rah, daughter of John and Sarah (Goodrich) 
Hollister, whose father had come from Bris- 
tol, England, and settled in Wethersfield in 

1642, and was admitted freeman, May 10, 

1643. She died in child-bed, October 15, 
1715, at Glastonbury, Connecticut. Children: 
I. Sarah, born October 30, 1699; married 
Jonathan Hale, November 28, 1717; died July 
15, 1743. 2. Benjamin, born June 27, 1702; 
married Esther Lyman, August 26, 1724; 
died March 9, 1785. 3. John, born December 
17, 1704; married Lucy Burnham, in 1731 ; 
died August 25, 1745. 4. Hannah, born Oc- 
tober 16, 1706; married Benjamin Hale, Jan- 
uary 30, 1729; died February 6, 1796. 5. 
Samuel, born February 12, 1708; married 
Hannah ]\Ioseley, October 5, 1732; died Sep- 
tember 26, 1768. 6. Elizur, born December 
31, 1709; see forward. 7. Mehitabel, born 
July 17, 1713; married Hezekiah Wright, 
November 29, 1733; died April 20, 1781. 8. 
Abigail, born October 10, 1715, died October 
28, 1715. 

(\T) Colonel Elizur, son of Deacon Ben- 
jamin and Sarah (Hollister) Talcott, was 
born at the homestead in Glastonbury, Con- 
necticut, December 31, 1709, died there No- 
vember 24, 1797. He was a man of wealth 
and note in his day, possessing lands in vari- 
ous localities, and a principal owner of the 
"Connecticut tract" on the Susquelianna river, 
which he lost through a defect in its title. 
He was the chairman of a meeting held in 
Glastonbury, which denounced the "Boston 
Port Bill" ; held a commission as colonel of a 
troop of horse previous to and during the 
revolution, and served as such with the Con- 
necticut forces on Long Island ; was in New 
York when the British army marched in, but 
was taken home ill, on a litter. He married, 
December 31, 1730, Ruth, only child of Daniel 
and Elinor (Benton) Wright, a descendant of 
Thomas Wright, who came from England and 
was in Wethersfield in 1639. She died at the 
homestead, September 12, 1791. Children: 
I. Ruth, born October 17, 1731, died Sep- 
tember 10, 1747. 2. Prudence, born June 6, 
1734, died October 18, 1752. 3. Rachel, horn 
August I, 1736, died May 14, 1807. 4. Elizur, 
born August 27, 1738, died February 16, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



143 



1750. 5. Isaac, born August 29, 1740, died 
August 6, 181 5. 6. Daniel, born May 8, 1743, 
died February 12, 1748. 7. George, born No- 
vember 30, 1745, died February 22, 1750. 8. 
Daniel, born July 27, 1748, died December 3, 

1 75 1. 9. Elizur, born December 17, 1750, 
died November 28, 1831. 10. Ruth, born May 
II, 1753, died June 4, 1821. 11. George, born 
September 30, 1755, see forward. 12. Pru- 
dence, born December 2, 1757, died November 
20, 1839. 

(VH) George, son of Colonel Elizur and 
Ruth (Wright) Talcott, was born in Glaston- 
bury, Connecticut, September 30, 1755, died 
there, June 13, 1813. He was a farmer and 
lived in the old homestead which descended to 
him from his grandfather, Benjamin Talcott. 
He served in the revolution and was present 
at the retreat of the American forces on Long 
Island. He married (first), March 16, 1777, 
Vienna, daughter of Jeremiah and Rebecca 
(Dart) Bradford. She was born November 
5' I7S7' died August 17, 1785, and by her 
he had his first four children. He married 
(second) Abigail, daughter of John and Abi- 
gail (Deming) Goodrich. She died in Glas- 
tonbury, June 22, 1854, and by her he had 
six children, making ten in all. Children: i. 
Harriet, born January 7, 1778, died October 
9, 1839. 2. Fanny, born January 8, 1780, died 
April 16, 1845. 3. Rebecca, born March i, 
1782, died January 4, 1794. 4. Julia, born 
May 9, 1785, died November 17, 1785, 5. 
George, born December 6, 1786, see forward. 
6. Russell, born September 22, 1788, died Sep- 
tember 26, 1818. 7. Lavinia, born August 8, 
1700, died February 13, 1857, 8, Abigail, born 
July 7, 1792, died .\pril 18, 1840. 9. Jared 
G., born April 17, 1795, 10. Andrew, bom 
April 20, 1797. 

(VIII) General George (2), son of George 
(i) and Abigail (Goodrich) Talcott, was 
born at the homestead in Glastonbury, Con- 
necticut, December 6, 1786, died at his resi- 
dence. No. 748 Broadway, Albany, New York, 
April 25, 1862. He entered the L^nited States 
army during the war of 1812, from New York, 
as a lieutenant, and was stationed on the 
islands of New York harbor ; was almost im- 
mediately promoted to a captaincy in the ord- 
nance corps, first commanding at the Albany 
arsenal (which later became district school 
No. 13), then at Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
and while there constructed the Watertown 
arsenal ; thence went to Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, taking command of the Alleghany ar- 
senal near there, whence he was orrlered to the 
Watervliet arsenal near Albany, where he re- 
mained in command, having been promoted to 
the brevet rank of major for ten years of 



faithful service; on the reorganization of the 
ordnance corps in 1832, was appointed its lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and shortly thereafter was 
made inspector of arsenals and armories; 
during President Van Buren's administration 
he was given charge of the Washington bu- 
reau as acting chief, holding that position 
until the death of Colonel George Bomford, 
March 26, 1848, when he was promoted to 
the full rank of colonel and chief of the ord- 
nance corps. His commission as brevet briga- 
dier-general "for meritorious services, particu- 
larly in relation to the Mexican War," was 
dated March 3, 1849. He married, November 
17, 1810, Angelica, daughter of Isaac Henry 
and Catlilina Visscher (widow of Samuel' 
Reed) Bogart. She died in Albany, Septem- 
ber I, 1861. Children: i. George Henry, born 
July 16, 181 1 : married Catharine J. Starke,. 
November 9, 1843; f^i^d June 8, 1854. 2. Se- 
bastian Visscher, born November 24, 1812, see- 
forward. 

(IX) Sebastian \'isscher, son of General 
George (2) and Angelica (Bogart) Talcott, 
was born in New York City, November 24, 
1812. He entered Yale College in 1829, and 
left it in the sophomore year for a more ac- 
tive life, adopting the profession of civil en- 
gineer. He was employed in this capacity by 
the United States government on the sur- 
vey of the boundary between the United 
States and Canada, and also was engaged on 
improvement work of the Hudson river near 
Albany. He made the primary surveys for 
the Erie railroad near its western terminal 
at Dunkirk, then on the government survey 
of the "northeastern boundary" ; subsequently 
on improvement work at the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and an elaborate survey of the 
coast under Professor Hassler. Completing 
this work, he was appointed assistant super- 
intendent of mineral lands on Lake Superior, 
and subsequently engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness, but relinquished it for his profession. 
Governor Horatio Seymour, in 1862, ap- 
pointed him quartermaster-general of the 
state of New York, with the rank of 
brigadier-general. His residence was No. 
748 Broadway, Albany, where he died 
November 10, 1888. He married, No- 
vember 23, 1843, Olivia Maria, only 
child of Robert (bom September 10, 1790) 
and Anna Maria (Sherman) Shearman, of 
L^tica. She was born October 14, 1823, died 
January 29, 1888. Children: i. George, born 
October 6, 1844, died April 30, 1895 ; he vvas- 
a lieutenant in the United States navy, 1876; 
married, June 2},, 1870, Mary Isabel Hyde, 
daughter of J. J. Downing, of Erie, Penn- 
sylvania ; children : i. Winifred Downing, born: 



144 



HUDSON AND iMOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



April 17. 1880, married, October 30, 1895, 
Lucian D. Cabanne ; children : Isabel Down- 
ing, born November 27, 1896, and Doris Tal- 
•cott, born July 29, 1898; ii. Gladys Frank, 
■born August 29, 1884, died September 5, 
1885. 2. Angelica Bogart, born February 24, 
1846; married, September 11, 1866, Clarence 
Rathbone ; children : i. Albert Rathbone, born 
July 27, 1868, married Emma Maria Olcott, 
April 14, 1892 ; children : Grace Olcott, born 
December 9. 1893, and Anna Talcott, born 
August 17, 1897; ii. Joel Rathbone, born Sep- 
tember 12, 1869. married. October 18, 1894, 
Josephine Norwood ; child, Norwood, born July 
26, 1895 ; iii. Angelica Talcott Rathbone, born 
March 13, 1871, married, December 31, 1899, 
Dr. Charles R. S. Putnam ; child, Patrick ; iv. 
Ethel Rathbone, born December, 1877, mar- 
ried, March, 1907, in Paris, Jean ]Marty; v. 
Franklin Townsend Rathbone, born Decem- 
"ber 22, 1879. 3. Robert Shearman, born Octo- 
"ber 2^. 1847; married, May 18, 1870, Mattie 
D., daughter of Dr. William H. Barclay, of 
Philadelphia. 4. Anna Maria, born October 
17, 1849. 5- Sarah Gibson, born December 
:25, 185 1 ; married Charles Lansing Pruyn 
((see Pruyn IX). 



(VI) David Pruyn, fifth child of 
PRUYN* Lieutenant Casparus (q. v.) and 
Catherine (Groesbeckj Pruyn, 
was born in Albany, New York, August 24, 
1771, died January 20, 1843. At the time 
of the division of the Great or Collegiate 
Consistory of the Dutch Church of Albany in 
November, 1815, David Pruyn was deacon. 
The Second Reformed Church then separa- 
ted from the mother organization and he went 
•with the Second Church. He was during 
his subsequent years a deacon and elder of 
that congregation, and at his death presiding 
•elder. He was married, by Rev. John Bas- 
sett, February 27, 1794, to Huybertie Yates 
iLansing, born July 26, 1773, died September 
2, 1855, daughter of Christopher and Sarah 
'(Yan Schaick) Lansing, of Albany. She 
was granddaughter of John \'an Schaick and 
his wife. Alida Bogart, and great-granddaugh- 
ter of Jacob Bogart and Catalyna, daughter 
■of Peter Davidse Schuyler and his wife, Alida 
Van Slichtcnhorst. This line again relates 
the Pruyns with the ancient Schuyler family. 
■"Mrs. David Pruyn (Huybertie Lansing) was 
most eminent in all works of charity and pie- 
ty. She was mainly instrumental in estab- 
lishing Sunday schools in .Albany, going to 
New York in 181 5 to consult with Dr. Beth- 

*This narrative is from a record prepared liy 
John V. L. Pruyn, Jr., published in the "New 
"York Genealogical and Biographical Record." 



une, the so-called founder of the American 
system of Sunday schools. In June, 1816, 
with Mrs. Christian Miller, she opened a Sun- 
day school for girls in Albany, and to her 
the church was indebted for very much abun- 
dant and profitable service. Though rather 
delicate in physique, she was incessant in her 
visitation of the sick and poor. She was an 
energetic organizer and leader of the Female 
Bible, Dorcas and Tract societies of Albany. 
The Woman's Prayer Meeting (still a fea- 
ture of the church services) had its origin in 
her suggestion. Religion seemed woven into 
the texture of her being, enveloping her as 
an atmosphere, the heart life of her existence." 
Children of David and Huybertie (Lansing) 
Pruyn : Christopher Lansing, died in infancy ; 
Sarah, born August 5, 1796, died in infancy; 
Lansing, born December 12, 1797, died aged 
two years: Catherine, born December i, 1800, 
died in infancy ; Alida, born September 2, 
1801, died in infancy; John \'an Schaick, twin 
of Alida, died in infancy ; Catherine, born 
February 14, 1803, died April 6, 1885 ; Lans- 
ing, born September 30, 1805, died Novem- 
ber 15. 1877; married, June 30, 1834, Anna 
Mary Saltus and had children ; he was a lead- 
ing merchant and citizen of Albany ; Casparus, 
born April 2, 1809, died in infancy; John 
\'an Schaick, Lansing, see forward. 

(ATI) John \"an Schaick Lansing. LL.D., 
(known as John V. L. Pruyn), youngest child 
of David and Huybertie (Lansing) Pruyn, 
was born in Albany, New York, June 22, 
181 1, died at Clifton Springs, New York, 
November 21, 1877. He had a most brilliant 
and useful career in both public and profes- 
sional life, being skilled in the law. He was 
state senator, a member of congress, and 
chancellor of the L^niversity of the State of 
New York. As the foregoing pages show 
he was of the best Dutch ancestry. His 
maternal grandfather, Christopher Lansing, 
was quartermaster of General Schuyler's reg- 
iment in the revolutionary war, and a man 
of high character. On the maternal side he 
descended from the Van Schaicks, Yates, Bo- 
garts. Van Slichtenhorsts, \^erplancks and 
Schuylers. On the paternal side he also de- 
scended from the Bogarts, \'erplancks and 
Schuylers, as well as from the Groesbecks 
and Van der Poels. His great-grandmother, 
Huybertie Yates, mother of Christopher Lan- 
sing, was sister of Hon. Abraham Yates, 
mayor of Albany from 1790 to 1796, whose 
fidelity to the principles of Jefferson procured 
for him the name of "the Democrat," and 
who wrote the famous political articles signed 
the "Rough Hewer." A flirect though some- 
what remote ancestor was Brant Arentse Van 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



145 



Slichtenhorst, of Nykerk, in Geklerland, who 
was appointed in 1646 during- the minority of 
the young' patroon, director of the Colonie of 
Rensselaerwyck. jiresident of the court of jus- 
tice, and general superintendent, with full 
powers to manage the \'an Rensselaer estate. 
John \'. L. Pruyn's character was moulded by 
his most excellent mother, and one of the 
beautiful features of his life was his devo- 
tion to her. He received his early education 
in private scliools. and entered the Albany 
Academy in 1824, where he completed a full 
course of study. The noted Theodoric Ro- 
meyn Beck, I\LD., LL.D., was principal of the 
academy during the years he spent there. Im- 
mediately after leaving the academy he en- 
tered the law office of James King, at that 
time one of .-Mbany's most eminent lawyers, 
later a regent of the University of New York, 
and who in 1839 became chancellor. Mr. 
Pruyn became his private and confidential 
clerk and remained as such several months 
after being admitted to the bar. He was ad- 
mitted as attorney in the supreme court of 
New York and a solicitor in the court of chan- 
cery. January 13. 1822. This latter court ad- 
mitted him a counsellor May 21, 1833, and 
the supreme court January 17. 1835. While 
still a young lawyer he was counsel for some 
of the parties to the famous "James Will 
Case," which gave him both reputation and 
experience. In 1833 he formed a law part- 
nership with Henry H. Martin, who had been 
a fellow student in the office of Mr. King. 
The firm name was Pruyn & Martin. On 
May z-j. 1833, he was appointed by Governor 
Marcy an examiner in chancery, and Febru- 
ary 10, 1836. a master in chancery. Three 
days later Chancellor Walworth designated 
him as injunction master for the third cir- 
cuit, all highly responsible positions, which 
showed how he had gained the confidence and 
respect of those in authority. February 21, 
1848, he was admitted to practice in the Uni- 
ted States supreme court at Washington, and 
April 9, 1856, to practice before the United 
States court of claims. In 1853 he had prac- 
tically withdrawn from the practice of his pro- 
fession, politics and corporation service tak- 
ing his entire time. In 185 1 he became a 
director of the Albany City Bank and sub- 
sequently vice-president. In 185 1 he formed 
a law partnership with John H. Reynolds 
(Mr. Martin, his former partner, having been 
appointed cashier of the Albany City Bank), 
one of the most brilliant lawyers of the day. 
The partnership continued until 1853, when 
Mr. Pruyn's railroad relations became so im- 
portant that he could not longer give the law 
his personal attention. 



In 1835 he was chosen counsel and a 
director of the Mohawk & Hudson Railway, 
the first railway successfully operated in .\m- 
erica. In 1853 steps were taken to amalga- 
mate the various railway corporations (about 
ten in number) between Albany and Buf- 
falo into one corporate body. Mr. Pruyn in 
person concluded the proceedings and drew 
up the "consolidation agreement," in some re- 
spects the most important business document 
ever drawn in the state. The new corpora- 
tion was the New York Central railroad, and 
he was chosen secretary, treasurer and general 
counsel. He continued in this capacity and 
also a director of the road until i86fi, when 
the Corning management was voted out by 
the \"anderbilts. Me had now acquired a com- 
fortable competence an<l henceforth devoted 
himself to other and more congenial pursuits. 
He was deeply interested in political science, 
though not in the vulgar sense a politician. 
He was a Democrat of the "Old School." 
When the civil war broke out he at once took 
sides with the north, and did all a conscien- 
tious citizen should do to honor and defend 
the constitution. At the fall election of 1861 
he was elected state senator. He accepted the 
nomination upon the express condition that 
neither he or any of his friends should be 
called upon to contribute a single dollar to . 
control the vote of any elector. At the close 
of one of the sessions of the legislature, he 
gave the salary of a year to the poor of Al- 
bany. At about this time a law was passed 
at the instance of James A. Bell, Mr. Pruyn 
and a few others, for the building of the new 
state capitol. By the laws of 1865 a com- 
mission was created for this purpose, Mr. 
Pruyn being one of the commissioners, and 
continuing as such until 1870, when the board 
was reorganized, largely, it is said, in the in- 
terests of the friends of the New York City 
political ring headed by "Boss Tweed." Mr. 
Pruyn not being in harmony with this ele- 
ment of his party was dropped from the com- 
mission. A great deal that was meritorious 
in the original plans of the Capitol was due 
to the efforts of Mr. Pruyn and the Hon. 
Hamilton Harris, an associate member of the 
commission. These two worked side by side, 
and had their wishes been more closely fol- 
lowed the defects in the building would have 
been fewer and much money saved the state. 
Mr. Pruyn was particularly well-informed on 
light and ventilation, and to his energy is due 
the central court of the building. This he 
had to fight for, with the assistance of Mr. 
Harris, as well as for other necessary fea- 
tures of the building. From 1865 to 1870 
these two men worked to the best of their 



146 



HUDSON AND ^lOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



ability for the interests of the state and should 
be exempt from the severe criticism to which 
the Capitol commission is subjected. The first 
stone of the new building was laid on July 
7. 1869, by Mr. Pruyn in the presence of Gov- 
ernor Hoffman, the state official and a few 
friends. A feature of the decoration of the 
famous "staircase"' is a head of ]\Ir. Pruyn 
carved in stone. 

He was a representative in congress from 
the Albany district twice : first in the thirty- 
eighth congress (1863-65), elected as suc- 
cessor to Erastus Corning, resigned, and again 
in the fortieth congress ( 1867-69). He served 
upon the important committees on ways and 
means, claims, Pacific railroads, joint library 
and foreign affairs. In the thirty-eighth con- 
gress his most noted speeches were made, in 
opposition to the confiscation act, against the 
currency bill and upon the abolition of slav- 
ery. In the fortieth congress his principal 
speeches were on the treaty-making power, 
under the Alaska treaty with Russia, on re- 
construction, on diplomatic appropriation, the 
resumption of specie payments and against 
the impeachment of President Andrew John- 
son. In his congress he was chosen a regent 
of the Smithsonian Institute in conjunction 
with the Hon. Luke P. Poland and James 
A. Garfield, then a member of congress from 
Ohio, later to die by the assassin's bullet while 
President of the United States. Mr. Pruyn 
was in many respects the most efficient repre- 
sentative that Albany has ever sent to Wash- 
ington. He was possessed of most remarkable 
executive ability, while his extensive knowl- 
edge and elevated views of public affairs gave 
him weight and position. Although not rated 
an orator, he was an effective speaker. "His 
style of language and manner was simple, 
vigorous and correct, while his reasoning was 
.sound and just." Although eminently fitted 
for public life, he will be best remembered for 
his work in the more congenial fields of phil- 
anthropy and education. In 183 1 he was elec- 
ted a member of the Albany Institute, which 
he served in all capacities including the office 
of president, which he filled capably from 1857 
until his death. The Albany Institute, al- 
though not organized until ^Iay. 1824, is in 
reality one of the oldest literary and scientific 
societies in the state, being the combination of 
the "Albany Lyceum of Natural History" 
(founded in 1823) and the "Society for the 
Promotion of Useful Arts," which was 
founded in 1804 as the legitimate successor of 
the "Society for the Promotion of .Agricul- 
ture, .'Krts and Manufactures," organized in 
the city of New York ( then the state capital ) 
in 1791. In the cause of education Mr. Pruyn 



did a noble work. On May 4, 1844, at the 
age of thirty-three, he was appointed by the 
legislature a regent of the University of the 
State of New York, and on January 9, 1862, 
was elected chancellor to succeed Hon. Gerrit 
Yates Lansing. LL.D., deceased. He was a 
regent for over thirty years, fifteen of which 
he was chancellor, the highest educational of- 
fice of the state. 

The University of the State of New York 
was established by the legislature, first in 
1784. but substantially as it now exists in 
1787. Alexander Hamilton was one of the 
committee who drew up the act of 1787. The 
University, like those of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, is one of supervision and visitation 
rather than one of instruction. There are 
twenty-three regents, the presiding officer of 
the board being the chancellor, who is the 
head of the university, which includes under 
the visitation of the regents twenty-three lit- 
erary colleges, twenty medical colleges, schools 
of science, three law schools, and about two 
hundred and forty academies and academical 
departments of Union schools. The regents 
also have the care of the state library and the 
State Museum of Natural History. When 
he became chancellor Mr. Pruyn threw his 
whole soul into the work. The cause of high- 
er education was not in its most flourishing 
condition, but he gave it a quickening impulse. 
The L'niversity convocation was organized, 
the system of preliminary and higher academic 
examination was instituted and a broad foun- 
dation laid for greater usefulness. At Ham- 
ilton College he founded the Pruyn medal for 
the best oration in the senior class, relating 
to the duties of the educated citizen to the 
state. He was president of the board of trus- 
tees of St. Stephen's College at Annandale, an 
institution founded by Air. and Mrs. John 
Bard for training young men, chiefly for the 
ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church. J 
As a member of the "Association for the Codi- I 
fication of the Law of Nations," he oft'ered 
at the I lague meeting in 1875 resolutions of 
thanks for courtesies received, sjwaking in 
English, Erench and finally in Dutch, the 
language of his ancestors, for which he was 
loudly applauded. In 1876 the board of com- 
missioners of state survev" was organized and 
he was chosen president. This was really the 
last public position to which he was called. 
In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant i 
a member of the centennial commission, but 
resigned before 1876. I 

He was a corresponding member of the j 
New York Historical Society, an honorary 
member of the Wisconsin Historical .'society, 
a resident member of the American Geogra- 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



147 



jiliical and Statistical Society, a life member 
of the Young Men's Association of Albany, 
a member of the Literary h'und Society of 
Ixindon, of the Union and Century clubs of 
New York, and of other societies. He re- 
ceived the degree of Master of Arts in 1835 
from Rutgers College and in 1845 from Union 
College, and that of LL.D. in 1852 from the 
University of Rochester. During the latter 
years of his life he gave nearly all his time 
to public service, and that too without com- 
pensation, although entitled by law to the re- 
imbursement of his expenses he steadily de- 
clined to take it. His religious life was re- 
markably happy. Originally an officer of the 
.Second Reformed Dutch Church, in which he 
had been reared, the latter half of his religious 
life was given almost wholly to the Protestant 
Episcopal church, of which he became a com- 
nnmicant. He was a vestryman of St. Peter's 
Church. .Albany, early known as "Queen 
-Vnne's Chapel in the Wilderness." His views 
were essentially broad. He was a warm ad- 
mirer of Dean Stanley and a personal friend 
of Bishop Doane, to whom he suggested the 
form of prayer now in use in the 
diocese of Albany for the government 
and state legislature, and for a col- 
lect for the new year. Despite his love 
for the Episcopal church, he never lost 
sight of his early religious training, but made 
it his custom to annually take part in the 
New Year services of the Dutch church. He 
was a man of cultivated taste, had traveled 
extensively, and had a large circle of friends 
abroad as well as at home. His pre-eminent 
characteristic was justice. He was always 
gentle and never spoke ill of any one. "He 
had not an enemy in the world" was true of 
him. He led a life of personal purity and 
integrity, unsullied by even a rumor to the 
contrary. After his death on November 21, 
1877. resolutions of sympathy were passed by 
the bodies with which he had been connected 
and by many others upon which he had no 
claim. His funeral took place on the after- 
noon of i'"riday, November 23, 1877, from 
St. Peter's Church, .\lbany, in the presence 
of the governor, the state officials, regents of 
the University, and a large assemblage of 
friends. The flags upon the public buildings 
were at half mast, and many of the public 
offices closed during the funeral services. He 
is buried in the .\lbany cemetery, beneath 
the sha<low of a simple granite cross, suitably 
inscribed. 

Mr. Pruyn married (first) October 22, 1840, 
in .Albany, Harriet Corning Turner, born June 
18, 1822. second daughter of Thomas and 
Mary Ruggles (Weld) Turner, of Troy, New 



York. She was a lineal descendant of the 
Rev. Thomas Weld, who emigrated from 
England in 1632 and became pastor of the 
First Congregational Church in Ro.xbury, 
Massachusetts. This is the same Weld family 
as the Welds of Wiltshire and Lulworth Cas- 
tle, Dorsetshire, England. Mrs. Pruyn died 
March 22, 1859. In St. Peter's Church a 
beautiful memorial window is dedicated to her 
memory and that of an infant daughter. I'.y 
this marriage were born five children, two only 
of whom arrived at maturity, both sons, three 
daughters clying in infancy, i. Erastus Corn- 
ing, born August 24, 1841 : passed several 
years under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Cal- 
throp at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and subse- 
quently a student at Princeton University and 
at Trinity College, Cambridge, England ; he 
w^as appointed consular agent of the United 
States at Caracas by Hon. William H. Sew- 
ard, secretary of state, and was the acting 
minister of our government there during the 
\'enezuelan revolution of 1868. He received 
special commendation from the state depart- 
ment for his services at that time. In 187 1 he 
went to Teneriffe. one of the Canary Islands, 
where he died at Orotava, February, 188 1. He 
married at Orotava, Teneriffe, i\Iay 4, 1872, 
Maria de los Dolores, only daughter of Au- 
gustin \'elasquez, of the Island of Las Pal- 
mas. There was no issue. 2. Mary Weld, 
born August 6, 1843, died September 8. 1844. 
3. Harriet Corning, born August 12, 1845, 
died March 24, 1847. 4. Harriet Catherine, 
born August 13, 1849, died February 25, 
1858. 5. John Van Schaick Lansing, see for- 
ward. -Mr. Pruyn married (second) Septem- 
ber 7, 1865, at St. Peter's Church, Albanv, 
by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., 
D.C.I., Oxon, Bishop of New York. .Anna 
t'enn Parker, born at Delhi. New York, 
Alarch 26, 1840, eldest daughter of Hon. Am- 
asa J. Parker and his wife, Harriet Langdon 
(Roberts) Parker, of Albany (see Parker 
\T1). Two children were born of this mar- 
riage: I. Harriet Langdon. born January 31, 
1868, at Washington, D. C, married William 
Gorham Rice and their son, William Gorham 
Rice, Jr., was born December 30, 1892. 2. 
Huybertie Lansing, born in Albany, New 
York, April 8. 1873, married Charles Sumner 
Hamlin, of Boston : their daughter, .Anna, was 
born October 26, 1900. Mrs.- John \'. L. 
(.Anna F. Parker) Pruyn, spent the greater 
part of her life in .Albany. She was a woman 
of vigorous mental powers, of broad culture 
and of extended travel. She was deeply in- 
terested in Albany affairs where her house 
was a centre of wide hospitality. Generous 
by nature, she gave liberally of her means both 



148 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



to public and private charities. The Pruyn 
public library in Albany was a gift from Mrs. 
Pruyn and her family in memory of her hus- 
band. She died at her summer home in Mat- 
tapoisett, Massachusetts, October 7, 1909. 
Her two daughters, Mrs. William Gorham 
Rice, of Albany, and Mrs. Charles S. Hamlin, 
of Boston, survive her. 

(Vni) John Van Schaick Lansing, son of 
John \'an Schaick Lansing and Harriet Corn- 
ing (Turner) Pruyn, was born in Albany, 
New York, March 14, 1859, died in New 
York City, September 24, 1904. He gradua- 
ted at St. John's School, Sing Sing, New 
York, in June, 1876, at Union College, Sche- 
nectady, New York, in June, 1880, where he 
received the degree of A.B. Pie entered the 
law office of Hon. Amasa J. Parker where he 
read law. He graduated from the Albany 
Law School, May 25, 1882. At the general 
term he passed the examination and was ad- 
mitted attorney and counsellor. May 27, 1882. 
He removed to New York City, where he mar- 
ried and died. He was trustee of the .-Mbany 
City Homeopathic Hospital for 1881, and was 
elected a director of the Albany City National 
Bank in 1880. He was a cultured man of re- 
fined tastes and deep learning. He was a 
member of the Albany Institute and of the 
New York Genealogical and Biographical So- 
ciety. He was a useful inember ot this so- 
ciety and prepared for publication in their 
Record a comprehensive history of the Pruyn 
and collateral families, from which much of 
the matter herein contained was compiled. He 
married, June 11, 1895, ™ Grace Church. New 
York City, Cornelia \'an Rensselaer, daughter 
of John Langdon F.rving. Their children 
were: i. John \'an Schaick Lansing (3), born 
in Florence, Italy, June 6, 1896, died in Al- 
bany, New York, May 17, 1897. 2. Erving, 
born in Albany, October 26, 1897. 3- Hen- 
drick, born in New York, December 29, 1900. 



(\T) Francis C. Pruyn, fourth 
PRUYN child of Lieutenant Casparus 

(q. v.), and Catherine (Groes- 
beck ) Pruyn, was born in Albany, New York, 
July 19, 1769, died there June 14, 1837. He 
married, August 30. 1791, Cornelia Dunbar, 
born January 11, 1770, died July 12, 1844, 
daughter of Levinus and Margaret (Hansen) 
Dunbar, of Albany. Hendrick Hansen, a 
great-uncle of Cornelia Dunbar, was mayor 
of Albany in 1698-99. Johannes Hansen, 
probalily a son of Hendrick, was mayor in 
1731-32, and in 1754-56. Their ancestor was 
Captain Hans Hendrickson, whose male de- 
scendants took the name of Hansen. Francis 
C, and Cornelia (Dunbar) Pruyn were the 



parents of ten children. Casparus F., see for- 
ward : Catherine, married Adrian \'an Sant- 
voord : Levinus, a merchant of Albany ; mar- 
ried Brachie or Bridget Oblenis ; David, died 
young ; Margaret, twin to David, married a 
kinsman, William I. Pruyn ; David ( 2 ) , born 
November 20, 1801, died at sea; Gertrude, 
married Samuel Randall, an architect and 
manufacturer ; Alida, married William Board- 
man ; Maria, married David Bensen ; Cornelia, 
married Dr. Owen Munson, a physician and 
one time partner of Dr. Frank Hamilton, of 
New York. Dr. Munson served in the civil 
war as assistant surgeon of the Fifth New 
York Zouaves and was taken prisoner at Sar- 
atoga Station. Later he was promoted to sur- 
geon of the One Hundred and Ninth Regi- 
ment, New York \'olunteers. Army hard- 
ships destroyed his health and compelled his 
return to private life. Of the daughters of 
Francis C. Pruyn all reared large families and 
many distinguished men and women are num- 
bered among his descendants. 

(VII) Casparus F., eldest child and son 
of Francis C. and Cornelia (Dunbar) Pruyn, 
was born in Albany, New York, May 26, 1792, 
died February 11, 1846. At the age of thir- 
teen he entered the office of the \'an Rens- 
selaer Estate, his uncle. General Robert Dun- 
bar, being at that time (1805) the agent. In 
1835 General Dunbar resigned and Air. Pruyn 
was appointed agent for the manor. This 
position called for a man of more than or- 
dinary business ability and he filled it with sat- 
isfaction to all concerned. In January, 1839, 
"the old patroon," General Stephen \'an Rens- 
selaer, died, and the estate was divided, that 
portion on the east shore of the Hudson going 
to \\'illiani Paterson \'an Rensselaer. Mr. 
Pruyn removed to Bath, Rensselaer county, 
and became agent for the "East Manor," so 
continuing until the autumn of 1844, when he 
resigned. His death occurred two years later. 
He married, April 19. 1814, Anne, born Janu- 
ary 27, 1794, (lied l*"ebruary 12, 1841. daugh- 
ter of Robert and Elizabeth (Fryer) Hewson, 
of Albany. Children: i. Robert Hewson, 
A.M., LL.D., born in Albany, February 14, 
1815, died February 26, 1882. 2. Fran- 
cis, born November 2, 1816, died April 
I, 1897, at Brigham, Province of Que- 
bec, Canada. He was commissioned cap- 
tain of the One Hundred and Thir- 
teenth Regiment, New York \'olun- 
teer Infantry, September 8, 1862. This regi- 
ment l^ecame the Seventh New York Heavy 
Artillery, and on January 23, 1864, he was 
commissioned major. He married Isabella, 
daughter of Andres Kirk, and had issue. 3. 
Elizabeth, died unmarried at the age of twen- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



149 



ty-four. 4. Cornelia, married Charles Van 
Zandt, agent of the Van Rensselaer estate, and 
a leading member of the North Dutch Church. 
5. Mary, died young. 6. Alida, married James 
C. Bell, and had issue. 7. William Fryer, 
married Gertrude Dunbar Visscher and had 
issue. 8. Edward Roggen, born July 12, 1829. 
9. .Augustus, see forward. 10. Mary Hewson, 
married Montgomery Rochester, whose ances- 
tors laid out and founded the city of Roches- 
ter, New York. They removed to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and had issue. 

(\'ni) .Augustus, ninth child of Casparus 
F. and .Anne (Hewson.) Pruyn, was born 
in .Albany, New A^ork, October 23, 1831, 
died February 7, 1908. He was a civil engi- 
neer by profession. During the civil war he 
served as adjutant of the Eleventh Regiment 
"Scotts 900," New York Cavalry. He was ap- 
pointed September, 1861. In Alarch, 1862, he 
was made captain of Company H, same regi- 
ment, and in April, appointed major. Com- 
missions were not issued to any officers in his 
regiment until 1863, as the colonel in com- 
mand would not accept state commissions, 
claiming that the regiment was United States 
Troops. In the autumn of 1862, Major Pruyn 
resigned from the Eleventh to accept a com- 
mission as major in the Fourth Regiment, 
New A'ork Calvary, and was so commissioned 
January 30, 1863. On May 25, 1863, he was 
promoted to lieutenant-colonel, ranking as such 
from .April 2^. His commission did not reach 
him until the morning of June 9th, on which 
date he was in command of the regiment, in 
battle at Beverly Ford or Brandy Station. In 
the calvary battles of June 17. 18, 19, 20 and 
21. he was in command of the regiment, the 
colonel having previously been taken prisoner. 
He was also in command of the regiment at 
Gettysburg and in all the eighteen engage- 
ments including that of Aline Run, after which 
he resigned in December, 1863. After his 
army career was ended Mr. Pruyn returned 
to the ]5ractice of his profession. He was en- 
gaged jirincipally by the great railway cor- 
])oration in construction work which called 
him away from home a great deal. For sev- 
eral years he was located in Newark, New 
Jersey, where his four youngest children were 
born. He was engaged in construction work 
of importance in all parts of the country and 
stood high in his profession. He later in life 
returned to .Albany, where he died. He was 
a member of the Dutch Church of Albany 
(Second Reformed) and in politics a Republi- 
can. He was a member of the Military Or- 
der of the Loyal Legion, an honor that de- 
scended to his son, Foster. He was married, 
September 19, 1866, in the North Dutch 



Church, Albany, by the Rev. Rufus W. Clark, 
D.D., to Catalina Ten Eyck, born January 24, 
1840, daughter of Herman and Eliza (Bo- 
gart) Ten Eyck, granddaughter of Harmanus 
and Margaret (Bleecker) Ten Eyck, and 
great-granddaughter of Hendrick Bleecker, 
Jr., and his wife Catalyntje Cuyler, this mar- 
riage again bringing together many families 
of the best okl Dutch stock of the Mohawk 
Valley. The children of this marriage are : 
Margaret Ten Eyck, born in Albany, January 
2, 1868; .Augustus (2), born in Newark. New 
Jersey, April 22, 1869, died July i, 1870; Eli- 
za Ten Eyck, born in Newark, July 27, 1870; 
married April 8, 1896, Charles Mulford Robin- 
son, of Rochester, New A'ork, where they re- 
side ; Montgomery Rochester, born in Newark, 
July 29, 1873, died July 16, 1874; Foster, see 
forward. 

(IX) Foster, youngest child of Augustus 
and Catalina (Ten Eyck) Pruyn, was born 
in Newark, ¥ew Jersey, October 5, 1875. His 
early education was in a private school in Al- 
bany, and he then entered Albany Academy, 
graduating therefrom with the class of 1893. 
He then matriculated at A^ale University, from 
v\'hich he was graduated in class of 1897. 
Choosing the profession of law he entered Al- 
bany Law School, Union University, taking 
the full course, graduating in 1899. In Jidy 
of the same year he was admitted to practice 
in the courts of New York state. He is now 
(1910) engaged in the general practice of law 
in Albany, New A'ork. His profession does 
not ab.sorb all his time nor energy, but numer- 
ous outside interests claim his attention, 
among them the Newton Fire Brick Company 
of Albany, of which he is secretary and treas- 
urer. His political preference is for the men 
and measures of the Republican party, but he 
keeps aloof from all personal connection be- 
yond tliat of a good citizen's duty. He is a 
member and a deacon of the Second Reformed 
(Dutch) Church of Albany. He has a lively 
interest in the citizen soldiery of his state and 
for many years has been a member of Troop 
B, National Guard of New York, of which he 
is sergeant. He is a member of the "old 
guard" of Troop B, to which only those who 
have served five years in the troop are eligible. 
He wears the insignia of the Military Order 
of the Loyal Legion, of which he is a member, 
inheriting that proud distinction through his 
father, Lieutenant-Colonel Pruyn. He is a 
member of the Patriotic Order Sons of the 
Revolution, Albany Chapter, the Phi Beta 
Kappa of Yale, the Yale, .Albany Academy, 
and Albany Law School .Alumni associations. 
His social and professional clubs are the .Al- 
bany Country Club, the Fort Orange, the Uni- 



15° 



HUDSON AND :\IOHA\VK \"ALLFA'S 



versity and Camera of Albany, and the Yale 
Club of Xew York City. Mr. Pruyn is un- 
married. 



The family name of Selkirk is 
SELKIRK derived from a borough town 
of Scotland. It was originally 
Cellkirk, a religious house : a "cell" was an- 
ciently that part of a temple within the walls. 
It is also said that the name is derived from 
"Sel-carrik," (Cor. Br.) which sigpiifies the 
high rock ; "Sel," a view, or prospect, Welsh 
"syllu" to look, and "carrik" or "craig," a 
rock. From this latter formation of the name, 
we are led to believe that when the family 
first was given that cognomen, they dwelt on 
an eminence, a high, rocky hill, or upon a 
mountain top in the Highlands of Scotland. 
The Selkirk coat-of-arms. Creation, Au- 
gust, 1646. Arms, Quarterly: 1st and 4th 
arg, a human heart; git. ensigned with an im- 
perial crown: or, on a chief: ac, three (3) 
mullets of the field for Douglas ; 2d. gu. three 
(3) cinquefoils : crm, for Hamilton. 3d. gu, 
a lion, rampant : arg, within a bordure of the 
last, charged with ten ( 10) — (8?) roses of the 
first, for Dunbar of Baldoon. Crest : On a 
chapeau, "•;(, turned up, crm, a salamander in 
flame, ppr. Supporters : Dexter, a savage, 
wreathed about the temples and loins with ivy, 
holding with his exterior hand a club over his 
shoulder; ppr; Sinister, an antelope, arg, 
armed or, ducally gorged and chained of the 
last. Mottoes : "Firmior quo paratior" : over 
the crest. "Jamais arriere." Seat, St. Mary's 
Isle, Kirkcudbright. 

(I) James Selkirk was born in Kirkcud- 
bright, Scotland. November i, 1757 (old 
style), and emigrated to America. He left 
Kirkcudbright early in March, 1775, and after 
a stormy passage of one hundred and six days, 
landed in the city of New York, the day after 
the battle of I'unker Hill, June 19, 1775. He 
remained there for a few days, and then went 
to Argj'le, afterwards to wliat was then Al- 
bany county ; but now within the limits of 
Saratoga county. Following a residence in 
Argyle for a few months, he enlisted in the 
provisional army, or forces of the struggling 
colony of New York, and served out his term 
of enlistment, when he returned to .Albany. 
There he remained for a few days, and then 
.enlisted a second time, December 20, 1776, 
for the whole period of the war, serving to the 
end of the revolution. He had served under 
General lienedict .Arnold in the fierce northern 
campaign of the Adirondack region, and was 
in that greatest of American revolutionary 
struggles, the battle of Saratoga, which, 
known as the battle of Bemis Heights, re- 



sulted in the surrender of General Burgoyne, 
October 17, 1777. Under General Greene, he 
was in the retreat through New Jersey, and 
endured the hardships of the winter quarters 
of the army at Valley Forge. Subsequently, 
under Gen. Horatio Gates, he was in the 
southern campaign until after that general's 
defeat at Camden, and later with his regiment 
in the allied army at York-town, Virginia, 
when Cornwallis surrendered. He received his 
certificate of service and discharge duly signed 
by George Washington, and tliis document is 
now in the Hall of Military Records in the 
Capitol at Albany. New York. His discharge 
was dated June 7, 1783, and he likewise re- 
ceived with it a paper setting forth "Reward 
of Merit." His service was in battalion of 
force, commanded by Colonel James Livings- 
ton, Company Two, Dirk Hansen, captain, and 
was quartermaster-sergeant in that company. 
At the close of the war, James Selkirk mar- 
ried Elizabeth ; daughter of William Henr>-, 
the ceremony taking place in February, 1787, 
in the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, 
New York. They were the second couple ever 
married in that church. She was born April 
12, 1766, and was a sister of William Henry, 
who was the father of Professor Joseph Flen- 
ry, the inventor of the electro-magnet, while 
an instructor in the Albany Academy, he, Jos- 
eph, having been born in the city of Albany, 
December 17, 1799, and as their parents had 
come over from Scotland in the same ship, the 
families were bound by ties of closest inti- 
macy. Besides this, Professor Henry had 
taught school at Selkirk for two years, when a 
young man, before his appointment to the Al- 
bany .'\cademy, September 11. 1826. James Sel- 
kirk died at Selkirk. Albany county, about 
ten miles south of .Albany. December 2, 1820. 
Elizabeth, his wife, died May 9, 1844. Both 
are buried in the family burying-ground of 
Colonel r*"rancis Nicoll. at Cedar Hill. Albany 
county. Children: i. James, born .AugT.ist 
28, 1788; married Rachel Mull; died Alarch 
5. 1821. 2. Nancy, born May 18. 1791. died in 
infancy. 3. William, born July 24. 1792; mar- 
ried .Matilda Hallenbeck. 4. John, born No- 
vember I. 1794: married Mary Gillman ; died 
June 16, 1840. 5. Robert, torn Alarch 18. 
1797; married. 1821, Maria Boucher. 6. 
Charles, born April 13, 1799, see forward. 7. 
Joseph, born October, 1801. 8. Elizabeth, born 
.April 7. 1804. 9. Francis Nicoll, born Octo- 
ber 8. 1806. ID. Alexander, born, .\pril 16, 
1809. 

(11) Charles, fifth son of James and Eliza- 
beth (Henry) Selkirk, was born in Selkirk, 
.Albany county. New York, April 13. 1799. 
He was for some time, in 1814-15, apprenticed 



HUDSON' AXD MOIIAWK VAI.LF.YS 



151 



as a silversinitli uihIlt his brother, William, 
then residing in Albany and foreman for John 
I-". Doty, silversmith and watchmaker, doing 
business at No. 71 South Pearl street and 
with a factory at No. 7 Union street. He was 
a fellow apprentice with his first cousin, young 
Joseph Henry, and thus in the second genera- 
tion preserved the family acf|uaintanceship. 

Professor Henry, following his discovery of 
the principle of the electro-magnet, and dem- 
onstrating its practicability in the large room 
of the Academy, about 1829, was called to 
Princeton in November, 1832, as an instructor 
in the sciences, and was made the first secre- 
tary of the Smithsonian Institution at Wash- 
ington, D. C, December 3, 1846, and died in 
that city. May 13, 1878. On account of his 
poor health. Charles Selkirk did not continue 
this line of work: but returned to the home- 
stead and became a carpenter. Following the 
death of his father, in 1820, with his brother, 
William, he took the old farm and turned his 
attention to agriculture. In January of 1845 
he made a trip to Scotland, where he visited 
his relatives, traveled through England anil 
Ireland, and returned to this country in Sep- 
tember of the same year. He died July 26, 
1866, Charles Selkirk married, September 
10, 1829. Jane Elmendorf. born November 22, 
1809. died January 26. 1845, daughter of Ja- 
cob Elmendorf, of Bethlehem, .A.lbany county. 
New York, who was a descendant of Jacobus 
Elmendorf. who came to this country from 
Ghent, Holland, in the year 1649, and settled 
at Kingston, Dutchess county. New York. 
Children: i. Alexander, born in Selkirk. New 
York. July 18. 1830. see forward. 2. Lewis 
McMullen, born August 14, 1832. 3. Fran- 
ces, born January 18. 1841. 

(Ill) Alexander, son of Charles and Jane 
(Elmendorf) Selkirk, was born on the home- 
stead at Selkirk, Albany county. New York, 
July 18, 1830, died October i8, 1905. With 
his brothers, he received his education at dis- 
trict school No. 2, at Selkirk, his teachers be- 
ing generally men from the eastern states who 
made school teaching a means to aid them in 
acquiring a collegiate education, and under 
this class of instructors he was educated in 
the highest English branches of that day. He 
removed to Albany in 1847. and at James 
Goold & Company's coach factory learned the 
art of coach ornamentation and heraldr\'. and 
was made foreman in that department in 1850. 
In 1849, with George H. Boughton, James 
McDougal Hart and James XN'illiamson, he 
formed a class for the study of freehand draw- 
ing from models, with John E. Gavit, bank- 
note engraver, as instructor. In the spring of 
1853 he went into the business of carriage 



manufacturer, and continued in that until 
1864. when he sold out to Shaw & Rose. He 
then entered the profession of solicitor of pat- 
ents and attorney in patent cases, also that of 
mechanical expert, and continued in this pro- 
fession with success that won recognition until 
his death. He was located at the start at No. 
44 North Pearl street, and after 1885 at No. 
31 North Pearl street. Being of an inventive 
turn of mind, he perfected several important 
and practical inventions. In politics he voted 
first for Fremont and was always a Republi- 
can and protective tariff man. .Although not 
in any sense a politician, he was frequently 
present at gatherings to advocate a cause or 
candidate, serving his party considerably in 
one way or another without thought or expec- 
tation of personal gain. When a new water 
supply for the city of Albany was being agi- 
tated with considerable fervor by the advo- 
cates of different methods to be pursued, and 
a scheme known as the "Kindcrhook Water 
Supply" was being pressed. Mr. Selkirk gave 
such time and untiring effort in convincing 
the public of the enormous cost and imprac- 
ticability of the proposed scheme that the pro- 
moters of the bill before the legislature de- 
cided not to call it up for a third reading. 
He drafted other bills relating to Albany's 
water supply, which passed both houses ; but 
ended in a veto by the governor. In 1848 
he united with the Wesleyan Church, and in 
1864 with the Fourth Presbyterian Church of 
Albany. In 1832 he joined Union Lodge, In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and in 1857 
Wadsworth Lodge, No. 417, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons. He married, at Albany, Feb- 
ruary 17, 1853, Elizabeth Jane Fee, born in 
Albany, February 18, 1835, died in the same 
city. December 27, 1904, daughter of .Adam 
and Henrietta (Reid) Fee, both of .-Mbany, 
New York. Children, born in Albany: i. 
Charles, February 23, 1855 ; see forward. 2. 
William Fee. May 23. 1857. see forward. 3. 
John Adam. ]\Iarch ifi. 1864; in 1910 con- 
nected with the Delaware & Hudson railroad 
offices at Albany. 4. Elizabeth Reid, August 
19, 1866: residing at No. 284 Clinton avenue, 
Albany, in 1910. 5. Alexander. February 2, 
1868, see forward. 6. Frank Elmendorf, 
March 10. 187 1. see forward. 

(I\') Charles, son of Alexander and Eliza- 
beth Jane (Fee) Selkirk, was born in .\lbany, 
New York. February 23. 1835. He received 
his education at the local schools, and about 
1870 commenced studying mechanical and art 
drawing under his father, who had studied 
with the celebrated artists, Boughton and 
Hart, at his father's office, then located at No. 
44 North Pearl street. About 1885 both he 



152 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



and his father removed their separate offices to 
the suite at No. 31 North Pearl street, where 
he was located in 1910, as art designer, and 
had achieved success in his line. He is a Re- 
publican, an attendant of the Fourth Pres- 
byterian Church, and resides at No. 113 South 
Lake avenue, Albany. He married, in Phil- 
adelphia, Pennsylvania. April 22, 1884, Lillian 
Plumly. born in that city February 17, i860, 
daughter of Richard Bernard and Harriet 
Miller (Plumly) Connolly. Children, born in 
Albany, New York: Charles Richard, March 

7, 1885 ; Harriet Connolly. January 16, 1891. 
(IV) William Fee, son of Alexander and 

Elizabeth Jane (Fee) Selkirk, was born in Al- 
bany, New York, May 23. 1857, and resided at 
No. 291 First street, that city, in 19 10, being 
connected with the printing establishment of 
Weed-Parsons & Company, of Albany. He 
married, in Albany, April 2, 1884, Mathilde, 
born in Albany, New York. August 29, i860, 
daughter of August W. and Johanna (Koch) 
Koenig, who were married in Albany, June 
5, 1858. Children : Augusta Louise, born De- 
cember 4, 1886; died October 11, 1894; Alex- 
ander T., born in Norwalk, Ohio, May 24, 
1889 ; Theodore Koenig, born in Albany, May 

8. 1896; Catherine King, born in Norwalk, 
Ohio, April 9, 1895 ; adopted October 14, 1901. 

(I\') Alexander (2), son of Alexander and 
EHzabeth Jane (Fee) Selkirk, was born in 
Albany, New York, February 2, 1868. He 
was educated at the primary schools in his 
native city and is a graduate of the Albany 
high school, class of 1885. After leaving 
school, he entered the office of Franklin H. 
Janes, an architect of considerable prominence, 
then located at Albany, where he was a stu- 
dent at first, and remained there for eight 
years, being the head draughtsman. Between 
this time and the actual opening of an office 
for himself, alxjut six months, he was en- 
gaged bv George Westinghouse, Jr., in de- 
signing buildings for his country residence, 
"Erskine Park," Lenox, Massachusetts. Since 
then he lias practiced his profession, meeting 
with abundant success, with his office at No. 
31 North Pearl street, Albany, New York. In 
politics he has ever been a Republican, and 
is a member of the Fourtli Presbyterian 
Church. He is a memlier of Masters Lodge, 
No. 5, Free and Accepted Masons, a charter 
member of the Aurania Club, and a member 
of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the 
Revolution. His residence is No. 209 Lancas- 
ter street, Albany, New York. He married, 
in Coxsackie. New York, .August 12, 1897, 
Clara Hartt, born at Indian l-'iclds, New York, 
September 20, 1874, daughter of John Mc- 
Carty Ver Planck, a descendant of the revolu- 



tionary general of that name, and his wife, 
Mary Eliza (Chapman) Ver Planck. Their 
other children were Robert Isaac and Louise 
Bosworth Ver Planck. (See \^er Planck 
VIII.) Child: Helen Ver Planck, born in 
Albany, New York, December 24, 1899. 

(IV) Frank Elmendorf, son of Alexander 
and Elizabeth Jane (Fee) Selkirk, was born 
in Albany, New York, March 10, 1S71. He 
was educated in the city schools and the Al- 
bany high school, and commenced his business 
career in the old Hoyt coal yard, first as a 
clerk, later as manager for John E. Rathbun, 
who succeeded to the business, and still later 
for Howell & Company, in the same business 
and yards. In 1905 he entered the employ of 
Simon Stahl, as superintendent in the millin- 
ery business, and was continued in that ca- 
pacity when the business was sold to the pres- 
ent proprietor, Jonas Muhlfelder, where he 
was still employed in 1910. At the outbreak 
of the Spanish-American war, he enlisted May 
2, 1898, as corporal in Company A, First New 
York Infantry \^olunteers, was promoted ser- 
geant, July 20, 1898, and served until the mus- 
ter out, February 21, 1899. He served eleven 
and a half years in the New York State Na- 
tional Guard. He is a charter member of the 
I'^rank Rockwell Palmer Camp of Spanish 
War Veterans, and has filled the offices of 
junior vice-commander and senior vice-com- 
mander of that organization. He is also a 
member of the Old Guard, Comjiany A, Al- 
bany Zouave Cadets, having served three years 
as secretary, and he is a member of Philip 
Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution. 
He married, Albany, November 23, 1904, Ber- 
tha Elizabeth Riggs. born in .-Mbany, New 
York, September 25. 1881, daughter of Fred- 
erick James and Emma Louise ( Whiting) 
Riggs. (See Riggs X.) Child: Elizabeth 
Whiting, born in Albany, New York, October 
22, 1906. 

(The Ver Planck Line). 

The family name of \'cr Planck is found 
in many of the ancient as well as several 
of the modern languages, (Ireek, Latin, 
German, French, etc.. signifying anything 
that is flat and broad, and while the common 
acceptance of the meaning in .America seems 
to be confined in the main to a piece of timber 
or to signify a board, in foreign countries, 
whence the family came, it would mean rather 
a broad field or extensive, ievel plain, to risk 
tautolog}- in making the definition a little more 
comprehensible, so as to adhere to the particu- 
lar significance, "fiat and broad." The family 
in .America originally dwelt on a plain in 
Holland. The name is also found, in the 
same family, Planck, Planche and Plancque, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



153 



and with or without the prefix "Ver," because 
the progenitor in this country sometimes wrote 
his surname "Planck." The \'er Planck Arms 
— Shield: Ermine, on a chief engrailed sable; 
three mullets argent. Crest : A demi wolf 
I^roper. Motto : Ut vita sic mors. 

(I) Abraham \'er Planck was the first of 
this family in America, the progenitor of a 
number of indiviiluals who gained prominence 
in the province and state of New York and 
intermarrietl with other families whose names 
figure largely in the founding of the common- 
wealth. His father, Isaac Ver Planck, lived 
in Holland, and hence the son sometimes 
wrote his name .Abraham Isaacse Ver Planck, 
and often simply "Abram Planck." In the 
year 1638 he obtained from Governor Kieft a 
patent for land at Paulus Hoeck, previously 
granted to a director of the Dutch West India 
Company, named Pau'w, a patroon, who. tiring 
of the project of colonizing, abandoned it. He 
gave to the tract a Latin name, Pavonia, a 
translation of his name meaning "Peacock." 
Thereon Abraham Ver Planck established a 
tobacco plantation, and likewise conducted a 
farm for cattle raising and dairying purposes. 
He married Maria \inge. Children: i. Abi- 
gel, married Adrian Van Laer. 2. Gelyn (Gu- 
lian), born January i, 1637; married, June 20, 
(N. S.) 1668, Hendrika Wessels. 3. Calalyna, 
married October 13, 1657, David Pieterse 
Schuyler. 4. Isaac, baptized. New Amster- 
dam, June 26, 1641 : died an infant. 5. Sus- 
sanna, baptized May 25. 1642: married, De- 
cember 4, 1660, Marten \'an Waert. 6. Jaco- 
myntje, baptized July 6, 1644, died an infant. 
7. Ariaentje, baptized December 2. 1646, mar- 
ried, December 4, 1660, Melgert Wynantse 
\'ander Poel. 8. Hillegond, baptized Novem- 
ber I, 1648: married David Ackerman in Al- 
bany. 9. Isaac, baptized February 26, 1651, 
see forward. 

(II) Isaac, son of Abraham and Maria 
(\'inge) Ver Planck, was born in Albany, 
New York, baptized February 26, 1651, and 
lived there, dying about 1729. He married 
Abigail L\vten Bogart ( or Bogaart, also Bo- 
gaert ) who was alive in 1728. Children: i. 
Isaac, born in .\lbany, died about 1721. 2. 
Jacobus. 3. Abigail. 4. Jacob, born in Al- 
bany, June 21, 1684. 5. Dirkje, baptized in 
Albany, September 16, 1686. 6. Jacob, bap- 
tised in Albany, October 28, 1688. 7. Guleyn 
(Gulian), baptized June 18, 1693. 8. David, 
baptized in Albany. April 14, 1695, see for- 
ward. 9. Catalyntje. born June 19, 1698: mar- 
ried, February 23, 1734, Landert Whitbeck. 
10. Rachel, baptized in Albany, May 12, 1700; 
married, January 2, 1726, Jan Winne. 

(III) David, son of Isaac and Abigail Uy- 



ten (Bogart) \'er Planck, was born in Al- 
bany, April 4, iTkjS, baptized April 14, 1695. 
He was commonly known as David of Baeren 
Island because of his residence there. He mar- 
ried Ariantje, daughter of Barent Pieterse 
Coeymans, and when she died, without issue, 
she left to her husbaniT a great part of the 
patent granted to her father. Barent P. Coey- 
mans was the miller to Patroon Van Rensse- 
laer, and he bought of the Catskill Indians a 
large tract of land adjoining those of the pat- 
roon, having one length, it is estimated, of 
twelve miles along the Hudson river. The 
Indians had previously granted it to Van 
Rensselaer, or had an understanding with him, 
yet he had not taken full possession, hence a 
suit in the courts which was decided in favor 
of Coeymans, who afterward, in 1714, ob- 
tained a patent from Queen Anne, confirming 
title to his heirs. Beeren (Baeren, or Bear's) 
Island was therefore part of the Coeymans 
Patent, and lies along the western bank of the 
Hudson, about fourteen miles below Albany. 
In 1900 it was known as Baerena, and was a 
place for river excursions to land and hold 
picnics. David Ver Planck married (first), 
July 16, 1723, Ariantje Coeymans; married 

(second) Brouwer; married (third) 

November 12, 1752, Catrina Boone. Children: 
I. Johannes, baptized November 12, 1753. 2. 
Ariantje, baptized July i, 1755; married 
(first) Abraham Gardinier ; married (second) 
Levi Blasdell ; died January 10, 18 14. 3. Har- 
riet, baptized in 1757. 4. Isaac David, bap- 
tized in 1759, see forward. 

(IV) Isaac David, son of David and Ca- 
trina (Boone) Ver Planck, was born in 1759 
died Februarv 24, 1836, at Coevmans, New 
York. 

He married Lena Houghtaling. Chil- 
dren: I. Helena, born June 22, 1783; mar- 
ried John McCarty. 2. David I. D., born 
May 30, 1785, see forward. 3. Catherine, 
born December 14, 1787, died September 22, 
1817; married Peter \'an Antwerp. 4. Har- 
riet, born April 12, 1789; married, February 
14, 1808, Eliphalet Ackerman. 5. .Abraham, 
born December 4, 1793. 6. Elizabeth, born 
April 12, 1796; died in Brooklyn. 7. Ann, 
born December 15, 1799; married, October 
8, 1823, Dr. B. B. Fredenburgh. 8. Maria, 
born January 25, 1802; married, December 
30, 1824, Isaac Whitbeck. 9. Caroline, bom 
March 7, 1807 ; married Van Lenner Over- 
paugh. 

(V) David I. D.. son of Isaac D.. and Lena 
(Houghtaling) \"er Planck, was born May 30, 
1785, died September 26, 1854. He married 
Elizabeth Whitbeck. Children: i. Isaac, born 
August 27, 1809, see forward. 2. Maria, born 



154 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



October 29, 1812; married, July 10, 1829, 
Aaron Dorman. 

(\'I) Isaac (2), son of David I. D. and 
Elizabeth (Whitbeck) \'er Planck, was born 
August 27, 1809 ; died July 20, 1854. He mar- 
ried (first) September 2, 1835, Charlotte Eliz- 
abeth McCarty : married ( second ) Phoebe 
Ann Edgett. Children: i. John McCarty, 
born January 17, 1838, see forward. 2. David 
I. D., born February 14, 1840. died March 28. 
1904; married, Decemlier 25. i860, Lettie 
Northrup Powell. 3. Isaac, born July 12, 
1854; married Lillie Ingalls, of Nortonhill, 
New York. 

(VII) John McCarty, son of Isaac (2) and 
Charlotte Elizabeth (McCarty) \'er Planck, 
was born in Indian Fields, xAlbany county. 
New York, January 17, 1838 ; resided there, 
where he was engaged in the foundry busi- 
ness. He married in Greenville, New York, 
September 6, 1858, ]\Iary Eliza Chapman, born 
in South Westerlo, Albany county. New York, 
December 18, 1840, died in Albany, January 
30, 1899, daughter of Robert W. and Eliza 
(Hickok) Chapman. Children: i. Robert 
Isaac, born in Dormansville, Albany county. 
New York, August 27, 1859 ; married Ida 
May Oakey, Albany. New York, July 19, 
1894. 2. Clara Hartt, see forward. 3. Louise 
Bosworth, born in Greenville, New York, Au- 
gust 10, 1876: married in Coxsackie, New 
York, November 29, 1893, Merton E. Allard, 
and had children, Walter Joseph Allard, born 
October 10, 1894, and Frank Ver Planck 
Allard, born December 11, 1896. 

(VIII) Clara Hartt, daughter of John Mc- 
Carty and Mary Eliza (Chapman) Ver 
Planck, was born in Indian Fields, Albany 
county. New York, September 20, 1874. She 
married, Coxsackie, New York, August 12, 
1897, Alexander Selkirk. They have one child, 
Helen \^er Planck Selkirk, born in Albany, 
New York, Deceml)er 24, 1899. (See Sel- 
kirk IV.) 

(The Rigg.s Line). 

The family name of Riggs is derived from 
the Dutch word "rig," meaning wealthy, rich ; 
or the name may be local, and denote a steep 
elevation, a range of hills, or the n]>per part 
• of such a range. 

(I) Edward Riggs was born about 1590 in 
Lincolnshire, England. He landed in Boston, 
Massachusetts, early in the summer of 1633, 
with his family, consisting of his wife. Eliza- 
beth, two sons and four daughters. Children : 
Edward, born in 1614, see forward; Lydia, 
born about 1616. died August, i'')33; John, 
born about 1618, died in 1634; a (laughter, 
born about 1622, married a Mr. Allen ; Mary, 
born about 1625, married a Mr. Twitchell. 



(II) Edward (2). son of Edward (i) 
Riggs, was born in England in 1614: came to 
America with his parents in 1633. He was a 
sergeant in the Pequot war, in 1637, and dis- 
tinguished himself by rescuing a band of his 
companions from an ambuscade into which 
they had been led by the Indians, and by 
which subterfuge all of his party would have 
been cut off but for his great act of bravery. 
He was known as Sergeant Riggs through a 
long and honorable life. In 1665 he removed 
to New Jersey. Children : Edward, see for- 
ward ; Samuel, born in 1640, married Sarah 
Baldwin ; Joseph, born in 1642, married Han- 
nah Brown; Mary, born in 1644, married 
George Day. 

(III) Edward (3), son of Edward (2) 
Riggs. was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
in 1636. He accumulated considerable prop- 
erty, leaving at his death an estate of much 
value. Children: Anna, born in 1662, married 
J. Gage; James, born in 1664; Mary, born 
in 1666, married Joseph Lindsley ; Edward, 
born in 1668, married Aphia Stoughton ; Jos- 
eph, born in 1675, see forward; Martha, born 
in 1677, married S. Freeman; Elizabeth, born 
in 1678, married John Lyon; John, born in 
1679, married Frances Colburn ; Samuel, 
born in 1681 ; Charity, born in 1685, married 
John Bowers. 

(I\') Joseph, son of Edward (3) and Mary 
Riggs, was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 
1675. He was an active member of the first 
church society in Orange, New Jersey, which 
was called the Mountain Society. He died 
and was buried there, September 11, 1744. 
Children: Josiah, born in 1703: Miles, born 
in 1705, married Elizabeth \Vliitney ; Hannah, 
born in 1707, married Mr. Hedden; 
Mary, born in 1709, married Thomas Cush- 
man ; Benjamin, born in 171 1; Gideon, born 
in 1713; Dinah, born in 1716; Zebulon, born 
January 23, 1719; Joseph, born in 1720, see 
forward; Daniel, born in 1724. married .*>arah 
Lamson ; Sarah, born in 1726, married Thom- 
as Roberts. 

(V) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (i) Riggs, 
was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1720. 
He was a magistrate for many years, and a 1 
leading man in the business affairs of his 
neighlxirhood. At the opening of the revolu- 
tion he was one of the committee of safety 
for the county of Essex. His wife's name was 
Abigail. Children : Prudence, born in 1746, 
married John Young; Jerusha, born in 1748, 
married Mr. Swan; Cyrenus, born in 1750, 
see forward; Anna, born in 1752, married 
Mr. Ward; Experience, born in 1754, married 
Mr. Smith; Caleb S., born in 1756, married 
Abigail J, Barnett; Abigail, born in 1758, 



Hl'DSOX A\D MOH.WMv \'ALLEYS 



155 



married James Crane: Sarah, born in 1760, 
married Benjamin Myer. 

(V'l) Cyrenus, son of Joseph (2) and Abi- 
gail Riggs. was born in Orange, New Jersey, 
in 1750. He was a soldier in the war of the 
revolution from Bergen county. New Jersey. 
In 1791 he removed to Amsterdam, New 
York. He married Esther Crane. Children : 
Isaac, born November 8, 1779, see forward; 
Electa, born in 1781, marrie(l David Crane; 
Ogden. born in 1783, married Joanna Crane; 
Abraham, born in 178s: and Marv, born in 
1787. 

(\II) Isaac, son of Cyrenus and Esther 
(Crane) Riggs, was born in Orange, New 
Jersey, November 8, 1779. He removed, with 
his father's family, to Amsterdam, New York, 
where he learned the printer's trade and 
founded the Schciuxtadv Cabinet, in 1809. He 
died in I'onda, New York, June 18, 1830. He 
married Catherine Seaman in 1808. Children: 
Stephen Seaman, born May, 1809, married 
Julia H. Vedder; Mary E., born July 31, 1812, 
married Henry Brown ; James, born Febru- 
ary 13, 1815, see forward; Caroline, married 
\'ernon Cuyler ; William, married Jellica 
Coons. 

(\'III) James, son of Isaac and Catherine 
(Seaman) Riggs, was born February 13, 1815, 
died August 21, 1854. He married, May 22, 

1843, Anna Odell, of New York City, born 
April 13. 1818, died Novembers, 1907. Chil- 
dren : Katharine Elizabeth, born February 22, 

1844, died October 22, 1904 ; Frederick James, 
born in Amsterdam, New York, May 3, 1847, 
see forward; Anna Odell, born May 20, 1854, 

■died August 24, 1855. 

(IX) Frederick James, son of James and 
Anna ( Odell ) Riggs, was born in Amsterdam, 
7\'ew York, May 3, 1847. He married, in 
Holliston, Massachusetts, December 19, 1872, 
Emma Louise Whiting. Children: i. Harry 
Whiting, born in Amsterdam, New York, Oc- 
tober 19, 1873 ; married, Albany, September 
7, 1899, Jennie Malcolm Tygart. residing in 
1910 at No. 190 Western avenue, Albany, 
New York. 2. Frederick William, born, Al- 
bany, January 13, 1876: died, Albany, May 
13, 1876. 3. Bertha Elizabeth, born in Al- 
bany, September 25, 1881, see forward. 4. 
\N'aldo Elbridge. born in Albany, November 
27, 1884, dietl in Albany, January 19, 1885. 
5. Katharine Estelle, born in Albany, ^lay 23, 
1890. 6. Marguerite, born in Albanv, August 
18, 1892. 

(X) Bertha Elizabeth, daughter of Fred- 
erick James and Emma Louise (Whiting) 
Riggs, was born in Albany, New York, Sep- 
tember 25, 1 88 1. She married, Albany, No- 
vember 23, 1904, Frank Elmendorf Selkirk. 



Child: Ehzabeth Whiting Selkirk, born Al- 
bany, October 22, 1906. (See Selkirk IV. ) 



The "Patronymica Brittannica" 
PITKIN gives the following derivation 
from the parent name Peter — 
"Petre, Peters, Peterkin, Pitkin, Peterken, 
Peterham, Pierce, Pienson, Perkin, Perkins, 
and others." The name of Pitkin is an ab- 
breviation or derivation of Peterkin, which is 
kin to Peter. The Royal borough of Berk- 
hamsted, St. Peters, Hertfordshire, appears to 
have been the English Jiome of the Pitkins at 
an early date, but the family is traceable over 
portions of Europe and the West Indies, ir- 
respective of the American branches. The 
name William seems to have been a favorite 
one in the family and was the name of the 
first representative in America. The name in 
America is an honored one and borne by a 
United States senator, three members of con- 
gress and state senators, a speaker of the 
house, forty members of the house and sen- 
ate, two attorney generals, three judges of 
supreme court, several judges of county and 
probate courts, several with degrees of D.D. 
and LL.D., colonial commissioners, a founder 
of the Western Reserve College, thirty clergy- 
men, two generals, a quartermaster-general, 
six colonels, numerous majors and command- 
ers, three graduates of West Point, two gover- 
nors, a lieutenant-governor, a historian of the 
United States, mayors, bank presidents, sur- 
geons in the United States army and navy, 
physicians, lawyers, business men innumerable, 
not to mention other important trusts con- 
ferred. "Seldom is it the fortune of any fam- 
ily to have numbered so many individuals 
raised to places of distinction, in the affairs of 
state." 

(I) William Pitkin, progenitor of the 
American family, came from England in 1659. 
Possessing an excellent education he soon 
gained the full confidence of the colonists. He 
settled at Hartford. Connecticut. He was 
educated for the law and perhaps also for the 
ministry, but the little colony into which he 
entered had no need of either lawyer or minis- 
ter, so he applied for and received permission 
to teach school at a salary of £8 per annum 
and a load of wood from each pupil or "three 
shillings in lieu of the wood." He was a man 
of wealtli ( part of which no doubt he brought 
with him from England), as there is evidence 
that he was the largest land owner on the 
east side of the river. He bequeathed in his 
will nearly eight hundred acres of land and 
his estate inventoried £700. He was admitted 
a freeman of Hartford, October 9, 1662, and 
appointed the same year prosecutor for the 



156 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



colony. In 1664 he was appointed by the 
King as attorney-general from 1675 to 1690, 
and annually represented Hartford in the co- 
lonial assembly. In 1676 he was chosen treas- 
urer of the colony, in 1676 he was appointed 
with Major Talcott to negotiate peace with 
the Indian tribes; in 1690 he was elected a 
member of the colonial council and so re- 
mained until death ; he was often employed 
by the governor as commissioner to settle dis- 
putes with other colonies. Aside from his 
profession he was a large planter, and had in- 
terests in a saw and grist mill. Although a 
member of the Church of England he asked 
for the rites of baptism for his cliildren in 
the Puritan Church, and they were so bap- 
tized. The records V assert that they all 
"owned their covenant" with and became 
members of the "First Church in Hartford." 
He left a large manuscript volume of reli- 
gious writings which shows him to have been 
a man of deep piety and of no mean knowl- 
edge of theology. "After having filled various 
and important offices, distinguished for his vir- 
tues and ability, he died December 16. 1694." 
He married, in 1661, Hannah Goodwin, bom 
in England in 1637, died February 12, 1724, 
only daughter of Hon. Ozias and I\Iary 
(Woodward) Goodwin, the progenitors of the 
Goodwin family in America. Children : Rog- 
er, see forward; William, born 1664, died 
April 5, 1723, married Elizabeth Stanley, was 
a most prominent man ; Hannah, born 1666, 
married Timothy Cowles ; John, born 1668, 
died 1706, unmarried; Nathaniel, born 1670, 
died February 20, 1733, married Hester Hos- 
mer; George, born Seiitember, 1675, died De- 
cember 23, 1702, unmarried ; Elizabeth, born 
October, 1677, married John Marsh ; Ozias, 
born September, 1679, died January 29, 1747, 
married Elizabeth Green. 

(II) Roger, eldest child of William "the 
ancestor," and Hannah (Cjoodwin) Pitkin, 
was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1662, 
died November 24, 1748. He was a farmer. 
He built and settled near his father on the 
first main street on a portion of his father's 
land. He was a leading citizen. He was one 
of the selectmen of the town for many years 
and its first school committeeman in 1720; was 
commissioner on the "Great Meadows," was 
appointed by the general assembly captain of 
the first militia company on the east side of 
the river, the then (1698) Third Company 
State Militia. He was actively engaged witli 
his command in defense of the town against 
the Indians in 1704 and in other troublous 
times. He "owned the covenant" with the 
"First Church of Hartford," November 22, 
1685 ; together with his wife, his brother Wil- 



liam and his wife, he was received into full 
communion .\ugust 14, 1692. He married,, 
in 1683, Hannah, born October 13, 1666, died 
November i, 1703, daughter of Captain Caleb 
and Hannah (Cowles) Stanley, of Hartford. 
Children : Hannah, married John Bidwell ,". 
Caleb, see forward ; Mary, married Timothy 
Porter ; Rachel, married Joseph House ; Ma- 
bel, died in infancy ; Jonathan, married Re- 
becca Smith; Mabel, married James Porter p 
Roger, married Esther Cowles. 

(IH) Caleb, eldest son of Roger and Han- 
nah (Stanley) Pitkin, was born in Hartford, 
Connecticut, August 19, 1687, died January 
ifi- 1773- He married (first) Dorothy, born- 
February 19, 1697, died April 17, 1746,. 
daughter of Jonathan and Dorothy (Hale) 
Hills. Children ; Dorothy, married John 
Goodwin ; Mary, married Samuel Bidwell ; 
Thankful, died December 17, 1742, unmar- 
ried ; Sarah, married Nathaniel Olmstead ; Ca- 
leb, see forward ; Nathaniel, married Thank- 
ful Porter ; Hannah, married Aaron Burn- 
ham ; Joshua, married Ann Stanley ; Jerusha, 
married Samuel Olmstead. He married (sec- 
ond) Deborah . 

(IV) Caleb (2), .son of Caleb (i ) and Dor- 
othy (Hills) Pitkin, was born in Hartford, 
Connecticut, in 1727, died October 2. 1768. 
He was known as "Ensign" Caleb. He mar- 
ried, in 1750, Damaris, died September 18, 
1773, daughter of Timothy and Hannah 
(Goodwin) Porter, who settled at New Hart- 
ford. Children: Caleb (3), died unmarried; 
Stephen, married Jemima Tyler ; Dorothy, 
married Isaac Steele; Damaris, married Jon- 
athan Marsli ; John, see forward ; Hannah, 
married John Porter; Timothy, married Sybil 
Cowles. 

(V) John, fifth child of Caleb (2) and 
Damaris (Porter) Pitkin, was born in Hart- 
ford, January 5, 1761, died .August i, 1837. 
He married, February 5, 1788, Rebecca, born 
December 24. 1764, died January 8, 1837, 

daughter of Elijah and (Roberts) An- 

drus, of Colebrook, Connecticut. Children : 
Sally, died at age of eighteen; John, died in 
infancy; John R.. see forward; Lucy, married 
Calvin N. Barljer; Elizabeth, married Bethuel 
Gilbert ; Dorothy, married Sleiting Frisbie. 

(VI) John Roberts, third child of John 
and Rebecca (Andrus) Pitkin, was born in 
Hartford, Connecticut, September 24, 1794, 
died September 2, 1874. He began his busi- 
ness career in early life with S. and L. Hul- 
burt. of Winchester, Connecticut, in a mercan- 
tile enterprise in .'\ugusta, Cieorgia. He re- 
mained in the south engaged in this and other 
lines until 1832, when he located in New York 
in the dry goods business. He was a man 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



157 



of great worth and varied talents. He fore- 
saw the enormous growth of New York City 
and the advantageous location of some of the 
Long Island contiguous property. He pro- 
jected, planned, and with indomitable will and 
energy founded the city of East New York 
and \\'oodhavcn, Long Island, and lived to see 
their growth and prosperity assured. He was 
a profound student of the questions affecting 
cajjital and labor and his fond hope was to 
see a union between them. He early argued 
that organized labor must be a competing ele- 
ment in many trades. He saw his position 
justified, more especially in the boot and shoe 
trade with wlnich he was familiar. His resi- 
dence was in Woodhaven, and he died in Brat- 
tleboro, \'ermont. He married (first) October 
I, 1823, Sophia M. Thrall, of Torrington, 
Connecticut, who died November 30, 1849. 
He married (second) June 11, 1857, Mary 
AUyn, born in 1826. died in the eighties, 
daughter of Luther and Mary Olive (Dickin- 
son) .\llyn. Children of first wife: George 
D., born NovemTjer 18, 1824, died February 
14, 1886, married Magdelene Vanderveer ; 
Frances .A., born October 17, 1827. married 
Isaac W. \'anderveer : Henrv F., died in in- 
fancy ; Georgianna L., born February 2. 1834, 
married Edgar W. Allyn ; Frederick E., born 
April 29, 1836, married Jane A. Hall ; Wol- 
cott H., of whom further; John W. S., born 
October 25, 1841, married Julia S. Pratt. 
Children of second wife : Mary Ella, born 
April 28, 1858: William T., died in infancy; 
Emma \'., born Julv 15, 1866. 

(\TI) Wolcott H', sixth child of John Rob- 
erts and Sophia M. (Thrall ) Pitkin, was born 
in Brooklyn. New York, December 22, 1838. 
Upon the death of his mother he went to live 
with his uncle, a farmer near Torrington, 
Connecticut. When nineteen years of age he 
entered mercantile life with the wholesale boot 
and shoe jobbing house of William Smith- 
Brown & Company. At the outbreak of the 
civil war that firm retired from business and 
he became interested in the East New York 
Boot and Shoe Leather Manufacturing Com- 
pany, founded by his father in 1858, at East 
New York, Long Island. In 1859 he was 
placed in cliarge of the company's works at 
Providence. Rhode Island. In 1866 he dis- 
continued the manufacture of the company's 
goods there, and under contract from the state 
of New York organized workshops in the 
Albany County Prison, where they manufac- 
tured goods until 1870. In that year the 
company built a 'factor\' on Hamilton street, 
Albany, fitted it witli modern shoemaking ma- 
chinery, and operated it until 181)5, when it 
■•was discontinued. Mr. Pitkin was manager 



of the Albany factory, and conducted it with 
marked success. Since retiring from manu- 
facturing he has devoted his attention to the 
care of his large real estate and other in- 
terests. Before his father's death he had re- 
ceived from him the charge of all his large 
real estate holdings in East New York and 
elsewhere on Long Island, and was a prime 
factor in the development of much business 
and residential property, which he advanta- 
geously improved, and much of which he dis- 
posed of to good advantage. In .Mbany he 
also purchased and imjiroved much valuable 
property, contributing in large degree to the 
advancement of the city in various localities. 
In 1909 he took up his residence in Congers, 
New York, noted for its beauty and health- 
fulness. Here he purchased a fine farm just 
on the outskirts of the village, and upon which 
he is now erecting a beautiful modern resi- 
dence, principally upon his own plans with 
an eye to attractiveness and the greatest pos- 
sible utility. In national politics Mr. Pitkin 
is a Republican ; in local affairs he has always 
pursued an independent course, supporting 
such candidates as were best fitted to subserve 
public interests. He is a charter member of 
the Fort Orange Club, Albany. His family 
are members of the Emanuel Baptist Church, 
Albany, which he attended while a resident of 
that city. He has traveled extensively, and 
in 1905 made a six months' tour of Europe 
with his family. 

Mr. Pitkin married, October 21, 1868, Mary 
\y., born July 15, 1846, daughter of H. C. 
Southwick, of Albany, New York. Children ; 
John R., born March 23, 1871, died November 
13- 1875 ; Sophia M., born January 20. 1874, 
died November 13, 1875 ; Edith Winifred, 
born March 7, 1877; graduate of Wellesley 
College, and of Tufts Medical College (from 
which she received the degree of M.D.), and 
of New York Post-Graduate School ; has had 
considerable experience in hospitals of New 
York, Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, 
and is a capable physician ; resides with her 
father; Mary S., Ixjrn December, 1878, died 
March 20, 1886; Wolcott H., Jr.. born Decem- 
ber 6, 1881 ; graduate of Harvard University 
and Harvard Law School ; is engaged in the 
practice of law under LInited States District 
Attorney Wise, in New York City. 



The family name of Stedman 
STEDM.\N is derived from the word 

signifying a place enclosed ; a 
station, or standing-place, thus first applied to 
a man who undoubtedly dwelt in an enclosed 
place, as cities were anciently walled, and in 
the Dutch "stad" and ""stede" signifv a town. 



158 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Evidently when the first man to accept this 
cognomen appeared away from his home he 
was hailed or known more or less widely as 
"the man from the city," or from the place 
within walls, and so as to distingush him 
from any others bearing a similar given name, 
such as John, he was called "John from the 
city," which was equivalent to saying "John 
Stedman." 

(I) John Stedman, the progenitor in Amer- 
ica of the Albany branch of the Stedman fam- 
ily of which any positive record appears, prob- 
ably emigrated with his brother, Thomas Sted- 
man, to New London, Connecticut. He re- 
moved to Hartford, where in 1651 he lived on 
Wall street, and later he moved to Wethers- 
field, Connecticut, where he lived on what 
was known in 1910 as Jordans Lane. He was 
apparentlv one of the leading men of the then 
western part of Connecticut. For several 
years he was a member of the general court, 
or assembly, of that colony. As an influential 
and representative Church of England man, 
he, with others, signed a memorial demanding 
to be released from paying taxes for the sup- 
port of the state church and ministers who 
would not administer communion to or baptize 
the children of such men. He was commis- 
sioned lieutenant of the Hartford County Dra- 
goons, and while in command of that organ- 
ization was killed on December 19, 1675, in 
the Great Fort fight with the Narragansett 
Indians at South Kingston, Rhode Island. He 
is buriefl at Wethersfield, Connecticut. To 
John and liis wife, Elizabeth, according to the 
records of the First Church of Hartford, were 
born six children: John, April 5, 1651 ; Mary, 
September 24, i(>53 : Thomas, October 9, 
1655: Robert, February i, 1658, see forward; 
Samuel, February 17, ifi6o; Elizabeth, No- 
vember 9, 1665. 

(II) Robert, son of John and Elizabeth 
Stedman, was born at Hartford, Connecticut, 
February i, 1658. He removed to Windsor, 
Connecticut, about 1690. He seems to have 
been active in church aiifairs, having in 1694 
signed a petition for a minister in Windsor- 
Farms, and obtained permission for his sons 
Robert and Joseph to sit on the beams of the 
meeting-house during service. He had at 
least two children, Robert, whose birth does 
not appear to be recorded, and Josc])h, see for- 
ward. 

(III) Joseph, son of Robert Stedman, was 
born at Windsor, Connecticut, in .\pril, 1686, 
and according to the records of the First 
Church in Hartford, was baptized on April 
4, 1686. He built the first house in Wap- 
ping, and thereby aroused the anger of the 
Indians, who fired on him, and on one occa- 



sion an Indian's bullet pierced his clothes and' 
grazed his skin. The section of Windsor still' 
known as Stedman Hill is probably the site 
of this house. According to Stiles "Ancient. 
Windsor," he married, January 7, 1709, Sarah 
Taylor, born July 6, 1679, at Suffolk ; died- 
December 24, 1762, daughter of Stephen and 
Joanna (Porter) Taylor. Children: Sarah,, 
born ]\lay 22, 1710: Sarah: Stephen, July 30, 
1718; Ebenezer, August 31, 1721; Phineas, 
November i, 1723. 

(I\') Phineas. son of Joseph and' Sarah 
(Taylor) Stedman, was born at Windsor, 
Connecticut, November i, 1723. He removed 
from Windsor, and is said to have lived a 
short time in Stafford, Connecticut. Later he 
removed to Chicopee (now a part of Spring- 
field), Massachusetts, where he is found listed 
i" 1 775' vvith his two sons, fov assessment. 
Children: Phineas, born 1750; married Sarah 
I loward : John, see forward. 

( \' ) John ( 2 ) , son of Phineas Stedman, was 
born in July, 1753, either at Wind,sor or Staf- 
ford, Connecticut, and died in Southbridge, 
Massachusetts, in 1794. The Massachusetts 
soldiers' record states that he was a minute- 
man, and served at least three months in the 
continental army during the siege of Boston. 
Copeland's "History of Hampden County, 
Mass." says : "\V'hen the struggle of the col- 
onies with the mother country broke out at 
Lexington, messengers were sent to the set- 
tlements on the Connecticut for soldiers, and 
sixty-two men from Springfield responded on 
the moment, of whom Chicopee furnished 
* * * John Stedman and Phineas 

Stedman, Jr. * * * On April 24th, 
Gideon Burt's company was enlisted for three 
months' service as follows ; * * * 
privates * * * John .Stedman * * *." 
John Stedman married. .^eptemlier 25, 
1777, Hannah Howard, born March 28, 
1755, died March 26, 1842. at Stur- 
hridge, Massachusetts. Children : i . Ben- 
jamin, born August 8, 1778, died, un- 
married, January, 1802. 2. Joseph, April 28, 
1781, see forward. 3. John, February 3. 1783; 
married I'athsheba Sherman: died October i, 
1857. 4. Elflcda, May 28, 1785, died, un- 
married, Decemljer 5, 1843. 5- Tryphena, 
May 14, 1788; married Waterman Potter; 
died December 17, 1867. 6. Beman. August 
22. 1790: married Lucinda Tiffany: died June 
12, 1865. 7. Lemuel, March \C^. 1793; 
all probably born at Chicopee, Massachusetts. 

(\'I) Joseph (2). son of John (2) and 
Hannah (Howard) Stedman, was born April' 
28, 1 78 1, jorobably at Chicopee. Massachusetts, 
died at Southbridge, Massachusetts, .\ugust 
18, 1852. He married, October 19, 1806, at 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



159 



Southbridge. Massachusetts. Matilda Clark, 
born, probably at Southbridge. August 22, 
1787. died at Southbridge, Ajjril 27, 1747, 
daughter of Lieutenant Isaac and Anna (Bix- 
bv ) Clark. All their children were born at 
Southbridge, Massachusetts. Children: i. 
John Porter, born December 20, 1808, see for- 
ward. 2. Francis A.. July 24. 1810: married 
Marrietta Hooker; died at Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts, March 3, 1847. 3. Lucian, .\pril 11, 
1812. died in infancy. 4. Caroline, June 29, 
1814, died unmarried, January 4. 1885. at Tay- 
lor's Falls. Minneapolis. 5. Alatilda. April 13. 
1819; married Ward Folsom ; died at Taylor's 
F"alls, Minnesota, February 4, 1901. 6. Jos- 
eph, August 20. 1821 : married Lillie Percy; 
died April 20. 1870. at Los Angeles, Califor- 
nia. 7. William C. January 22, 1826; mar- 
ried Ruth Ann I jrown ; died June 5, 1898, at 
South Boston, Massachusetts. 

(XTI) John Porter, son of Joseph (2) and 
Matilda (Clark) Stedman. was born in what 
is now the town of Southbridge. Massachu- 
setts, in that portion known as Globe \"illage, 
December 20. 1808. There he lived until his 
death. November 26. 1884. He was educated 
at the public school of that village. During 
the whole of his business career he was in the 
employ of the Hamilton Woolen Company of 
Southbridge. Beginning as a boy worker in 
the wool-sorting room, he advanced through 
successive grades to that of the wool purchaser 
for the concern, which position he held for 
a number of vears. Having acquired a suf- 
ficient estate and tiring of the traveling which 
his ixTsition demanded, he resigned his office 
and devoted the latter years of his life to pub- 
lic matters. When the First Baptist Church 
of Southbridge was organized, he was made 
church clerk, and held this office for many 
years. He was on different occasions the 
treasurer of the same church. Several times 
he was chosen selectman of the town. He 
was trustee of the Southbridge Savings Bank, 
1848-80; vice-president of it, 1858-74, and its 
president 1874-80. John Porter Stedman 
married, at Southbridge. Massachusetts. June 
5. 182S. Thais Maria Hooker, born at Charl- 
ton. AFassachusetts, February 2~. 1801, died 
there February 12. 1852, daughter of John 
Parker Hooker (the son of Amos Hooker, 
a corporal in a Massachusetts regiment dur- 
ing the war of the revolution) and Polly 
(Winslnw) Hooker. Children, born in 
Southl)ri(lge, Massachusetts: i. John Hook- 
er, born November 26. 1829; married Sarah 
Edwards, died October, 1850, without chil- 
dren. 2. George Lavater, November 3, 1831, 
see forward. 3. Harriet Maria, May 19, 1834, 
died in 1837. 4. Maria Clark. May 9. 1837; 



married Joseph D. Dexter, and in 1910 was 
residing at San Diego, California. 5. Mary 
L., June 13, 1840; married Charles B. Sum- 
ner; died July, i8(;3, at Pomona. California. 
(\HI) George Lavater, son of John Por- 
ter and Thais Maria (Hooker) Stedman, was 
born in Southbridge. Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber 3, 1831, died in Albany, New York, March 
15, 1898. He received his early education in 
the public school of his native place and at 
the high school of Springfield, Massachusetts. 
Later he attended Worcester Academy and 
the University grammar school at Providence, 
Rhode Island. He entered Brown Lhiiversity 
in 1852. At graduation he was president of 
his class which inaugurated the modern class- 
day at Brown. He was graduated therefrom 
in 1856, second in his class with the degree 
of A.B.. and with the honor of salutatorian. In 
college he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa 
and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternities, and his 
college gave him the degree of A.M. He then 
entered the .Albany Law School, from which 
he was graduated in 1857 with the degree of 
LL.B. The same year he was admitted to the 
bar at Albany, of which city he then became 
a resident, and in which he practiced law un- 
til his death. He was there successively a 
member of the law firm of Stedman &• Strong; 
.Stedman & Shepard ; Stedman. Thompson & 
.Andrews, and latterly of Stedman & Stedman. 
all located at No. 445 Broadway, Albany. In 
1 87 1. Mr. Stedman took up his residence in 
Loudonville. a suburb of Albany. His inter- 
ests outside of his family, profession and his 
farm were mainly religious and educational. 
He was elected trustee of the school at Loudon- 
ville and mainly through his efiforts it was 
changed from a district school to a modern 
grammar school. He had in his young man- 
hood joined the Baptist church in South- 
bridge, and on coming- to .Albany became a 
member of the then Pearl Street (in 1910 the 
Emmanuel ) Baptist Church, and was closely 
identified with it for the remainder of his life. 
At his death he was said to be the leading 
representative of the Baptists in Albany. He 
was president of the New York Baptist Union 
for Ministerial Education, 1885-98 ;. trustee of 
the Rochester Theological Seminary, 1885-98; 
trustee of Colgate University, 1890-98; pres- 
ident and trustee of Hudson River Baptist 
Association North. 1883-98; chairman of its 
missionary committee. 1886-98. and modera- 
tor of its meeting in 1883; trustee of the Em- 
manuel Baptist Church of Albany, 1883-98. 
and clerk of the church, 1864-67. He was for 
many years superintendent of the Loudon- 
ville Union Sabbath school, and was promi- 
nent in the founding of the Baptist Social 



i6o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Union of Albany and Troy, serving as presi- 
dent of the association for two terms. He 
was one of the organizers and trustees of the 
New York and New England Agricultural 
Association ; organizer and trustee of the peo- 
ple's Gas Company of Albany, 1880-85 : a life 
member and at one time secretary of the Al- 
bany Young Alen's Association ; vice-president 
of the Young Men's Christian Association ; 
and one of the earliest promoters of 
the Albany Historical and Art Society. At 
the time of his death he was counsel for the 
town of Colonic, in which he resided, and the 
law for the organization of which he drew. 
The judgment of his fellows as to his char- 
acteristics and attainments is attested by the 
following excerpt from the minutes of a meet- 
ing of the Albany Bar Association held in 
his memory, "tie became a good lawyer by 
doing good work. * * * Abundance of 
professional work came to him from the first 
and he was known to do it well. * * * 
Then, as years went on, great financial in- 
terests more and more sought his help. Mon- 
eyed corporations became his clients, large 
manufacturing establishments invoked his gui- 
dance, ecclesiastical and educational interests 
were intrusted to his charge, large estates 
came under his management. * * * He 
was an able lawyer, grounded in the principles 
of law, conversant with leading cases 
* * * he was a safe, trustworthy, and wise 
counsellor. * * * But Mr. Stedman was 
not alone an excellent lawyer : he was a wise 
counsellor in the practical aiifairs of life which 
do not touch the law. He was a kind friend, 
a consistent and useful churchman, a good 
neighbor." 

George L. Stedman married, Albany, May 
6, 1863, Adda Maud Shuler, Woolverton, 
daughter of George Alonzo and Caroline 
(Shuler) Woolverton (see Woolverton \T) ; 
she was born in Albany, May 29, 1840, died 
at Loudonvillc, Albany county. New York, 
September 28. 1909. Children: i. George 
Woolverton, born in Albany, September 9. 
1864, see forward. 2. Frank White, Albany, 
December 7. 1867, see forward. 3. John Por- 
ter, Loudon ville, New York. April 8, 1871, 
see forward. 4. Charles Sumner, Loudon- 
ville. November 6, 1874, see forward. 

Adda Maud Shuler (Woolverton) Stedman 
was daughter of (jeorge Alonzo and Caroline 
(Shuler) Woolverton. She was born at Al- 
bany, New York, May 29, 1840, died at Lou- 
donville. Albany county. New York, Septem- 
ber 28. 1909. She received her education at 
the .Albany Academy for Girls ( formerly the 
Albany Female .Academy), from which insti- 
tution she was graduated in 1859, and to which 



she always gave her aflfectionate interest, be- 
ing a member since graduation of its Alumnae 
Association and of its Semper Fidel is Society. 
Early in life she became a member of the 
Pearl Street Baptist Church of Albany, now 
the Emmanuel, and the early religious intlu- 
ence of her home and church she carried 
into her maturer years, being a devoted mem- 
ber of the church until her death, a teacher 
and superintendent of the primary department 
of the Loudonville Union Sunday school, the 
president of the Woman's Baptist Missionary 
Society of her church froin the death of her 
mother, a former president, until her own 
death, and an active supporter of all mission- 
ary enterprises, both home and foreign. She 
was frequently a delegate to conventions and 
meetings of religious and missionary societies, 
joining her devotion to them with her love 
of travel. Her philanthropic and educational 
interests were numerous and widespread, es- 
pecially prominent being her gifts to an art 
collection at Colgate University at Hamilton, 
New York, in memory of her husband. Mrs. 
Stedman's position as president for many 
years of the Home for Aged Men of Albany, 
as manager of the Albany Guardian Society, 
as a member of the Auxiliary of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, and as manager 
of the Young Women's Christian Association, 
and her interest in many of Albany's other 
pliilanthropic institutions, all bear testimony 
to her numerous benefactions. During the 
many years of Mrs. Stedman's varied public 
interests and activities, her devotion to her 
home and friends was never sacrificed, and 
she is especially remembered as a home 
builder. 

(IX) George \\'oolverton, son of George 
Lavater and Adda Maud Shuler ( Woolver- 
ton) Stedman, was born in Albany, New 
York, September 9, 1864. He removed with 
his parents to Loudonville in 187 1, where he 
has since resided, his winter home in 1910 
being at No. 100 Chestnut street. Albany. He 
attended in succession the Loudonville Union 
I'ree School, the Albany Academy, from which 
he was graduated in 1883, the University of 
Rochester, from which he was graduated in 
1885 with tlie degree of li.S., and the .Albany 
Law School, from which be was graduatc'(l in 
1887, with the degree of LL.B. While in col- 
lege he was a member of the Delta Kappa 
Epsilon fraternity, and in the Law School lie 
joined the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. Later 
he was given the degree of M.S. by his col- 
lege. He was admitted to jiractice law in 
1887. and was the following year taken into 
the law ]iartnership of Stedman, Thompson 
& .Andrews, of which his father was the se- 



HUDSON AND ^.lOHAWK X'ALLEYS 



i6i 



nior member. In 1896 his father and he formed 
the partnership of Stedman & Stedman, and 
upon the death of the former, the son asso- 
ciated his brother, Charles S., with him under 
the same firm name. This' firm has continued 
to practice law till now, 1910, in the same of- 
fice where his father studied and practiced at 
Albany. j\Ir. Stedman is interested in several 
religious, educational and financial institutions. 
He is and has been for over ten years a trus- 
tee and secretary of the Emmanuel Baptist 
Church of Albany, of which he is a member; 
trustee and president of the Hudson River 
Baptist Association North, and has been mod- 
erator of that association ; and for over fif- 
teen years a trustee of Colgate University.^ 
He was a trustee of the Albany Academy and 
the first president of its Alumni Association ; 
trustee of the Baptist Union for ministerial 
•education ; director of the People's Gas Com- 
pany of Albany, the Park Bank of Albany, 
and the National Exchange Bank of same city. 
He is a director of the First National Bank 
of .Albany, the Union Trust Company, and 
the City Safe Deposit Company, of Albany. 
In politics he is a strong Republican. On the 
formation of the town of Colonic, Albany 
county, he was elected a justice of the peace 
and thereby became a member of the first 
town board of that town. He was a delegate 
to the state Republican convention in 1894, 
and in 1897 was elected member of the New 
York assembly from the fourth district of 
Albany county, when he served on the impor- 
tant committees of judiciary and internal af- 
fairs. He is a member of the Fort Orange 
Club, the Albany County Bar Association, 
the Albany Chamber of Commerce, the Al- 
bany Country Club and of the Albany Insti- 
tute and Historical and Art Society. On June 
18, 1898, at Loudonville, he married Harriet 
Teresa Mather, born at Albany, New York, 
December 23, 1865, daughter of Adrian On- 
derdonk Mather, born at Burlington, Otsego 
countv. New York, May 22, 1835, died hdy 
18, 1883, and Sarah (Whitford) Mather, born 
at New Lisbon, Otsego county, New York, 
October 30, 1839. Mr. and I\Irs. George W. 
'Stedman have one child, George Woolverton, 
Jr., born at Loudonville, Albany county. New 
York. September 28, 1900. 

(IX) Frank A\'hite, son of George Lavater 
and Adda Maud Shuler (Woolverton) Sted- 
man, was born at Albany, New York, De- 
cember 7, 1867. He removed with his par- 
ents to Loudonville, New York, in 1871, and 
returned to Albany after his marriage in 1893, 
and removed to Utica in 1901, where he re- 
.■sided in 19 10. He attended the Loudonville 
^nion Free School and the Albany Academy. 



Starting early upon a business career, he was 
employed for a few years by the People's 
Gas Company, of Albany, and by Tracey & 
Wilson of the same city. For a short time 
he was a wholesale dealer in coal, and later 
a manufacturer of paste, all at Albany. On 
removal to Utica, he entered upon the 
manufacture of adhesives on a large 
scale, and after several years of hard 
work established under the name of 
the Tacks Manufacturing Company, a 
prosperous business with distributing agencies 
in England and throughout this country. In 
1896 he was elected a director of the Albany 
Art Union. He was one of the first members 
of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the 
Revolution. He is a member of the Emman- 
uel Baptist Church of Albany. He married, 
Albany, February 14, 1893, Clara H., daughter 
of Ralph \\'. and Ann Elizabeth (Glazier) 
Thacher, Children : Woolverton Thacher, born 
at Albany, July 12, 1895, and PVancis (Frank) 
White, Jr., Ixirn at Utica, January 19, 1909. 

(IX) John Porter, son of George Lavater 
and Adda Maud Shuler (Woolverton) Sted- 
man, was born at Loudonville, New York, 
April 8, 1871, died, unmarried, at Albany, 
New York, March 24, 1910. His earliest edu- 
cation was obtained at the Loudonville Union 
Free School, after which he entered the Al- 
bany Academy, from which he received its 
mathematical diploma on his graduation in 
1890. Shortly afterward he entered the em- 
ploy of his brother, Frank W., who was then 
in the coal business in Albany, and remained 
with him until 1897. He then formed a part- 
nership with Herbert Best, under the firm 
name of Best & Stedman, and with him con- 
ducted a large wholesale drug business for 
several years at Albany. In 1903 Mr. Sted- 
man retired from this business, and to regain 
his health traveled extensively througli prac- 
tically every section of North America. Since 
that time he also devoted himself to agricul- 
ture. He was a member of the New York 
State Fruit Growers' Association and the 
Western New York Florticultural Society, and 
had been assistant superintendent of the New 
York and New England Agricultural Society. 
By the constant attendance at the meetings of 
these societies and close study of the latest 
authorities on these subjects, as well as by 
independent experiments, he became one of 
the leading exponents in his county of mod- 
ern methods of farming, and made of the 
place where he was born and continued to re- 
side until his death, a model farm. He was 
concerned in numerous religious and chari- 
table institutions. .\t the time of his death he 
was a deacon of Emmanuel Baptist Church 



1 62 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



of Albany, where he was long an active mem- 
ber, and president of the board of managers 
of the Albany City Mission. He had served 
as moderator of the Hudson River Baptist As- 
sociation North, and was on numerous occa- 
sions chosen as delegate to the conventions 
of various organizations identified with his 
church and denomination. 

(IX) Charles Sumner, son of George La- 
vater and Adda Maud Shuler (Woolverton) 
Stedman, was born at Loudonville, New York, 
November 6, 1874. He was educated at the 
Loudonville Union Free School, the Albany 
Academy and Brown University, from which 
he was graduated in 1896 with the degree of 
Bachelor of Philosophy, and then took the 
course at the Albany Law School, graduating 
in 1898. He was admitted to the bar, July 
6, 1898, and associated himself with his broth- 
er, George W. Stedman, under the firm name 
of Stedman & Stedman, continuing the part- 
nership which had existed between his father 
and brother. He has been president of the 
Brown University Alumni Association of Al- 
bany; secretary and treasurer of the Delta 
Kappa Epsilon Association of Eastern New 
York ; secretary of the Albany Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union, 1896- 1906, and its president, 
1907-09. He has served continuously on the 
missionary committee of the Hudson River 
Baptist Association North since the death of 
his father, March 15, 1898. who had been 
chairman for many years. He is actively in- 
terested in the Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation of Albany, and has served as director 
since February i, 1901. He has been secre- 
tary and a director of the yMbany Academy 
Alumni Association, an organizer of the Al- 
bany Industrial Brotherhood, an organizer and 
treasurer of the Albany Grenfell .A.ssociation, 
an organizer of the Committee of Prevention 
of Tuberculosis of the State Charities Aid As- 
sociation, charter member of the Albany 
County Bar Association, and its secretary 
since January, 1908. He has been a director 
of the Albany Insurance Company since 1893. 
He is a member of the Emmanuel Baptist 
Church of Albany, and has held numerous of- 
fices in the various organizations identified 
with the church. He is a member of the Fort 
Orange, University and Albany Automobile 
clubs, and secretary of the University Club. 
He has always maintained his residence at 
Loudonville, New York. He married at lou- 
donville. New York, September 20, 1899, 
Agnes Lauder McEwan, born at Albany, Jan- 
uary 28, 1876. daughter of Walter McEwan, 
born at Glascow, Scotland, June i, 1843, and of 
Abby Stuart (McKissick) McEwan, (see Mc- 
Kiss'ick IV), born May 18, 1851, at Albany. 



Children : Charles Sumner, Jr., born at Al- 
bany, April 9, 1902 ; Walter Stuart, Albany,. 
March 20, 1904; Richard Lauder, Loudon- 
ville, July 9, 1907. 

(The Woolverton Line). 

Charles Woolverton, of Amwell, Hunterdorp 
county (formerly a part of Burlington coun- 
ty), New Jersey, is the first ancestor of the 
Mohawk Valley Woolvertons of which we 
have absolute records. In a deed to him in 
the west Jersey records, consisting of a hun- 
dred acres of land and bearing date August 
20, 1693, ''•s 's described as a husbandman of 
Burlington county, in that colony. In "Snell'a 
History of Hunterdon County, New Jersey," 
it is stated that on March 2, 17 14, he pur- 
chased a tract of one thousand six hundred' 
and sixty-five acres, in and about Rosemont, 
New Jersey, and upon his death left two hun- 
dred and eighty acres to each of his six sons ; 
that he came from Long Island, and that the 
family originally came from Wolverhampton, 
England. 

There are reasons for believing that Charles 
Woolverton emigrated from England with his 
brothers, John and Gabriel, and after living 
a short time on Long Island, moved about 
1680 to the Pennsylvania bank of the Dela- 
ware river, from which locality he soon re- 
moved to Burlington county, on the opposite 
bank. Besides being a man of considerable 
means, he appears to have been one of the 
leading men in his community. On the erec- 
tion of Hunterdon county, he was in 1721 
elected one of its first five justices of the 
peace, and thereafter was frequently called on 
to witness his neighbors' wills. He is sup- 
posed to be the Charles Woolverton who, in 
1 73 1, was appointed overseer of the Friends 
(Quakers), settled at Bethlehem. .\11 his chil- 
dren were probably born near Rosemont, New 
Jersey. Children: i. Charles, born January 

17, 1698; married Margaret ; died in 

October, 1765, at Amwell, New Jersey. 2. 
Roger, December i, 1700. 3. Mary, April 11, 
1702. 4. Daniel, March 8, 1704. 5. Isaac, 
April 24. 1706. 6. Dennis, January 26, 1709, 
see forward. 7. David. March 25, 171 1. 8. 
Joel, born May 31, 1715- 9. Thomas, Alay 
II, 1717. 

(II) Dennis, son of Charles Woolverton,. 
was born January 26, 1709, probably at Rose- 
mont, New Jersey, died .August 9, 1774, being- 
buried at tile place of his birth. He was^ 
for several years church warden of the church' 
at Kingwood. By his will he gave his home- 
stead to his wife, Elizabeth, and their son,. 
Jonathan, and to his daughter, Mary, and his- 
grandson, Nathaniel, his plantation, describ- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



163 



ing the latter as "the only son of my oldest 
son Charles." He married Elizabeth Pettit. 
Children: i. Charles, born at Rosemont, New 
Jersey, see forward. 2. Mary, married Gen- 
eral Daniel Bray, May 2, 1772. 3. Jonathan, 
born 1754, married Mary Bancroft; removed 
to Canada, probably locating at Forty Mile 
Creek in October, 1798, where he died in 1831. 

(HI) Charles, son of Dennis and Elizabeth 
(Pettit) Woolverton, was probably born at 
Rosemont, New Jersey. He was accidentally 
drowned in the Delaware river in 1763. He 
married Anne, daughter of John Jewell, of 
Amwell, New Jersey, by whom he had but 
a single child, Nathaniel, see forward. It is 
probable that this John Jewell is responsible 
for the connection of the Woolvertons with 
the Baptists of the Mohawk Valley, in which 
denomination they have been prominent for 
four generations. Barbor & Howe's "His- 
torical Collections of New Jersey" relates that 
John Jewell and others built the first Baptist 
church in the town of Amwell in 1766, and 
that, at one time the church was without a 
pastor, the regular supply being shut out of 
the house by Mr. Jewell because he was 
thought to be too favorable to the British. 

(I\' ) Nathaniel, son of Charles and Anne 
(Jewell) W'oolverton. was born January 14, 
1763, probably at Ringwood, New Jersey, died 
at Cilen, Montgomery county, New York, No- 
vember 22, 1835, His mother marrying short- 
ly after his father's death and while Nathaniel 
was a young boy, he was taken into the house- 
hold of his maternal grandfather, John Jewell, 
and lived with him in Amwell, New Jersey, 
until his own marriage, January 4, 1786, at 
Amwell, to Pamelia Hudnut, born July 2, 
1770, died at Glen, New York, September i, 
1853. For a year or two after his marriage, 
he resided in Amwell and then removed to 
Ringwood, New Jersey, probably to the farm 
that came to him from the estate of his grand- 
father, Dennis Woolverton. After living there 
some six years, he removed to Montgomery 
county, New York, and on September 29, 
1794, purchased for £550 a farm of two hun- 
dred acres in William Corey patent. This 
farm is situated in the present towns of Glen 
and Charleston, Montgomery county. Upon 
this estate Nathaniel Woolverton erected a 
fine, substantial house, which was standing in 
1910, and there reared his large family. He 
continued to live there until his death. He 
and his wife are buried in the cemetery of 
the Baptist Church at Charleston, New York. 
One of his granddaughters describing him 
says : "He was a man of heroic courage, stir- 
ling integrity, a firm believer in God and His 
attributes, and generous in word and deed." 



Children: i. Edward, born at Amwell, New 
Jersey, January 11, 1787, see forward. 2. 
Ann, born May 16, 1789, at Ringwood, New 
Jersey ; married, January 5, 1827, Phineas 
Rowley, of Cherry V^alley ; died October 9, 
1878: both he and his wife buried at Charles- 
ton, New York. 3. Charles, born at Charles- 
ton, New York, April 5, 1791 ; married. May 
II, 1812, Margaret Blair; both died in Au- 
gust, 1825, at Charleston, of yellow fever. 4. 
Sarah, born February 16, 1793; married, No- 
vember II, 1815, Ephraim Wilcox, died June 

2, 1855, in Ohio. 5. John Dennis, born Jan- 
uary 30, 1795; married, June 20, 1822, Ada- 
line McNamee; died October 31, 1830, in 
Vincennes, Indiana. 6. Charlotte, born Decem- 
ber 27, 1797 ; married, September 9, 1828, 
Peter Wyckoff, of New York, died February 

3, 1865 ; both he and wife buried in Albany. 7. 
Mary, born June 6, 1799; married, January 
I, 1820, Peleg Osborn, a descendant of the 
House of York, England; died April 12, 1867, 
at Saratoga, New York. 8. Hiram, born Oc- 
tober 15, 1800, died March 12, 1830, at Wool- 
verton Homestead, in Charleston, New York. 
9. Keron Happuck, born October 12, 1802; 
married, January 22, 1829, Lyman Haughton ; 
died September i, 1853, at Toledo, Ohio. 10. 
Gains, born November 23, 1804; married, 
March, 1839, Gazena Margaret Visscher. 11. 
Lucretia, born November 22, 1806, died at 
Glen, New York, April 6, 1881. 12. Rhoda, 
born June 4, 1808, died March 13, 1809. 13. 
Ozias, born April 28, 1810, died February 
14, 181 1. 14. Nathaniel Hart, April 18, 1814, 
at Charleston, New York ; married, January 

4, 1849 ; Jane Overbaugh ; died at Glen, New 
York, April 29, 1867. 

(V) Edward, son of Nathaniel and Pamelia 
(Hudnut) Woolverton, was born at Amwell, 
New Jersey, January 11, 1787, died at Pitts- 
field, Massachusetts, Septeml>er 4, 1874. His 
grave is beside that of his wife in the Albany 
Rural Cemetery. His early married life was 
spent in Charleston, New York, but about 
1827 he removed to Oppenheim, New York, 
then to Canajoharie, New York, in 1830, and 
in 1832 to Albany, New York, where he lived 
thereafter until his death, excepting perhaps 
for a brief period when he was at Grand 
Spring, Wisconsin, He was at first a farmer, 
later lie dealt considerably in livestock and 
subsequently, at Albany, was a forwarder of 
goods, principally on boats plying the Hudson 
river. A dignified man, with a large, clean- 
shaven face, always appearing in an old-fash- 
ioned stock tie, he impressed his great-grand- 
children, who remember him, as a true gentle- 
man of the old school. He was long a mem- 
ber of the Pearl Street (now Emmanuel) Bap- 



164 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



list Church of Albany. Edward Woolverton 
married, at Glen, Montgomery county, New 
York, June 5, 181 1, Asenath Wilcox, born 
there March 17, 1790, died, at Albany, July 
31, 1857, daughter of Sylvanus and Sarah 
(Johnson) Wilcox, (see Wilcox VI). Chil- 
dren: I. Lavinia, born at Charleston, New 
York, May 2, 1812, died, unmarried, at Al- 
bany, New York, September 14, 1889. 2. 
George Alonzo, Charleston, September 12, 
1813 ; see forward. 3. Sarah Anne, Charles- 
ton, October 31, 1815 ; married, at Albany, 
September 28, 1836, Peter Monteath ; died Oc- 
tober 28, 1883, at Albany. 4. Henry Morti- 
mer, Charleston, January 28, 1818; married, 
Cleveland, Ohio, August 12, 1844, Louisa 
Johnson ; died at Topeka, Kansas, March 24, 
1874, and is buried at Albany in the Rural 
Cemetery. 5. Chestine, Charleston, July 12, 
1821 ; married, at Albany, September 7, 1847, 
James Collin ; died at Bridgeport, Connecti- 
cut, March 16. 1883. 6. Harriet, Charlestown, 
August 18, 1824; married, Albany, Decem- 
ber 9, 1844, Jenkins W. Scoville, of Grand 
Spring, Wisconsin ; died at Pasadena, Cali- 
fornia, May, 1908. 7. Elizabeth, Oppenheim, 
New York, December 4, 1826 ; married, at 
IMadison, Wisconsin, July 9. 1850, James Du- 
ane Ruggles ; died at San Francisco, Califor- 
nia, March 20, 1897. 

(VI) George Alonzo, son of Edward and 
Asenath (Wilcox) W^oolverton, was born in 
Charleston, Montgomery county. New York, 
September 12, 1813, died at Albany, New 
York, May 5, 1896, where he was buried with 
his wife in the Albany Rural Cemetery. His 
childhood and youth were spent in Montgom- 
ery county and he there received his educa- 
tion in the district schools of Charleston, Op- 
penheim and Canajoharie. He came to Al- 
bany in 1832 with his father, for whom he 
worked at farming until about the time he 
became of age. Shortly after he moved to 
Albany, where he resided until his death, he 
became clerk in a store in that city where 
boots and shoes were sold. Becoming in this 
manner familiar with that business he, in 1837, 
started a wholesale boot and shoe business for 
himself, and continued in it until his retire- 
ment from business in 1882. Not content with 
being merely a buyer and seller, he soon be- 
gan manufacturing his own goods. By his 
activity, industn,-, frugality and keen business 
insight, he built up a large business, and was 
in this, as in all his other business ventures, 
very successful. During the years i860 to r870, 
he also conducted a wholesale hat business, 
and for a time was largely interested in a line 
of barges sailing between Albany and New 
York City, ^^'hile in all these enterprises he 



had at times partners, chiefly relatives, he 
was the leading man in them. In 1879 cir- 
cumstances gave him control of one of the gas 
companies of Albany, and in 1880 he became 
the president and chief administrative officer 
of the People's Gas Company of Albany. In 
1864 he, with several other prominent men, 
organized the Merchants' National Bank of 
Albany, and was on its first board of directors, 
continuing in that capacity until 1895, when 
he retired following thirty years of service. 
He was a pronouncedly religious man, and 
particularly active in the support of the Pearl 
Street (now Emmanuel) Baptist Church of 
Albany, in which he and his wife, his father 
and most of his sisters were baptized in 1840. 
In the latter years of his life he was consid- 
ered the leading man in that church. He 
generously supported the institutions of his 
denomination, particularly those connected 
with its ministry, it being said that at one time 
he was supporting in whole or in part eight 
students for the ministry. He was one of the 
incorporators of the Hudson River Baptist 
Association North. From 1884 until his death 
in 1896 he was vice-president of the New 
York Baptist LInion for ministerial education, 
and from 1885 to 1896 was trustee of Colgate 
L^niversity, and from before 1870 to 1896 a 
trustee of Emmanuel Baptist Church. 

George Alonzo Woolverton married, at 
Glen, New York, July 11, 1838, Caroline Shu- 
ler (see Shuler II). She was born at Florida, 
Montgomery county, New York, July 20, 
1814, died at Albany, New York, July 31, 
1894, daughter of John and Hannah (Buck) 
Shuler. A sketch of his life would be very 
incomplete without a reference to that of his 
wife, who was in truth a helpmeet. Of her, 
her husband truly said, "She was the most 
perfect model of a Christian I ever met. With 
lier every human being on earth was a broth- 
er or sister, and it was her sweetest joy to 
minister to the wants of all." She was a lead- 
er in many of the charitable and religious in- 
stitutions of Albany, and encouraged lier hus- 
band in his many gifts, while her personal 
benefactions were without number. She was 
one of the three founders in Albany of the 
Women's Baptist Missionary Society, and 
president of the Emmanuel Baptist Church 
branch of it until her death. For very many 
years she was a manager of the Albany Guar- 
dian Society, and of the Boys' Lodging House 
of Albany. Children, born at Albany: i. Adda 
Maud Siniler, born May 29, 1840; married, 
at ."Mbany, New York, Alay 6, 1863. George 
Lavater Stedman, (see Stedman VIII) ; died 
at Loudonville, New York, September 28, 
1909. 2. Eugene, September 2^, 1842, died 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



165 



\ 



there, September 3, 1843. 3. Caroline Shuler, 
June 6. 1844; married, at Albany, Janiiar)' 20, 
1870, Grang-e Sard, born at Albany, March 
10, 1843, s*^" of Grang-e and Lucy (Cook) 
Sard. 4. Marion, July 31, 1846, died there, 
May 10, 185 1. 5. Georgianna, August 3, 
1849, died there, March 16, i860. 

(The Shuler Line). 

The family name of Shuler is probably but 
a simple alteration of the German word, 
"Schuler," a scholar, brought about by pho- 
netic influence, which is undoubtedly the case, 
for the family in this country came originally 
from that country. It is closely allied to both 
Schuyler and Schuiler through pronunciation, 
and if it could be proved that it was a dif- 
ferent form of the Dutch name Schuiler, it 
would signify a hider, because Van Schuyler 
means "from the place of shelter." 

(I) Lawrence Shuler, or as he usually 
signed himself, "Lorentz Schuler," came from 
\\'urtemburg, or Luxemburg, Germany, to 
America, in 1752, and settled in New York. 
He was born Alarch 12, 1735, died at Florida, 
Montgomery county, New York, February 
14, 1813. There emigrated with him his fath- 
er, who died soon after their arrival in New 
York ; his sister Mary, who died at sea ; his 
sister Catherine, born in 1724; his brother 
George, born in 1726, and his brother Fred- 
erick. They first moved to Catskill, about 
1762, where Catherine married Albert, House- 
man. George died unmarried. The entire 
family removed to Montgomery county, New 
York, where Catherine married, (second) 
Peter Frederick. 

Lawrence Shuler learned the weaving and 
reed-working business, it is said in Catskill, al- 
though his principal occupation in later years 
was farming. Subsequently he removed to 
Florida, New York, where he purchased what 
finally amounted to about a mile square of 
land, beginning in 1768. He was naturalized 
by act of the New York legislature, December 
19, 1776. He was a lieutenant in Colonel 
Fisher's regiment (being the Third Regiment 
of Tryon county militia of New York state), 
and as such participated in the battle of Oris- 
kany. He was the first overseer of the poor 
for the town of Florida, when erected. He 
married, at Catskill, New York, in 1762, Sa- 
rah (widow of one Overbaugh), born July 11, 
1722, died at Florida, New York, in 1775, 
daughter of Renjamin and Catherintje (Zuy- 
land ) Du Bois, of New Paltz, New York. 
Children: r. Anna, born November 10, 1763; 
married David Cady. 2. Jacob, November 3, 
1765; married Betsy Hazzard. 3. Solomon, 
^larch 3, 1768; married Lydia Wood. 4. John, 



November 12, 1769, see forward. Lawrence 
Shuler married (second), 1785, Afagdalina 
Serviss. Children : 5. Peter, born December 
II, 1788, died unmarried. 6. Katrina, born 
March 11, 1790; married (first) Jabes Kings- 
bury; married (second) Peter Covenhoven. 7. 
William, born Deceml^er 30, 1792; married 
Kate Johnson Dunn ; died without issue. 8. 
Mary, born ]\Iarch 22, 1794: married Jacob 
Serviss. 9. Jeremiah, born January 3, 1796, 
died unmarried, 18 15. 10. Levi, born Novem- 
ber 3, 1799; married Katy Henry. 11. Van 
Vlack, born November 3, 1799 ; married Har- 
riet Hartwell. 12. Betsy, born November i, 
1802; married Davis Smith. 13. Sally, born 
March 10, 1804; married Cornelius Vander 
Veer. 14. Abraham, born December 21, 1805. 
13. Lawrence, born December 19, 1807; mar- 
ried Fanny Guile. 16. David, born October 
II, 1809, died in infancy. 

(H) John, son of Lawrence and Sarah 
(Du Bois) Shuler, was born at Florida, Mont- 
gomery county. New York, November 12, 
1769, died at Gasport, Niagara county. New 
York, August 9, 1859. He seems to have been 
a man of some prominence in Montgomery 
county. He was a member of the New York 
state assembly in 1815, and was an ensign in 
the New York State Light Infantry in 1798; 
lieutenant in the same, 1799, and was ap- 
pointed captain of the same in 1805. He was 
one of the committee at the opening of the 
Erie canal. He married, at Charleston, New 
York, February 25, 1790, Hannah Buck, torn 
at Canaan. New York, December 24, 1769, 
died January 23, 1852, at Canajoharie, New 
York, daughter of Daniel Bucls', D.D., and 
M.D. (second major of the Seventeenth regi- 
ment of the New York state militia during 
the revolution) and of Anna (Denton) Buck. 
Children: i. Sally, born March 17, 1791, died 
at Elgin, Illinois, April 2, 1876; married. .Au- 
gust 26, 1813, Elijah Wilcox (see Wilcox 
\T). 2. .Vnna, born January 11, 1793, died 
at Broomfield, New York, March 17, 1821 ; 
married, August 17, 1813, Lewis Griffin. 3. 
Lydia, born January 28, 1796, died at Elgin, 
Illinois, June 29, 1878; married, December 
31, 1818, William Carlisle. 4. Remson. born 
January 26, 1798, died September 15. 1880; 
married, March 9, 1823, Hannah Haughton. 
5. David Cady, born January 27, 1800, died 
January 7, 1891 ; married (first) March 29, 
1821, Pamelia Butler; married (second) Eliz- 
abeth Lodewick. 6. Daniel Buck, born Feb- 
ruary 27, 1803, died at Minaville, Montgom- 
ery county. New York, February 9, 1882; 
married, September 17, 1826, Catherine \'an- 
der Veer. 7. Jacob, born February 8, 1805, 
died at McGrawville, New York, April 9, 



i66 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1858; married (first) May 7, 1826, Catherine 
Mattice : married (second) January 3, 1837, 
Cornelia Cass. 8. Cholett, born May 20, 1807, 
died February 11, 1893, at Amsterdam, New 
York; married, October 17, 1831, Ann Mal- 
lory. 9. Adaline M., born August 13, 181 1, 
died at Gasport, New York, September 10, 
1892: married, October 2, 1833, Oliver Lath- 
rop Wilcox (see Wilcox VI). 10. Caroline, 
horn July 20, 1814, died at Albany, New York, 
July 3 1, 1 894; married, July 11, 1838, George 
Alonzo Woolverton, (see Woolverton VI). 

(The Wilco.x Line). 
The family name of Wilcox is derived from 
two words, the name "Will" and the word 
"cock," signifying- "little." hence it is equiva- 
lent to "Little Will," or William's son, which 
has resulted in Williamson. While the der- 
ivation may lead to the same source or mean- 
ing, it cannot be said that the families of the 
two names are allied, as in innumerable in- 
stances where names of pronounced variation 
in their si^elling are traceable to the one or- 
iginal family stock. 

William Wilcox, or as the family name was 
written at that time, Wilcoxson, and his wife, 
Margaret, came with their son John to Amer- 
ica (according to Hotten's list of immigra- 
tion) in April, 1635, aboard the ship, "Plan- 
ter," bearing a certificate from the minister 
of St. Alban's. in Hertfordshire, England, al- 
though the family is said to be originally of 
Welch extraction. In the certificate their ages 
are given as follows : William Wilcoxson 
(linen weaver) aged 34; Margaret Wilcoxson, 
aged 24 : Jno., aged 2. 

(I) William Wilcoxson, upon arrival in 
America, settled in Concord, Massachusetts. 
He was registered as a freeman in Massachu- 
setts in 1636. and moved to Stratford, Con- 
necticut, probably in 1639, possibly after a 
residence at U'indsor, Connecticut. By his 
will, dated 1651, he gave forty pounds to the 
church at Concord, and he therefore appears 
to have been a man of some substance. After 
W^illiam's death, his wife, Margaret, married 
William Hayden, of Windsor, Connecticut, 
and died in ir)55. Children: John, born about 
1633: Timothy; Joseph, 1638; Samuel, 1640, 
see forward ; Obadiah, 1642, married Phoebe 

; Elizabeth, 1644, married Henry 

Stiles, of Windsor, Connecticut ; Hannah, 
1646, married Daniel Hayden, of Windsor, 
Connecticut ; Sarah. 1648, married John 
Meigs, Jr., of Guildford, Connecticut; Phoebe, 
1650, married John P.irdseye, Jr. 

(H) Samuel, son of William and Margaret 
Wilcoxson, was l>orn in 1640, probably at 
Stratford, Connecticut. He went from there 



or \\'indsor, Connecticut, to what is now 
known as Simsbury, Connecticut, forming 
with others who came from the same place 
the settlement to which was given the name 
of ]\Iassacoe. In 1672, at the court of elec- 
tion of Hartford, Connecticut, Samuel Wil- 
cox was propounded as a freeman. It is like- 
ly that at about this time he married Hannah, 
and settled down to active life at Massacoe, 
and his name appears in a patent of land given 
about that time. In 1669 he was deputy for 
Simsbury, also in 1689, and from 1694 to 
17 12 he served almost continuously excepting 
between 1702 and 1709. The first book of 
records of Simsbury and subsequent books 
show that there were some sixteen grants of 
land made to him. He was chosen selectman 
in 1677. On May 7, 1682, he, with others, 
petitioned the court to order a church. In 
October, 1689, he was appointed on a commit- 
tee to make a list of Simsbury estates. In the 
catalogue of church members, from 1697 to 
17 ID, both he and his oldest son are named as 
members. To Samuel Wilcoxson and Han- 
nah, his wife, were born the following chil- 
dren, probably all at or near Simsbury, Con- 
necticut : Samuel, born April 15, 1666, see for- 
ward; William, married Elizabeth Wilson; 
Joseph, married Abigail Thrall. 

(Ill) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (i) and 
Hannah Wilcox, was born April 15, 1666, 
probably near Simsbury, Connecticut, died 
September 13, 1713. On October 30, 1713, 
his estate was inventoried at over three hun- 
dred and twenty-six pounds, being nearlv one- 
tenth of the taxable property of the town. He 
lived near his father in Simsbury, and was one 
of its most weahhy and influential citizens. 
He married, in 1691, at Simsbury, Connecti- 
cut, Mindwell. born February 11, 1662, 
daughter of John and Anna' (Bancroft) 
Griffin. Children, probably born at Sims- 
bury: Hannah, born November i, 1692, 
married William Chick; Samuel, April 20, 

1695, married Mary ; John, April 

10. 1698; Joseph, July 3, 1701, married Eliz- 
abeth Holcomb; Mindwell; Ephraim, see 
forward. 

(IV) Ephraim, son of Samuel (2) and 
Mindwell (Grififin) Wilcox, was born Feb- 
ruary 24. 1707, at Simsbury. Connecticut, 
died in 1773. He married, April 5, 1726, 
Hannah Hill, of Simsbury, and their chil- 
dren were probably born there. Children : 
Ephraim, born May 24, 1727; Susanna, 
April 17, 173 1 ; married Michael Jackson ; 
Sylvanus, sec forward. 

(\^) Sylvanus, son of Ephraim and Han- 
nah (Hill) Wilcox, was born at Simsbury, 
Connecticut, November 14, 1733, died July 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



167 



3, 1821, at Alford. Massachusetts. He mar- 
ried at Simsbury, in 1759, Chestina Curtis, 
■born January 12, 1742, fourth daughter of 
Peter and Qiestina (Parker) Curtis, of Wal- 
lingford, Connecticut, later of Simsbury, 
■Connecticut. He took his wife to the settle- 
ment known as Nine Partners, Dutchess 
county, New York, and subsequently re- 
moved to Alford, Massachusetts. In the lat- 
ter place he was elected selectman in 1775- 
82-90-91. During the revolution he served 
on the committees of correspondence, safety, 
and inspection, also on the committee to pro- 
cure troops for the continental army in 1776. 
He was a captain in the Alford Companv of 
JMassachusetts militia, and in 1777, with his 
company, marched with the regiment of Col- 
onel John Ashly to Saratoga, where they par- 
ticipated in the capture of Burgoyne. As a 
partial recompense for his services in the 
field the town, March 19. 1798. voted to abate 
his ta.xes. In 1796 he sold his Alford farm 
and removed to Greenland grant, where he 
purchased a farm on which he resided until 
iiis death. His grave is on the old farm in 
Alford, and upon his gravestone is inscribed : 
"Capt. Sylvanus Wilcox, died July 5, 1821, 
aged 87 years." Children of Sylvanus and 
Chestina (Curtis) Wilcox were born at Nine 
Partners, New York, and Alford, Massachu- 
setts. Children: i. Asenath, born at Nine 
Partners. New York, April 7, 1760; married, 
Benjamin Tobey. 2. Sylvanus, May 26, 
1762, see forward. 3. Rufus, January 7, 1764, 
married Sarah Adams. 4. Ephraim, Novem- 
ber 30, 1765; died at Alford, Massachusetts, 
1786. 5. Reuben, December 29, 1767; mar- 
ried (first) Sophia Sprague ; married (sec- 
ond) Theda Merrill: died in 1849. 6. Ralph, 
December 2, 1769: married Minta Sprague. 
7. Oliver, February 10, 1772 ;. married Betsy 
Sprague. 8. Christine, July 30, 1774; mar- 
ried AN'illiam Spoor. 9. Israel, June 15, 1776; 
married Anna Fowler. 10. Lavinia, March 
6. 1778: married Samuel Barstowe. 11. 
•Chestina, October 3, 1780. 12. Pluma, Feb- 
ruary 9, 1783: married Levi Freeman. 13. 
Charles, May 20, 1785, died in infancy. 

(VI) Sylvanus (2), son of Sylvanus (i) 
and Chestina (Curtis) Wilcox, was born at 
Nine Partners, Dutchess county, New York, 
J\Iay 26, 1762, died at Fultonville, New 
York, July 10, 1846. When but fourteen 
years of age, he entered the continental 
army, 1776. He was under General Ward 
at New Haven, Connecticut, and served six 
months in that portion of the army imme- 
diately under the direction of General Wash- 
ington. Subsequently he enlisted from New 
Y'ork state and served as corporal in Captain 



\'an Rensselaer's company of Colonel Mari- 
nus Willett's regiment of the New York 
state militia. He was at Canada Creek when 
the notorious Butler was killed, and was 
granted a pension in 183 1. It is said that 
he was present as one of the guard at the 
execution of Major Andre. The New York 
records show a steady line of promotion. He 
was made captain of the state troops, April 
5, 1798; second major of the Twenty-sixth 
regiment, November 9, 1800; major, Febru- 
ary 9, 1810; lieutenant-colonel, June 12, 
1812, and subsequently colonel and brigadier- 
general. After his marriage, in 1787, he 
took his wife and one child to the west bank 
of the Schoharie creek in the southeast cor- 
ner of what is now the town of Glen, Mont- 
gomery county. New York, where he erected 
a log cabin and shortly thereafter built a sub- 
stantial house which is still (1910) standing. 
He occupied a large tract of land, probably 
under a lease for three lives, or ninety-nine 
years, and subsequently purchased from 
George Clark the land on which his house 
and buildings stand. He was a large land 
owner in Montgomery county, and a man at 
one time of considerable wealth, in fact, was 
always of prominence in the community 
where he lived. Later in life he became in- 
terested in a dry dock in Fultonville. New 
York, and in 1837 purchased a house in that 
village, where he resided until his death. He 
and his first w^ife are buried in the private 
burial ground on his old farm in Glen, and 
upon his gravestone is inscribed : "Gen. Syl- 
vanus Wilcox, a soldier of the Revolution." 

Sylvanus Wilcox married, April 28, 1785, 
Sarah Johnson, born March 17, 1765, died 
July I, 1830, daughter of Robert and Susan- 
na (Barnes) Johnson, of West Stockbridge, 
Massachusetts. He married (second*), Octo- 
ber 19, 1831, Sally Hamilton, but had no 
children by her. All of his children, except- 
ing the first, were born at Glen, Montgomery 
county, New York. Children: i. Amelia, 
born August 15, 1786, died, unmarried, Jan- 
uary 24, 1850. 2. Chestina, April 17, 1788. 
3. Asenath, March 17, 1790, died at .\lbany, 
New York, July 31, 1857; married, at Glen, 
New York, June 5, 181 1, Edward Woolver- 
ton, born at Amwell, New Jersey, January 
II, 1787, died at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
September 4, 1874, (see Woolverton V). 4. 
Elijah, May 10, 1792: married Sally Shuler, 
August 26. 1813; died at Elgin. Illinois, 
April 2, 1876 (see Schuler II). 5. Elisha, 
May 10, 1792: married Nancy Ellis. 6. 
Charles, February 25, 1795: married Julia 
Ann Merrill. 7. Calvin P., October 4. 1796; 
married Harriet Hubbard. 8. Eliza, June 3, 



i68 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1800 : married Moses Merrill ; died Novem- 
ber 12, 1882. 9. Oliver Lathrop, Jvme 26, 
1809. died March 7, 1880; married. October 
2. 1833, Adaline ^L Shuler, Ixirn August 13, 
181 1, died at Gasport, Niagara county. New 
York. September 10, 1892, daughter of John 
and Hannah (Buck) Shuler (see Shuler H). 

(The McKissick Line). 

In 1768 Zebulon and John McKissick, 
brothers, came to America from Scotland, 
settling in Maine, where Zebulon located 
himself in Limerick and John in Cornish. 
They married sisters named Bettis. Chil- 
dren of Zebulon McKissick : Zebadiah, Mo- 
ses, born in Limerick, Maine, November 4, 
1781, see forward; Aaron, Molly, Eunice. 

(II) Moses, son of Zebulon McKissick, 
was born November 4, 1781, died July 31, 
1823. In February, 181 7, with Herod Otis, 
of Boston, and two others, he founded the 
town of Jordan, Onondaga county, New 
York, clearing the land and laying out the 
place. The McKissick family were known as 
Free-will Baptists, pious and godly people. 
When Moses McKissick died, his bier was 
carried on the shoulders of his friends, in re- 
lays, to the burial ground in Jordan, so very 
greatly was he esteemed there. He married 
Abigail, daughter of .Samuel Stuart, of Scar- 
borough, Maine, and she died at Jordan, 
New York, in 1837. Children: i. Stuart, born 
November 27, 1807, see forward. 2. Aaron, 

married Elzina ■ — •: died at Auburn, New 

York. 3. Moses, married Clara Stevens. 4. 
James M., married (first) Susan Carson; 
(second) Marion White. 5. Orrin. 6. Nan- 
cy, married Arza Blakeslee. 7. .A.bigail. mar- 
ried (first) DeFreest, and (second) 

Smith ; died in 1875. 8. Caroline. 

(Ill)' Stuart, son of Moses and Abigail 
(Stuart) McKissick, was born at Saco, 
Maine, November 27, 1807, died at Albany. 
New York, August 29, 1882. When a lad he 
went with his parents to Jordan, New York, 
and there remained until about 1833. when 
he engaged in the running of a boat for a 
transportation line. In 1838 he came to Al- 
bany, and there established a transportation 
and produce commission business, in one or 
the other or both of which he was engaged 
until in 1873, when he retired from active 
work, by reason of his failing health. He 
was one of the members of the board ap- 
pointed by the legislature to establish a free 
school in the city of Albany, and zealously ad- 
vocated tlic building of the present high school 
in that city. 1 le was president of the board 
of trade of Albany, New York, in 1849, and 
a memljer of the canal convention in 1868. 



He was a delegate to the national convention 
of the boards of trade in 1863, and he served 
on many important committees of the local 
board. He was a director of the National Ex- 
change Bank of Albany ; a trustee of the Al- 
bany Exchange Savings Bank, and a member 
of the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. 
He married (first) September, 1835, Julia 
Ann Norton, of Suffield, Connecticut ; she 
died August 22, 1843, aged thirty-one years. 
Children: i. Emily Espiranza, born at Jor- 
dan, New York, 1836; married, at .\lbany, 
I 1858, Charles S. Cutler, of Albany. 2. Caro- 
line Aldaretta. Jordan. New York, 1838 ; mar- 
ried. 1863, Hogan Gibbons at West Troy, 
New York, died January 12, 1875. 3. Stuart 
Eugene, Albany, 1839 ; died there December 
13, 1842. 4. Frederick, Albany, April 26, 
1842, died there April 30, 1842. He married 
(second). September 10, 1844, Eliza ]\lcln- 
tyre, of Northampton, Massachusetts, daugh- 
ter of Jesse and Margaret (Pomeroy) Mc- 
Intyre, by whom he had five children, all 
born at Albany, New York. Children : 5. 
I\Iary, born December 17, 1847, died March 
24, 1864. 6. Julia Norton, January 11, 1849; 
married, January 25, 1884, Ciiarles W. Shep- 
ard, of Albany, New York. 7. Abby Stuart, 
May 18, 185 1, see forward, 8, Edward Pom- 
eroy, June 22, 1854 ; married four times, viz. : 
Florence Paul, at Rockport, Massachusetts ; 
Natalie Coffin, at Boston, ]\Iassachusetts ; 
Carrie Packard, at Boston; and Rose Rock- 
well, at Belgrade, Maine. 9. Jessie, August, 
1857, died at Albany, June 17, i860. 

(IV) Abby Stuart, "daughter of Stuart and 
Eliza (Mclntyre) McKissick, was born at Al- 
bany, New York. May 18, 1851. She mar- 
ried at Albany, January 22, 1873, Walter AIc- 
Ewan, of Albany, born at Glasgow, Scotland, 
June I, 1843,. died at Loudonville, Albany 
county. New York, May 10, 1908, son of John 
McEwan, born in .Sterling, Scotland, and .-Vg- 
nes Gordon (I^nuder) McEwan, born in Glas- 
gow, .Scotland, both of whom died in Albany, 
New York. Walter McEwan came to Albany 
with his parents in 1849. He attended the] 
public schools of that city, and on the com- 
pletion of that course, when about seventeen 
years of age, entered the employ of the Hud- 
son River Railroad Company. After ten 
years of service for them, he purchased an 
interest in the wholesale coffee and spice busi- 
ness, which for two years was conducted un- 
der the name of Bailey, Lord & McEwan. At 
the end of that period, and on March 15. 1872, 
he purchased his partners' interests and con- 
ducted the enterprise in his own name until 
March 15, 1905, when it was incorporated. 
He was a man much respected in the busi- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



169 



ncss and religious circles of Albany. He 
was president of the Walter McEwan Com- 
pany, trustee and secretary of the Home Sav- 
ings Bank, trustee and vice-president of B. 
Payn's Sons Tobacco Company, treasurer of 
the St. Andrews Society, and a member of 
several Masonic bodies. For many years he 
was an elder of the Third Presbyterian 
Ciiurch. Mr. and Mrs. \\'alter ]\IcEwan, on 
tiieir marriage, started housekeeping in Al- 
bany, but in 1885 removed to Loudonville, a 
suburb, where they continued to reside until 
his death. Children, born in Albany, New 
York: i. Walter Stuart, born December 20, 
1873 ; married, September 24, 1902, Mary C. 
Blakeslee, of Menands. New York. 2. Agnes 
Lauder, January 28, 1876; married, Septem- 
ber 20, 1899, Charles Sumner Stedman, of 
.Albany, New York (see Stedman IX). 3. 
Jessie Ellis, June 16, 1878; married, October 
7, 1903, Henry Hunt Romer, of Brooklyn, 
New York. 4. George William, June 11, 
1882; married, April 21, 1908, Gertrude 
Marsh Peck, of Albany. 5. Charles Bailey, 
June I, 1884. 



The family name of Fuller sig- 
FULLER nifies one who thickens, 
bleaches, cleanses or whitens 
cloth at a mill, a clothier. The Fuller arms : 
Shield : Argent, three bars gules, on a canton 
of the second a castle or. Crest : A dexter 
arm embowered, vested argent, cuffed sable, 
holding in the hand proper a sword of the first 
hilt of pommel or. Motto : Semper paratus. 
This is the form adopted commonly by the 
families in this country, being the one em- 
ployed in the Lsle of Wight. The bar is one 
of the honorable ordinaries representing a belt 
of honor given for eminent services. The 
canton is a subordinate ordinary, representing 
the banner given to knights-banneret. 

Edward and Samuel Fuller, brothers, came 
to America in the "Mayflower" in 1620, and 
landed at Plymouth, ^lassachusetts. They 
were sons of Robert Fuller, a butcher of Nor- 
folk county, England. Both signed the cele- 
brated ■"Compact," which was drawn up in the 
cabin of the "Mayflower" just previous to the 
landing at Cape Cod on November 21. 

(I) Edward Fuller, progenitor of this fam- 
ily in America, was baptized September 4, 
1575, in the parish of Redenhall, county of 
Norfolk, England. It is not known that he 
was one of that band which, because of the 
persecutions in the time of Queen Elizabeth 
for religious belief, sailed to Holland in 1608, 
where they settled in Amsterdam and a year 
later were located in Leyden, until they em- 
barked on the "Speedwell," which left Delft- 



haven, Holland, about August i, 1620; but 
research makes it appear that it was more 
likely that he joined the others on the arrival 
of the "Speedwell" at Southampton, where 
they joined the "Mayflower," and August 15, 
1620, the two vessels started to cross the .At- 
lantic : but the "Speedwell," proving unsea- 
worthy, was forced to turn back. His brother, 
Samuel, had gone to Holland, however, and 
both crossed the ocean together. Their father 
is recorded as a contributor to the famous 
chime of eight bells to the Redenhall church 
in Norfolk county, he helping towards the- 
purchase of the si.xth bell in 1588. Although 
it is sometimes stated that Edward had a 
wife named Ann, the most accurate informa- 
tion is that her name is unknown. Governor 
Bradford does not mention her by name ; but 
states "Edward Fuller and his wife died soon 
after they came on shore." His death oc- 
curred at Plymouth, Massachusetts, between 
January 11 and April 10, 1621. His wife 
died early in 1621, some time after January 
II. They left only one child, Samuel, who 
had come over with tJiem on the "Mayflower." 
(II) Samuel, son of Edward and Ann Ful- 
er, was born about 1612, at some place in Eng- 
land not yet determined, no record of his 
birth or baptism having been discovered, and 
died at Barnstable, Massachusetts, October 
31 or November 10, 1683. He married at ]\Ir. 
Cudworth's house in Scituate, by Captain 
Miles Standish, magistrate, "on ye fourthe 
daye of ye weeke," April 8-18, 1635. Jane, 
daughter of Rev. John Lathrop, of Scituate, 
and who was baptized September 29, 1614, at 
Edgerly, county of Kent, England; died sub- 
sequent to 1658 and before 1683. He grew 
up under the direct care of his uncle. Dr. 
Samuel Fuller, at Plymouth. He received 
three acres of land at the time of the gen- 
eral division in 1623, thought to signify one 
for himself and the shares of his deceased 
father and mother. On this theory he would 
have been si.xteen years old at that time, and 
his birth would have occurred in 1608 in- 
stead of 1612: but there may have been some 
particular understanding. The land assigned 
to him was on the south side of the town 
brook ("to the Woodward") and included 
what was known in 1900 as Watson's Hill, 
where he had for neighbors, John Howland, 
Stephen Hopkins, Edward Winslow and the 
Indian Hobomok. When the inhabitants were 
divided into twelve groups at the town meet- 
ing held on June i, 1627, for the purpose of 
dividing the cattle then owned in the colony, 
the eighth lot fell to Dr. Samuel Fuller and 
his company, and joined to him was Samuel 
Fuller, Jr., son of Edward, the immigrant. 



lyo 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



"To this lot fell a red heifer, came of the 
cow which belongeth to the poor of the 
Colony." 

When Dr. Samuel Fuller made his will in 
1633, he made provision for his nephew, Sam- 
uel, and therein is the only mention to be 
found of Samuel's wife, after her marriage. 
Therein he wrote: "It. my will is that my 
Cozen (nephew) Samuell goe freely away 
•with his stock of Cattle and Swine wthout 
any further recconing wch swine are the 
halfe of six sowes, six hogges, one boare & 
four shotes. Also one Cow & one heyfer. 
. . . It. my will is that in case my sonne 
Samyell and other my children die before such 
time as they are fitt to enter upon my land 
for inheritance that then my kinsman, Sam. 
ffuller. now in the howse with me, enjoy 
"wtsoever lands I am now possessed of, except 
my dwelling howse at town or whatsoever 
shall be due to me or them. ... It. I 
give to him my Rufflet Cloake & my stuffe 
sute I now weare." He dated the will July 
30, 1633, 3"d died within three months. As 
the doctor's children survived, Samuel re- 
■ceived none of the lands and set out with 
his cattle to seek a home. He became a 
"Freeman" of the Colony in 1634, and settled 
in Scituate, Massachusetts, where he joined 
the church, November 7, 1636. There he had 
twenty acres, and built .the fifteenth house 
in that place in 1636. All the houses in the 
town were built alike, and Rev. John Lathrop, 
accustomed to life at Christ's College, Cam- 
bridge, styled them "meane." The walls were 
made of poles filled between with stones and 
clay, the roof thatched, the chimney of rough 
stone, the windows of oiled paper, and the 
floors of hand-sawed planks. He described 
them as mere "booths," because they were 
open and the fire had to be piled high con- 
stantly to keep the occupant warm in winter. 
His will was made October 29, 1683, was 
filed with wills of the Plymouth Colony, and 
is both curious and interesting in its peculiar 
details. 

Children: i. Hannah, birth date unknown; 
married. January 1, 1658-59, Nicholas Bon- 
ham, of Barnstable. 2. Sauuiel, baptized at 
Scituate, Massachusetts, February 11, 1637; 
married Anna, daughter of Matthew Ful- 
ler. 3. Elizabeth, married Joseph Taylor. 4. 
Sarah, baptized .August i, 164 1, died about 
1651-54. 5. Mary, baptized June 16, 1644, 
died near Norwich, Connecticut, 1720; mar- 
ried, November, 18, 1674, Joseph Williams, 
of Haverhill, Massachusetts. 6. Thomas, 
born May 18, 1651, died young. 7. Sarah, 

born December 10, 1654; married 

Crowe, of Yarmouth. 8. John, born about 



1656, see forward. 9. Infant, baptized Feb- 
ruary 8, 1658, died in fifteen days. 

(III) John, son of Samuel and Jane (Lath- 
rop) Fuller, was born in Barnstable, Mas- 
sachusetts, about 1656, died in East Haddam, 
Connecticut, between February 28 and May 
20, 1726. He was called "Little John" to 
disting-uish him from his cousin. Dr. John 
Fuller. He lived on his father's estate at 
Sorton Neck until 1694, when he removed 
to East Haddam, Connecticut. He seems to 
have prospered here, as about 1721 he con- 
veyed ample lands and farming implements to 
each of his sons. His will was made Feb- 
ruary 28, 1725-26, probated May 10, 1726, 
and in it he speaks of his place of residence 
as "township of Haddam, County of Hart- 
ford, upon the east side of the Great River." 
He married, about 1678, Mehitabel, daugh- 
ter of Moses Rowley, and was born in Barn- 
stable. January 11, 1660-61, died in East 
Haddam, Connecticut, about 1732. Children: 
I. Thomas, born in Barnstable about 1679, 
see forward. 2. Samuel, born in Barnstable, 
about 1682. 3. Shubael, born in Barnstable, 
about 1684. 4. Thankful, born in Barnstable, 
about 1688, baptized there May 19, 1689; mar- 
ried, at Colchester, Connecticut, July 9, 1707, 
Jabez Crippen, of Falmouth, Massachusetts. 

5. Deborah, born about 1689; married, Sep- 
tember II, 1 716, John Rowley. 6. Edward, 
born in Barnstable, about 1691 : married, 

about 1713, Bates; died in Colchester, 

January 7, 1731. 7. Elizabeth, born in Barn- 
stable, about 1693; married, March 4, 1713, j 
Samuel Rowley, of East Haddam. 8. John, 
born in East Haddam, Connecticut, Novem- 
ber ID, 1697; died there in 1757-58; married, 
May I, 1721, Mrs. Mary Rowley, daughter 
of William Cornwall. 9. Joseph, born in 
East Haddam. Connecticut, March i, 1699- 
1700. died in Kent, Connecticut, July 19, 1775; 
married, December 22, 1722, Lydia Day. 10. 
Benjamin, born in East Haddam, October" 
20, 1 701, died in Sharon, Connecticut, De- 
cember 20. 1740; married, about 1700, Con- 
tent Fuller. II. Anne, born about 1703-04; 
married. March 9, 1727, Jonathan Rowley. 
12. Alehitabel, born in East Haddam, April 

6, 1706; married Benjamin Kneeland. 

(IV) Thomas, son of John and Mehitabel 
(Rowley) I""uller, was born in Barnstable, 
Massachusetts, about 1679, died in East Had- 
dam. Connecticut, April 9, 1772. He married 
I-Llizabeth , born about 1689, died No- 
vember 5, 1784. Children: i. Ebenezer, born 
October 27, 1715, see forward. 2. Thomas, 
torn East Haddam. April 5, 1717; married 
(first) Martha Rowley; married (second)] 
Mary Hosmer; died in East Haddam, Novem^* 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



171 



ber 12. 1S02. 3. Nathan, born in East Had- 
dani, Connecticut, April 20, 1719; married 

Abitjail . 4. Hannah, born March 21, 

1720; died June 16, 1777; married, 1743, Cap- 
tain \\illiam Church. 5. Jabez, born in East 
Haddani, February 19, 1722, died there, 1757- 
58: married, October 10, 1754, Lois Hub- 
bard, of Middle Haddam, Connecticut. 6. 
Jonathan, born January 12, 1725, died in 
1758: unmarried. 7. Ehzabeth, born March, 
1727; married, November 12, 1747, Samuel 
Church. 

(\") Ebenezer, son of Thomas and Eliza- 
betli Fuller, was born in East Haddam, Con- 
necticut. October 27, 171 5, died in Hebron, 
Connecticut. September 30, 1749. His will 
bears date September 13, 1749. He married, 
September 30. 1738, Mary, daughter of Moses 
and Martha (Porter) Rowley, of Colchester, 
Connecticut, born there December 5, 1708, 
died in Hebron, February 5, 1798. Chil- 
dren : I . Ebenezer. born in Hebron, May 8; 
1739: married, March 20, 1764, Abigail Hen- 
dee. 2. Dinmiis, born October i, 1742; mar- 
ried Solomon Huntington, of Hebron. 3. 
Mary, born August 25, 1743; married John 
Filer. 4. Ozias, born in Hebron, September 
25, 1745, and might have been the one of 
that name who enlisted as a drummer, March 
20, 1762, in the First Connecticut Regiment, 
Twelfth Company. Captain King. 5. Roger, 
born in Hebron, July 21, 1747, see forward. 
6. Elizabeth, born April 5, 1750. 

(\T) Roger, son of Ebenezer and Alary 
(Rowley) Fuller was born in Hebron, Con- 
necticut, July 21, 1747, died there, Septem- 
ber 21, 1819. He married (first), Decem- 
ber 21, 1766, Martha Phelps, who died Feb- 
ruary 13, 1785, by whom nine children; mar- 
ried (second), November 17, 1785, Violette 
Taylor, of Coventry, Connecticut, who died 
January 14, 1806. by whom three children; 
married (third), January 11, 1807, Lois Tay- 
lor, who died August 23, 1809; married 
(fourth), June 21, 1810. Susannah Keeney, 
who died in 1852. Children, all born in He- 
bron. Connecticut: i. Martha, born June 7, 
1768; married, April 20. 1784, Taicott Hors- 
ford. 2. Ozias, born January 12, 1770; mar- 
ried, in 1794, Desire Barber. 3. Mary, born 
November i, 1771. 4. Roger, born Septem- 
ber 7, 1773, died in Barnstable, Massachu- 
setts, June 23, 1834; married, at Clarendon, 
Vermont, February 4, 1796, Rachel Free- 
man Hodges. 5. Frederick Augustus, born 
March i, 1775. 6. Erastus, born January 
II. 1777; married, January 27, 1801, Sybil 
Barber, of Hebron. 7. Anna, born June 25, 
1779; married, August. 1798, George O. 
Cook, of Windsor, Vermont. 8. John, born 



June 30, 1781 ; see forward. 9. Luna, born 
January 23, 1785. 10. Humphrey T., born 
July 29, 1786. II. Amelia, born January 7, 
1788. 12. Cynthia, born March 26, 1790. 

(VH) John (2), son of Roger and Martha 
(Phelps) Fuller, was born in Hebron, Con- 
necticut, June 30, 1781. It is believed that 
he removed to near Rome, New York, where 
he probably died. He married, New Balti- 
more, New York, in 1813, Isabel Anderson, 
and resided there. Children: i. John, died at 
age of twenty-four. 2. William, born in 
New Baltimore, New York, September 7, 
1814; see forward. 

(VHI) \^'illiam, son of John (2) and Isa- 
bel (Anderson) Fuller, was born in New Bal- 
timore, Greene county, New York, Septem- 
ber 7, 1814, died on a train at Port Henry, 
New York, August 16, 1894, and was buried 
in New Baltimore, where he had resided with 
his large family all his life, the place known 
as the Fuller homestead, and its occupants 
the leading people of the locality. He mar- 
ried at New Baltimore, New York, October 
20, 1840, Lydia Allen Swezey, born at Cox- 
sackie, New York, May 9, 18 15, died at New 
Baltimore, New York. i\Iay 5, 1887, daugh- 
ter of Stephen and Gertrude (Wilson) 
Swezey. Gertrude Wilson was the daughter 
of Josiah Wilson, a captain in the revolu- 
tion, and Jane Dickinson (Plum) Wilson. 
Jane Dickinson was the daughter of Jonathan 
and Joanna (Melyn) Dickinson. Jonathan 
Dickinson, who was the founder and tlie first 
president of Princeton College, was the son 
of Hezekiah Dickinson, who was the son of 
Nathaniel Dickinson (one of the first settlers 
of Wethersfield, Connecticut) and Abigail 
Blakeman, daughter of Samuel Blakeman and 
granddaughter of Adam Blakeman, the first 
minister of .Stratford, Connecticut, and a grad- 
uate of Oxford University. Joanna Melyn 
was the daughter of Jacob Melyn, who owned 
Staten Island and a part of Manhattan Island 
and was a Patroon. Josiah Wilson was one 
of twenty-one children, and the descendants 
of this family were numerous and most dis- 
tinguished, including the Sargeants, Runyons, 
Belmonts, Greenes. Alexanders, Perrys and 
Bigelows. One of Josiah Wilson's sisters was 
the mother of Commodore Oliver Hazard 
Perry, famous in the battle of Lake Erie, and 
therefore Commodore Perry was Howard N. 
Fuller's third cousin. Another sister was the 
mother of the- Hon. John Bigelow. William 
and Lydia Allen (Swezey) Fuller had the 
following children, all born at New Balti- 
more, New York: i. Emma Louise, born No- 
vember 7, 1841 ; immarried. 2. De Witt Al- 
lison, born February 17, 1844; married, Jan- 



172 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



uary 13, 1868, Mary Christine Hotaling; died 
in Albany, New York, September 19, 1894. 

3. Franklin Carey, born December 28, 1845, 
died in New Baltimore, New York, August 
15, 1846. 4. William Dickinson, born June 
24, 1847; married, February 11, 1885, Jennie 
Spring-sted, living in New Baltimore in 1910. 
5. Gertrude Amelia, born August 14, 1849, 
died in New Baltimore, New York, January 
21, 1852. 6. Perry James, born September 

4, 1851 : married, September 10, 1879, Lydia 
A. Stewart, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, 
residing at 105 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn, New 
York, in 1910. 7. Howard Newton, born 
October 29. 1853, see forward. 8. Jennie 
Antoinette, born March 6. 1856; married, 
January 7, 1885, Wessel Ten Broeck Van 
Orden, of New Baltimore, New York. 

(IX) Howard Newton, son of William and 
Lydia Allen (Swezey) Fuller, was born in 
New Baltimore, Greene county. New York, 
October 29, 1853. He received his education 
first at ^liss Griffith's private school in New 
Baltimore, then attended the Coeymans Acad- 
emy, after which he went to Rutgers College 
Grammar .School, and then entered Rutgers 
College, graduating therefrom in 1874. and 
receiving the degree of A.M. in 1877. While 
at Rutgers he won the Philoclean Literary 
prize, as also the Senior prize for English 
composition. In his junior year he wrote "On 
the Banks of the Old Raritan," which is con- 
sidered the best of all American college songs, 
of which the Nczc York Siin. of May 15, 1907, 
said : "For genuine go, martial swing, a real 
soul-stirrer, one tiiat gingerizes the student 
anatomy from head to heel, there is no other 
college song equal to the Rutgers 'On the 
Banks of the Old Raritan." The following, 
by him, is called the finest homiletic poem in 
the English language, and was written by him 
while at college in response to the request of 
a college friend for a motto to go on a school- 
room wall : 

"So let me live that when I die 

My life shall show no blot of shame, 
And o'er the prave wherein I lie. 

Beneath my plainly graven name. 
Upon a low and modest stone. 

Which every eye can quickly scan, 
May this be carved and this alone: 

'He never wronged his brother man.'" 

^Ir. Iniller has written a great many poems 
which have given real enjoyment to the casual 
reader, and all have met with commendation 
at the hands of critics, yet he is modest about 
the matter, which he considers but a form of 
recreation and pleasure, and has never saved 
them. On "Educational Day," July 19. 1886, 
of the week's celebration of Albany's Bi-Cen- 



tennial, one thousand of the city's school' chil- 
dren sang an ode, written for the occasion 
by him, with telling eiifect and arousing much 
enthusiasm. 

He began his business career as a clerk in: 
Hinman & Fuller's grocery store at New Bal- 
timore in the fall of 1874; established and 
published The Neiv Baltimore Sun; went to 
Albany in July, 1875, as clerk for William 
Fuller & Sons; edited The Rensselaer County 
Gazette for several years, and took a two- 
year course in both medicine and law while 
continuing his relations with Wm. Fuller & 
Sons. He entered actively into the flour busi- 
ness under his own name in 1890. On the 
death of his brother, De Witt Allison Fuller, 
in 1894, he continued the latter's business 
(building material) in conjunction with his 
own. He is a member of the First Reformed 
Protestant Dutch Church, of which he was a 
deacon for several years and a trustee in 1910 
as well as for some time previous. He is a 
member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce, 
the Unconditional Republican Club, Philip Liv- 
ingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, Zeta 
Psi fraternity, St. George's Benevolent So- 
ciety, Fort Orange Club, is a thirty-second 
degree Mason, was elected a life trustee of 
Rutgers College in 1905 ; president of the Un- 
conditional Club for three terms, 1 888-1891 ; 
president of the Albany County McKinley 
League in 1896, and president of the Eleventh 
Ward Republican Association. 1885-89. He is 
also a director of the First National Bank, 
trustee of the Home Savings Bank and trus- 
tee of the Albany Homeopathic Hospital. 

Mr. Fuller lias been an active Republican 
for years, and his political record is as fol- 
lows : He was Republican candidate for mayor 
of Albany at a time when the city had gone 
Democratic for a score of years, and at the- 
election held April 8, 1890, received 6.316' 
votes as against his opponent, Hon. James 
H. Manning's 13,552 votes as the head of the 
Democratic city ticket. He was elected alder- 
man of the eleventh ward, April 13, 1886, re- 
ceiving 713 votes against 616 votes cast for 
his opponent, Richard Ryan; served twO' 
years, and declined renomination. He was ap- 
pointed commissioner of public instruction by 
Mayor Manning in 1893; served eight months, 
and rcsigneil on account of the death of both" 
his father and brother, whose business de- 
manded his attention for their families. He| 
was elected city comptroller, November 5,j 
igoi, receiving 12,730 votes against io,S 
votes cast for Charles H. Bissikummer, the 
Democratic candidate ; was re-elected Novem- 
ber 3, 1903, receivine: 13,970 votes against 
9,777 votes cast for Edmund A. Walsh, his 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



^73 



•opponent; re-elected November 7, 1905, re- 
■ceiving 15,753 votes, against 7,483 cast for 
Philip J- Henzel, the Democratic candidate; 
re-elected November 5, 1907, receiving 13,736 
votes as against 10,198 votes cast for Edward 
T. Reed, candidate of the Democratic and 
Civic League parties ; re-elected November 2, 
1909, receiving 15,205 votes as against 8,437 
votes cast for Edwin F. Hunting, Demo- 
cratic and Civic League candidate. The fig- 
ures speaiv for themselves, showing a pro- 
nounced endorsement of his conduct of the 
office of city comptroller by the people of Al- 
bany, placing their confidence in him by elect- 
ing him five times in succession to that office, 
and by an increase in vote which was the last 
time nearly double that of all the parties 
combined against him. 

Air. Fuller married, in Albany, December 
5, 1898, Mary Christine Hotaling, widow of 
his brother, De Witt Allison Fuller, of New 
Baltimore, New York. Mary Christine Ho- 
taling was born in New Baltimore, Greene 
county. New York, May 15, 1849, daughter 
of Amos and Ann Eliza Hotaling, who were 
married at Coxsackie, New York, October 
30, 1844. Amos Hotaling was born in New 
Baltimore, March 17, 1815, died there January 
24, 1909, and was the son of Garrett and 
Hester (Bronk) Hotaling, the latter a daugh- 
ter of Ephraim and Annetje Knott 
Bronk, and his ancestors were Peter Bronk 
and Rachel \'an Hoesen, Pieter Bronk and 
Annetje ISogardus, Peter Bogardus and 
Wyntje Westbrouck, Rev. Everardus Bo- 
gardus and Anneke Jans. Ann Eliza Hotaling 
was born in Coxsackie, New York, September 
30, 1822, died in New Baltimore, March 20, 
1903, daughter of Henry and Maria (Van- 
denbergh) Hotaling. Mr. and Mrs. Howard 
N. Fuller resided, in 1910, at No. 144 State 
street, Albany, New York. Children of Mrs. 
Fuller by first marriage: Emma Louise, born 
November 7, 1868. see forward: Anna Eliza, 
November 7, 1868, see forward; Zada Con- 
stance, October 27, 1872, see forward ; Wil- 
liam Allison, August 2, 1878, see forward. 

(X) Emma Louise Fuller was born in New 
Baltimore, New York, November 7, 1868; 
married, Albany, New York, June 7, 1893, 
Charles Plenry Douglas, manufacturer of 
woolen goods at Cohoes and residing in Al- 
bany. He was born in Albany, March 13, 
1868. His father was Charles Henry Douglas, 
died in Albany, August 29, 1883, being the 
son of John and Jane iMiller (Mueller) Doug- 
las. His mother was Sarah Martha Root, 
who was born in Albany, May 6, 1851, died 
at Hague, Lake George, New York, August 
19, 1907, daughter of Josiah G. and Martha 



Washington (Mead) Root. Charles H. 
Douglas and Sarah M. Root were married at 
Albany. Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Douglas 
resided, in 1910, at No. 168 Mohawk street, 
Cohoes, New York. 

(X) Anna Eliza Fuller was born in New 
Baltimore, New York, November 7, 1868; 
married, Albany, New York, April 6, 1892, 
John Ferguson Moore, born in Albany, Au- 
gust 22, 1867, son of Dr. Levi and Ida Louise 
(Ferguson) Moore. Children : Gertrude Ful- 
ler Moore, born in Albany, March 27, 1893; 
John Ferguson Moore, born in Albany, Sep- 
tember 10, 1896. They resided, in 1910, at 
No. 342 Hudson avenue, Albany, New York. 

(X) Zada Constance Fuller was born in 
New Baltimore, New York, October 27, 1872. 
She married, Albany, October 26, 1898, Fred- 
erick Foster Ward, of Wilmington, Delaware, 
born in Jeft'ersonville, Indiana, November 2, 
1871, son of Isaac Foster and Frances 
Brownell (Avery) Ward. Mr. and Mrs. 
Frederick F. Ward resided, in 1910, at No. 
56 Woodland avenue, New Rochelle, New 
York. 

(X) \\'illiam Allison Fuller was born in 
Albany, New York, August 2, 1878. He re- 
ceived his education at the Albany Academy 
and Cornell University. He is a member of 
the Fort Orange Club, of Albany ; the St. 
Elmo Club, of New York City, and of the 
Delta Phi fraternity. In 1910 he was a me- 
chanical engineer, residing at No. 144 State 
street, Albanv, New York. 



In the "Mayflower" came Ed- 
FULLER ward Fuller and Dr. Samuel 

Fuller, December 20, 1620. Ed- 
ward died in the "first sickness," 1621. leaving 
a son Samuel, who settled on Cape Cod. Dr. 
Samuel Fuller was the first physician in the 
colony. He married (according to Leyden 
records) (first) Elsie Glasscock; (second) 
Agnes Carpenter, but his children are by his 
third wife, Bridget Lee, of Plymouth. She 
came to Massachusetts on the ship "Ann" in 
1623. She was married to Dr. Samuel Ful- 
ler in Leyden, in 1617. Their first child 
was born in Leyden, but died soon after their 
arrival at Plymouth. Dr. Samuel died in 1633, 
leaving an only son Samuel, and an only 
daughter Mercy, who married Ralph James. 
(II) Samuel (2), only son of Dr. Sam- 
uel (i) and Bridget (Lee) Fuller, was born 
in 1624, died August 17, 1695. He was a 
minister of the gospel. His tombstone reads : 
"Here Lyes ye body of ye Rev. Mr. Samuel 
Fuller who departed this life Aug. ye 17, 
1695, in ye 71st year of his age. He was ye 
1st minister of ve ist church of Oirist in 



174 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Middleboro." He was a deacon of the Ply- 
mouth church, and ordained a minister, De- 
cember 25, 1694, but he had preached to the 
Middleboro congregation sixteen years be- 
fore his ordination. He was a sincere, godly 
man, and was sincerely lamented by his peo- 
ple. In the settlement of his estate, found 
in probate records of Middleboro, book 1, 
page 246, dated October i, 1695, Elizabeth 
is mentioned as the widow of Rev. Samuel 
Fuller ; Samuel, as the oldest son ; John, as 
the second son; Isaac, as the youngest, and 
under age. The daughters mentioned are 
Mercy, wife of Daniel Cole; Experience, wife 
of James Wood ; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel 
Eaton, and an unmarried daughter Hannah. 
Elizabeth Fuller, his widow, died at Plympton, 
Massachusetts, November 11, 1713. 

(Ill) Samuel (3), son of Rev. Samuel (2) 
and Elizabeth Fuller, was one of the first set- 
tlers of Plympton, Massachusetts. He mar- 
ried Mercy, daughter of Benjamin Eaton (i). 
He died in Plympton, September 6, 1728, in 
his seventieth year. Children: Nathaniel, 
born November 14, 1687; Samuel, August 30, 
1689; WilHam, died in infancy; Seth, Au- 
gust 30, 1692; Benjamin, March 7, 1694; 
Ebenezer, March 24, 1695; Elizabeth, March 
30, 1697; John, December 19, 1698; Jabez, 
June, 1701 ; Mercy, October 3, 1702; James, 
February 27, 1704. 

(I\') It is from one of the sons of Samuel 
(3) Fuller, of Plympton, that Samuel Fuller, 
of Schenectady, descends. The records do 
not follow out the children with sufficient 
clearness, but the best indications are that 
he was a son of James, the youngest son, 
born February 27, 1704. 

(V) Samuel (4), grandson of Samuel (3) 
Fuller, of Plympton, and perhaps son of James 
Fuller, located in Schenectady as early as De- 
cember 7, 1763, when he was married to 
Anna, daughter of William Hall, who was 
taken prisoner by the French and Indians and 
carried to France, where he died. Anna Hall 
was a lineal descendant of the first Ryer 
Schermerhorn, an original proprietor of Sche- 
nectady. Samuel Fuller first came to Sche- 
nectady, March 28, 1758, and was then wholly 
employed in the King's service at Schenectady, 
Albany, Stillwater, Fort Edward, Lake George 
and Niskayuna. He was engaged in the con- 
struction of boats, wagons, log houses and 
shelters for the army commanded by Gen- 
eral Abercrombie. On July 31, 1758, he re- 
turned to Boston, going from there to Hali- 
fax, where he arrived February 7, 1759, and 
continued in the royal service at the navy 
yard until after the taking of Quebec by 
General Wolfe in September, 1759, returning 



again to Schenectady, where he arrived July, 
1 761. He was an accomplished architect, and 
did more than any one man to improve the 
style of building, and to his skill is to be at- 
tributed the stately buildings seen through- 
out the length and breadth of the Mohawk. 
He built "The Hermitage" in Niskayuna for 
the retired merchant, John Duncan ; the Guy 
Park mansion, afterward the home of Sir 
Guy Johnson ; the Claas mansion, the abode 
later of Colonel Daniel Claas, son-in-law of 
Sir William Johnson. He built the old court 
house at Johnstown ; the dwelling of General 
Nicholas Herkimer; the Episcopal church in 
Schenectady (1762), the oldest Episcopal 
church structure in the state ; the John Glen 
mansion ; the Ten Eyck mansion, later the 
home of Governor Joseph C. Yates ; the Dan- 
iel Campbell mansion, the latter mentioned all 
in Schenectady, whicli city owes much to his 
early architectural skill. During the years 
from 1761, when he took up his permanent 
residence in Schenectady, until his death just 
prior to the revolution, he was constantly em- 
ployed in construction and architectural work. 
Children: Jeremiah, see forward; Annatjie, 
born April 8, 1771. 

(VI) Jeremiah, only son of Samuel (4) 
and Anna (Hall) Fuller, was born in Sche- 
nectady, October 26, 1766. He was a man of 
high character, strict integrity and great busi- 
ness energy. He married, January 2t,, 1790, 
Mary, daughter of George Kendall. She 
died November 9, i860, in her eighty-sixth 
year. Her husband died June 18. 1839, in 
his seventy-third year. They were the par- 
ents of fourteen children, ten sons and four 
daughters, all of whom reached majority, ex- 
cei)t Samuel, the first born, and one daughter 
Ann. Four of the sons became lawyers ; four 
physicians, and one only did not have a pro- 
fessional career: i. Samuel, died in infancy. 
2. William Kendall, born November 29, 1792; 
graduated at Union College, 1810; studied 
law, becoming law- partner of John B. Yates. 
He removed to Chittenango, Aladison county, 
New York, where he was justice of the peace, 
town clerk, postmaster, school trustee, com- 
missioner of highways and supervisor. In 
1823 he was appointed by Governor Yates ad- 
jutant-general of the state of New York. He 
was, prior to 1823, district attorney of Madi- 
son county and judge of the court of common 
pleas. He was a member of the state as- 
sembly, 1829-30, twice elected to represent the 
twenty-third New York district in congress. 
After his term expired, he retired to private 
life and the care of his own estate. He never 
married. 3. Sanuicl, Ijorn April 16, 1795; 
graduated from Union College; completed his 




fame<i Ky'^tu/ei 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



175 



medical studies in the city of New York. 
He was in the practice of his profession at 
Chittenango, New York, from 1818 to 1866, 
when he retired and settled in New York with 
his family. He died in 1867 in his seventy- 
third year. 4. Ann, died in infancy. 5. George 
Kendall, born January 29. 1799; graduated 
Union College ; was general agent and super- 
intendent of the extensive farming, mercan- 
tile and manufacturing interests of John B. 
Yates. He died May 9, 1858, unmarried, the 
only one of the eight brothers who was not 
a professional man. 6. Amelia Ann, born 
March 31, 1801, died October 27, 1871. 7. 
Ann, born April 21, 1803, died June, 1862. 
8. Richard, born October 28, 1804; gradu- 
ated Union College ; studied medicine and 
practiced at Schenectady. He died May 15, 
1837. 9. Edward, born February 15, 1807; 
graduate Union College ; studied medicine and 
settled at Chittenango, New York, where he 
was the partner of his brother, Dr. Sam- 
uel. He died January 22, 1877. 10. Charles, 
born April i, 1809. He was a graduate of 
Union College, studied law and practiced in 
Schenectady. 11. Henry, born Eebruary 2, 
181 1, died January 6, 1875. He was a gradu- 
ate of Union College; studied law and prac- 
ticed in Schenectady. He removed to New 
York, where he died. 12. James, see forward. 
13. Elizabeth, born June 11, 1816. 14. Rob- 
ert, born February 14, 1822; graduate of 
Union College ; studied medicine and practiced 
all his life in Schenectady. He was a skillful 
and most charitable physician. 

(\'n) James, son of Jeremiah and Mary 
(Kendall) Fuller, was born in the Fuller 
home, corner of Church and Front streets, 
July 24, 1814. He prepared for the practice 
of law, was admitted to the bar and became 
an attorney of note. He was a Democrat and 
a member of the Reformed church. He mar- 
ried Maria H. "^'ates, born in Schenectady at 
the Yates home, Washington avenue and 
L^nion street, and died in that city, April 16, 
1896. She was a member of the distinguished 
Yates family of Schenectady, who are fully 
recorded in this work. Children: i. Isaac, 
died at age of sixty-five years. 2. Mary 
Kendall, married Joseph Clements, a promi- 
nent contractor of Schenectady. 3. Rachel, 
married Charles Lynn, of Schenectady. 4. 
Richard, died at the age of fifty-eight years. 
He married Maggie Carley and had a daugh- 
ter, Hellena. 5. James, see forward. 

(V'HI) James (2), youngest son of James 
(i) and Maria H. (Yates) Fuller, was born 
September 17, 1848, at the old home in Sche- 
nectady, where he died January 17, 1908. He 
was educated in the common and high schools 



of that city, and read law with his father. He 
practiced his profession in Schenectady all his 
life, continuing alone after the death of his 
father. He was an able and skillful man, was 
a notary public, and cared for several estates. 
He stood high in his community, both as an 
advocate and a citizen. He was a well-known 
and active Democrat, contributing, in a large 
degree, to the local successes of his party. 
He married, January, 1881, Annie M., born in 
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, only child of 
Hugh and Hannah (Lynch) Boyd. Her 
mother died when she was seven days old, andl 
her father, Hugh Boyd, married (second) 
Catherine Megill, of the prominent Canadian 
family, founders and benefactors of Megill 
University. She was a daughter of Edward, 
and niece of Charles Megill, both of whom 
served as mayors of Hamilton. Hugh Boyd 
was born in Belfast, Ireland, of the aristo- 
cratic Boyd family of that city. He was of 
Scotch ancestry, and came to the United 
States in 1866, after a residence in Canada of 
several years. He settled in Schenectady in 
1866. He and his second wife both died in 
1899. By both marriages he had six chil- 
dren. Children of James and Annie M. 
(Boyd) Fuller: i. Hellena E., died at the 
age of five years. 2. Jane H., born 1896, a 
student at Holy Name Academy, Albany. 
Mrs. Fuller survives her husband, and resides 
in Schenectady. 



During the Napoleonic wars a 
FULLER Frenchman by name Methey 

left his native land and settled 
in risen, Germany. He had a wife and chil- 
dren, the latter born in Germany. 

(II) Nicholas Methey was born in Risen 
in 1790. He was a blacksmith by trade. He 

married Catherine , who bore him eight 

children. In 1849, after having been a widow 
about four years, she emigrated to the United 
States with her children, landing in New York 
City after a voyage of sixty-five days. She 
finally settled in Albany, with her family, and 
about 1856 married a second husband, Nicho- 
las Snyder ; they moved to Rochester. New 
York, where they died. Hitherto she had kept 
her children together, but after her second 
marriage the family was broken up and has 
never since been united. The boys took dif- 
ferent names, while the identity of the girls 
was lost in their married names. Each was 
unknown to the other and in one instance a 
brother and sister lived near neighbors un- 
known to each other, they having separated 
in childhood. Six of the eight children are ■ 
here named: i. Henry, left home after his 
mother's second marriage and assumed the 



1-6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



name of Martin; he married, in Schenectady, 
and left issue. 2. Peter, see forward. 3. Mar- 
garet, married, and is deceased. 4. Mary, 
married, and is deceased. 5. Gertrude, mar- 
ried Helas, a tailor of .Albany ; both de- 
ceased. 6. Caspar, now a resident of Utica, 
New York, was the only child that retained 
the family name, Methey. He married, and 
has twelve children. The other children died 
young. 

(HI) Peter, son of Nicholas and Catherine 
Methey, was born in the village of Huntine, 
province of Pisen, Germany, December 25, 
1835. He took the name of Fuller, after his 
mother's second marriage, and has always re- 
tained it. After his breaking-off of family 
ties, he never again knew a home un- 
til he had made one for himself. His 
mother died before he again saw her, 
and under his new name he was lost to his 
brothers and sisters. After first leaving home 
he found employment on a farm, where he 
remained until he was twenty years of age. 
He then went with Jacob Taggart, of Ber- 
nardsville, Schoharie county. New York, who 
taught him the trade of miller. He continued 
milling with Garrett Ouackenbush, and be- 
came thoroughly familiar with all milling pro- 
cesses then employed. He next operated a 
mill of his own at Worcester, New York, later 
.one at Cobleskill and at Central Bridge. About 
1865 he settled permanently at Schenectady, 
.and became associated with J. S. ^'eeder, then 
proprietor of the old Veeder Schermerhorn 
Mills. In time he became proprietor of the 
mills as a tenant, later purchased the mills, 
which he enlarged and improved. He be- 
came very prosperous, and besides his mill 
property invested in unimproved land in now 
ward ten of Schenectady. His eldest son was 
admitted a partner and the firm name, Fuller 
& .Son, was well known as a synonym for in- 
tegrity and quality. In 1908 Mr. Fuller sold 
his interest to his son and retired from active 
business life. Wesley J. Fuller, his successor, 
has still further enlarged the mills, and by the 
introduction of improved, modern milling ma- 
chinery and methods, keeps the mill products 
in the front rank. When Mr. Fuller was a 
boy he had but little advantages as to school- 
ing. He worked for his board for three win- 
ters and attended school, working nights, 
mornings and Saturdays, rising at two o'clock 
in the morning to study his lessons. He 
worked for four dollars a month in harvest, 
and thus is, in the fullest sense, a self-made 
man. Mr. Fuller is a Democrat, a strong 
advocate of temperance and prohibition. He 
has been an active member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church for thirty years. 



He married (first), in Guilderland, Albany 
county, New York, Margaret J. Quackenbush, 
who is the mother of all his children. He 
married (second) Harriet A., daughter of 
Cassander and Catherine (Smith) Philo, 
granddaughter of Judge John Philo, who died 
in Saratoga county, New York, at the age 
of eighty-eight. Children: i. Menzo R., born 
in Guilderland ; learned the milling business 
with his father, and since 1898 has been man- 
ager of a large milling concern at Seymour, 
Texas, where he married. 2. Mary, died in 
childhood. 3. Wesley J., born in Schenec- 
tady, February 2, 1869 ; he was educated in 
the public schools, learned the milling busi- 
ness, was admitted a partner with his father, 
and in 1908 purchased the mills which he now 
operates. He is a member of the Reformed 
church. Alliance Lodge, No. 867, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, a member of the Ex- 
empt Fireman's Association and an active 
member of the Volunteer Fire Company of 
his ward ; a Democrat in politics. He mar- 
ried, in 1890, Nellie J. Howenstein, born 1872. 
Children: i. Earle, born July 26, 1892; ii. 
]\Iarguerite, July 7, 1900; iii. Catherine. April 
16, 1905. 4. Catherine, died at the age of 
four years. 5. Lena, married Charles B. Stev- 
ens, of Schenectady ; children : Byron and 
Marian. 6. Edward D., born in Schenectady, 
employed in the milling business with his 
brother, Wesley J. 7. William H., born in 
Schenectady, blacksmith by trade, married 
May Flashover; children: Mary, Peter and 
\'irginia. 8. Elizabeth (Belle), born in Sche- 
nectady, married a Mr. Cosboth. 9. Alfred, 
died at age of six months. 



The family name of Rankin 
RANKIN may have come from several 

sources, depending upon the 
language from which it is derived. If the 
name in its original form, as first employed by 
the family, was derived from the Danish 
word "Rank," it would signify a person of 
upright character or one of erect bearing, 
adopted because of the upright carriage of 
him who first bore this name. If it is of 
Greek derivation, it would come from "Roinn," 
a promontory, share or division, and "Ceann," 
head — the head of the promontory. In all 
probability Rankin means Kin of Ran, as ofj 
Randolph. 

(I) William Rankin, torn in Stirlingshire,! 
Scotland, May 16, 1745, came to America ir 
early life. For some time he resided 
Troy, New York, and also at GiarlestonJ 
South Carolina. With other loyalists he emi^ 
grated to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, during the 
American revolution, where he died Septer 





'jyi^ 



i 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



177 



ber 9, 1834. He was twice married. His sec- 
ond wife, whom he married at Brooklyn, New 
York, June 4, 1780, was Wilhelmina Payne, a 
widow, daughter of Dr. Ludowick Dunkle, a 
native of Holland. He had ten children. 

(II) William (2), son of William (i) 
and Wilhelmina (Payne) Rankin, was born 
at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. December 22, 1785. 
He came early in life to Elizabethtown (now 
Elizabeth), New Jersey, and died December 

14, 1869, while attending prayer meeting in 
Wyckliffe Chapel, Newark, New Jersey, 
which he had built through his interest in 
church work. He was a prosperous manu- 
facturer of Newark, highly respected, and 
lived at Hill Park, High street, in that city. 
He received the honorary degree of A.AL, 
Princeton, 1865. He married, at Elizabeth- 
town, New Jersey, June 18, 1809, Abigail Og- 
den, born at that place September 7, 1789, 
died at Newark, New Jersey, December 22, 
1876. She was a descendant of John Ogden, 
the Pilgrim, who was born September 19, 
1609, married, May 8, 1637. Jane Bond, and 
died in 1682. His son, Captain Benjamin 
Ogden. was born in 1654, married, 1685, Han- 
nah, daughter of John Woodruff, and died 
November 20, 1722. Their son, John Ogden, 
was born in 1689, married, October 27, 1717, 
Man,', daughter of Jacob Mitchell and j\Iary 
Morse. Their son, John Ogden, was born 
January 14, 1724, married (circa). 1746, Abi- 
gail, daughter of John and Abigail Clark, and 
died September 27, 181 7. Their son, Andrew 
Ogden, was born October 10, 1767, died Oc- 
tober ID, 1836, married Phoebe CoUard, De- 
ceriiber 9, 1788, who was born August 27, 
1764. and died October 28, 1847, being the 
daughter of Isaac Collard and Anne Spinning, 
a descendant of Humphrey Spinning, one of 
the Elizabethtown associates. The Collards 
were Huguenots. Abigail, daughter of An- 
drew and Phoebe Ogden, married William 
Rankin. 

Children of William (2) and Abigail (Og- 
den ) Rankin: i. William. Jr.. born September 

15, 1810; graduated at Williams College, was, 
in 1910, its oldest living graduate; resides 
with his son. Prof. Walter M. Rankin (Wil- 
liams, Ph.D., Munich) at Princeton, New 
Jersey. 2. Mary Ogden, born October 16, 
1812; married Dr. Isaac M. Ward, October 
31, 1832; died January 19, 1896. 3. Phebe 
Ann. born June 30, 1814: died at Newark, 
New Jersey, February 2, 1890; married. May 
8. 1838, John L. Goble, of Newark, who died 
March 30, 1844. 4. Susan, born July 17, 
1816, died at Newark. New Jersey, November 
23. 1886: married. Newark, June 25, 1834, 
Peter S. Duryee, who died September 25, 



1877. 5. Isaac Newton, born .-Kpril 7, 1818; 
died at Troy, New York, October 15, 1856; 
married (first), June 19, 1844, Charlotte 
Thomas, who died at Newark, New Jersey, 
October 2, 1853; married (second), October 
25. 1855, Isabella S. Thomas, who died No- 
vember 20, 1858. 6. Edward Erastus, born 
May 15, 1820; died at Newark, New Jer.sey, 
July 22, 1889; married Emily Watkinson, 
Hartford, Connecticut, October 13, 1847, see 
forward. 7. Lucinda Caroline, born Novem- 
ber 6, 1822; died New York City, February 
24, 1902; married, October 2, 1844, Rev. Sam- 
uel H. Hall. 8. Henry -Van Vleck, born Sep- 
tember II, 1825; graduated Princeton. 1843; 
became missionary to China, and died at 
Tungchow, China, July 2, 1863 ; married, 
July 20. 1848, Mary G. Knight. His widow 
married Rev. Robert Aikman ; living (1910) 
at Madison, New Jersey. 9. Matilda Whiting, 
born April 17. 1829; died June 28, 1838. 10. 
John Joseph, born July 17, 1831 ; graduated 
"Princeton, 1852: died, unmarried, at Florence, 
Italy, November 4. 1853. 

(Ill) Edward Erastus, sixth child of Wil- 
liam (2) and Abigail (Ogden) Rankin, was 
born May 15, 1820; graduated at Yale Col- 
lege, 1840; Union Theological Seminary, 
1843; pastor at Springfield, New Jersey, 
1847-49; New York City pastorate, 1849-1863; 
Christian Commission, 1863-65 ; First Qiurch 
of Christ, Fairfield, Connecticut, 1866-79; re- 
ceived degree of D.D. from Rutgers College. 
He died at Newark, New Jersey, July 22, 
1889. He married, October 13, 1847, Emily 
Watkinson, of Hartford, Connecticut. 

The Watkinson line, being of direct con- 
cern and interesting, in brief, is as follows : It 
is a tradition in the family that the Watkin- 
sons lived at Black Notely Hall, England, for 
five hundred years, and that one of them was 
a soldier in the army of Cromwell. John 
Watkinson had for his fourth son, Richard, 
who married Mary Sparrow, daughter of Sam- 
uel Sparrow and Mary Grainger. Richard 
Watkinson died June 18. 1750. His son Sam- 
uel was born at Sibble Hedingham, England, 
July I. 1745. and removed to Lavenham, 
Suffolk, England, in 1752, marrying Sarah 
Blair, October 6, 1768. She was great-grand- 
daughter of David Blair, of Adamton. Eng- 
land, who obtained a charter from Charles 
II, July 2, 1669, and married ]\Iargaret Bos- 
well, of Auchenloch. Ayrshire, Scotland. 
Their daughter Margaret married William 
Blair, of Giffordland, Dairy, Ayrshire. Scot- 
land, and their son David was father of Sarah, 
wife of Samuel \\"atkinson. 

Children of Samuel Watkinson and Sarah 
Blair, all born at Lavenham, in house still 



178 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



standing: Mary, married Joseph Perkins, of 
Norwich, Connecticut, November 13, 1803; 
Sarah, married Jacob Pledger, of Little Bad- 
don, Essex, England, May 10, 1792; John 
Revell, married Hannah Hubbard, of Middle- 
town. Connecticut, January 26, 1805 ; their 
daugliter. Jane Elizabeth, born July 17. 1809, 
married \\'alcott Huntington, of Hartford, 
Connecticut, and their children have the por- 
traits of Samuel Watkinson and Sarah Blair, 
(the latter painted by Gainsborough) ; Sam- 
uel Watkinson, Jr., died in New York. Sep- 
tember 6. 1799 ; Elizabeth, married Alexan- 
der Collins, of Middletown, Connecticut, Sep- 
tember 2, 1802; Richard, died in New York, 
September 8, 1799; David, married Olive, 
daughter of Barzillai Hudson, at Hartford, 
May 22, 1803 ; William, married Elizabeth A. 
McCall, of New York, February 6, 1823 ; Ann, 
married James H. Wells, of Hartford. Octo- 
ber 4. 1803: Edward (father of Emily Wat- 
kinson Rankin), married Lavinia Hudson, 
daughter of Barzillai, at Hartford, September 
3, 1810 : Jane, married Samuel Gill, of Middle- 
town, Connecticut, May 28, 1804 ; Robert, 
married Maria, daughter of General Cham- 
pion, of Westchester, Connecticut. 

Samuel Watkinson, his wife and twelve chil- 
dren, as well as many of his Lavenham neigh- 
bors, under his escort, came to America in 
1795 to escape religious persecution, being 
Presbyterians, and settled in Middletown, Con- 
necticut, where he died October 26, 1816. 
Sarah Blair, his wife, was born December 
26, 1743, and died at Middletown, March 17, 
1819. 

Edward Watkinson, tenth child of Samuel 
and Sarah (Blair) Watkinson, was bom at 
Lavenham. England. May 13, 1783, and died 
at Hartford, Connecticut, February 17, 1841. 
He was in the wholesale iron business with 
his brother, David, and lived on Prospect 
street. He married, at Hartford. September 
3. 1810, Lavinia Hudson. Children: Har- 
riet, married Rev. Horace Hooker (Thomas 
Hooker, lawyer, of New York City, was only 
surviving child in 1910. and he married Mar- 
garet Averill : no children) ; Edward P). Wat- 
kinson. married (first) Jane Abernethy, (sec- 
ond) Louise Stone, of Hartford, who survived 
him, with children Helen, Grace and Mary; 
Alfred \\'atkinson, married Jane Hudson, and 
had children, Henry, David. Alice, Carohne 
and J. Russell Watkinson. of Hartford, Con- 
necticut ; Maria, married Edward W. Nichols, 
and their only child was Prof. Edward L. 
Nichols, of Cornell University, who married 
Ida Preston, and has two children : Elizabeth 
and Robert ; Anna, married Dr. Lucius Ab- 
bott, of Hartford, no children; Margaret, mar- 



ried Dr. Daniel Brooks, of Brooklyn, no chil- 
dren ; David, died unmarried ; Emily, married 
Edward Erastus Rankin, and was mother of 
Edward Watkinson Rankin. She was born 
at Hartford, Connecticut, March 28, 1828, and 
died at Newark, New Jersey, March 10, 1901. 

Lavinia Hudson, grandmother of Edward 
Watkinson Rankin, and wife of Edward Wat- 
kinson, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, 
in 1784, and died June 10, 1859. Her father 
was Barzillai Hudson, and her mother was 
Hannah Bunce. Her grandfather. William 
Hudson, was born at Bridgewater, Massachu- 
setts, June 22, 1709. Barzillai Hudson was 
born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Decem- 
ber 25, 1741; removed to Hartford, where he 
married, 1778, and died July 31, 1823. Han- 
nah Bunce, daughter of Aaron Bunce, of 
Lebanon, Connecticut, was born in 1749, and 
died at Hartford, September 26, 1807. She 
married (first) Mr. Colton, and after his 
death, she married Ebenezer Watson, editor 
and publisher of the Hartford Couraitt, who 
died September 22. 1777. After his death she 
continued the publication of the Coiirant, with 
the aid of the staff, until her marriage with 
Mr. Hudson, who carried on the paper. 

Children of Edward Erastus and Emily 
(Watkinson) Rankin: i. Margaret, born at 
Springfield, New Jersey, April, 1849; died in 
New York City, aged seven years. 2. Edward 
Watkinson, born in New York City, August 
12, 1850; married. Albany, New York. June 
3, 1884, Catherine P.ogart Putnam, see for- 
ward. 3. Rev. Isaac Ogden, born in New 
York City, November 22. 1852; graduated at 
Princeton, 1873; Union Theological Seminary, 
1876; in 1910, one of the editors of The Con- 
grcgationalist; married Martha, born October 
20. 1855, daughter of Rev. Perkins Kirkland 
Clark, of Westfield, Massachusetts (Yale, 
1838), and Hannah Smith Avery, of Cole- 
raine, Massachusetts, to whom were born 
Hugh (Rankin), (Yale, 1903), residing in 
New York City, Margaret Clark ( Rankin) ,^ 
(Smith College, 1908). and Lawrence Avery 
(Rankin), of Brookline. Massachusetts. 4. 
Caroline Hall, born in New York City, Au- 
gust 31. 1855; married, September 27,, 1885, at 
Newark, New Jersey, John Rogers, Ayer, son 
of Rev. Charles Lathrop .Ayer. born North 
Stonington. Connecticut. June 25, 1826, died 
Windsor, Connecticut. June 2. 1907; married, 
November. i84(). Alary iiishop. at South Kil- 
lingly, Connecticut, who was born July 26,. 
1828. at Lisbon, Connecticut. John Rogers 
Ayer died at Richmond, Massachusetts, Oc- 
tober 17, 1909, leaving no children, and his 
widow resided there in 1910. 5. James Hep- 
burn, born in New York City, January 17, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



179 



1858; died at Fairfield, Connecticut, March 
9, 1876. 6. William, born in New York City, 
April 2, 1863; art critic; resided, 1910, at 
Roselle Park, New Jersey; Princeton, 1886; 
married, Walpack, New Jersey, June 8, 1903, 
Carrie Louise Rundle ; children : Teresa, Caro- 
line and Wilhelmina. 7. John Luther, born 
at Fairfield, Connecticut, December 15, 1869; 
graduate of Princeton, 1892; lawyer, residing, 
1910, at South Orange, New Jersey; married, 
in St. George's Church, London, England, 
October 17, 1907, Mary Wheelwright Lang- 
don, of New York City ; children : Langdon 
and Margaret. 8. Richard Plenry, attorney, 
Newark, New Jersey, born at Fairfield, Con- 
necticut, December 15, 1869; LL.B., New 
York University ; married, Newark, New Jer- 
sey, May 18, 1904. Alice Bisshop Gibb ; chil- 
dren : De Guibe, \'iolet Alice and Audrey 
Sewell. 

(R') Edward Watkinson, son of Edward 
Erastus and Emily (Watkinson) Rankin, was 
born in New York City, August I2. 1850. He 
received his education at the Collegiate School 
of New York, the Newark (New Jersey) 
Academy, and Williston Seminary. He re- 
ceived the degree of A.B. from Princeton in 
1871, and that of A.M.. in 1873, and LL.B. 
from the Albany Law School of Union Uni- 
versity the same year. He was admitted to 
practice in 1873, ^^^ '" August of the same 
year went to Europe for the purpose of travel 
and study, remaining until December, 1874. 
The spring of the following year he settled 
in Albany, where he has continued to practice 
ever since, with an office in Tweddle Build- 
ing. He is a charter member of the University 
Club, and joined the Albany Institute in 1878. 
He has been a trustee of the Second Presby- 
terian Church, Albany, and has resided for 
over a quarter of a century in the Cherry Hill 
Mansion in the southern part of the city. He 
married, June 3, 1884, at Cherry Hill, Albany, 
Catherine Bogart Putman (see Putman fam- 
ily). 

Children: i. Edward Elmendorf, born 
June 16, 1885, at Cherry Hill. Albany, in the 
home built by his mother's great-grandfather, 
Philip Van Rensselaer; graduate of Albany 
Academy, 1904; Phillips Exeter, 1905; 
Princeton, A.B., 1909; student. Harvard Law 
School, 1910. 2. Herbert Edward, born at 
Cherry Hill. Albany, April 15, 1887; graduate 
of Albany Academy, 1904; Phillips Andover, 
1905; Princeton, A.B., 1909; A.M., 1910; 
Sayre Fellow in Chemistry, 1909-10; assist- 
ant in chemistry, Princeton, 1910. 3. Emily 
Watkinson. born at Cherry Hill, Albany. May 
14, 1889; student at Smith College, class of 
1911. 



(The Putnam Line). 

Catherine Bogart Putman, wife of Edward 
Watkinson Rankin, of Albany, was Ixirn at 
Glen, Montgomery county, New York, Febru- 
ary 20, 1857. Upon the death of her mother, 
Harriet Maria Van Rensselaer Putman, in 
i860, she came to Albany to live at the old 
homestead, Cherry Hill, with Mrs. P. E. El- 
mendorf, daughter of General Solomon and 
Arriet Van Rensselaer, a dearly-beloved cousin 
of her mother. Dr. and Mrs. Elmendorf had 
one daughter, Harriet Van Rensselaer Elmen- 
dorf, who married Dr. John Woodworth 
Gould. 

Mrs. Rankin is now owner of the old man- 
sion, which stands on high ground to the west 
of South Pearl street, almost concealed by 
large trees, a double house, built in 1768, of 
wood, filled in with brick, with a spacious ver- 
anda from which one may view the Hudson 
river with its commerce passing continually 
up and down. Instead of abandoning the 
house for another portion of the city, which 
might seem to some to be more congenial, 
or disturbing the interior furnishing as styles 
changed, she turned her attention to the beau- 
tifying of the estate, and to-day presides over 
one of the most quaintly charming of all the 
old-fashioned residences to be found within 
the limits of Albany county. Not alone does 
it possess for her abundance of charm of 
family romance, but her guests are immedi- 
ately appreciative of this when cordially re- 
ceived within the walls from which ancestral 
portraits look down as one sits beside a great 
hearth fitted with all the old utensils, even 
to the crane, and is served from silver and 
china of past generations. It is to be noted 
at once that everything is in keeping, thus 
giving an atmosphere of unusual refinement. 
Among the many famous men of the early 
days entertained at Cherry Hill, General La- 
fayette was twice an honored guest while vis- 
iting in this country. 

Jan Putman was born in Holland, in 1645, 
and came to America in 1661. He married 
Cornelia, daughter of Arent Andriese Bradt 
and Catalyntje De \'os. He and his wife were 
killed in the Schenectady massacre of Febru- 
ary 8, 1690. 

\'ictor, son of Jan and Cornelia I'utman, 
born about 1680, at Schenect-vdy ; married 
Grietje (Margaret) Mebie, at Albany, New 
York. 

Cornelis. son of Victor and Grietje Put- 
man, born December 17, 1724; married Eliza 
Pruyn, who died March 21. 1812, and he 
April 19, 1798. 

Henry, son of Cornelis and Eliza (Pruyn) 
Putman, born September 12, 1761 ; married. 



i8o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



March 4, 1781, Mary Quackenbush, of 
Charleston, New York, and died about 1798. 

Cornelius H., son of Henry and Mary 
(Quackenbush) Putman, born August 29, 
1796; died August 12, 1873; lawyer; mar- 
ried. October 24, 1820, Gazena \^isscher 
Maybee. 

Dr. Alonzo Putman, son of Cornelius H. 
and Gazena \'. (Maybee) Putman, born Oc- 
tober, 1826; married, June 4, 1856, Harriet 
Maria Van Rensselaer; died August 29, 1892. 
He was father of Catherine Bogart (Putman) 
Rankin. 

(The Visscher Line). 

Bastiaen Visscher, ancestor of the family 
of that name in America, lived at Hoorn, 
Holland, and married Dirkje Teunise. He 
had two sons, who came to Rensselaerwyck 
prior to 1644, Frederick, who is said to have 
returned to Holland, and Harmen. 

Harmen Bastiaense Visscher was born about 
1619, and married Hester Tjerkse, dying prior 
to 1692. His daughter, Ariantje, married 
Hieronomus Wendell (father of Elsie, wife of 
Dr. Nicholas Schuyler) before 1676. 

Frederick Visscher, son of Harmen, mar- 
ried, January 13, 1692, Margarita, daughter 
of Captain Hans Hendrick Hansen and Eva 
Gillese (daughter of Jellis Pieterse Myer), and 
sister of Hendrick Hansen, fifth mayor of 
Albany. 

Harmon Visscher, son of Frederick, bap- 
tized August 23, 1701, married, about 1739, 
Catherine Brouwer, daughter of William 
Brouwer, of Schenectady. He died, about 
1774, near Fonda, New York. 

Colonel Frederick X'isscher, son of Har- 
mon, was born February 21, 1741, at Albany, 
and married, May 22, 1768, Gazena, daugh- 
ter of Daniel DeGraff and Gazena Swits. He 
died June 9, 1809. He was colonel of the 
Tryon county militia, commanded a regiment 
under General Herkimer at the battle of 
Oriskany, ami was severely wounded in a 
fight against Tories and Indians, Alay 21, 
1780. He was appointed brigadier-general 
by Governor George Qinton, February 6, 
1787, for services in the revolutionary war, 
and was later first judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas of Montgomery county. In June, 
1782, on the occasion of General Washing- 
ton's visit to Schenectady and at a dinner 
given in his honor, Colonel Visscher was, at 
the personal request of Washington, seated at 
his right hand. 

Gazena, daughter of Colonel Frederick Vis- 
scher, was born July 14, 1771, and married, 
May 2, 1792, Simon Maybee. 

Gazena, daughter of Simon and Gazena 
(Visscher) Maybee, was born February 23, 



1801, married October 24, 1820, Cornelius 
H. Putman, and died February 20, 1861. She 
was the mother of Dr. Alonzo Putman and 
grandmother of Mrs. Catherine B. (Putman) 
Rankin. 

(Van Rensselaer line of Mrs. Rankin's .An- 
cestry). 

Her mother, the wife of Dr. Alonzo Put- 
man, was Harriet Maria Van Rensselaer, who 
was born September 12, 1827, married June 
4, 1856, and died August 15, i860. 

Killaen Van Rensselaer, generally known 
as the First Patroon, was a pearl and dia- 
mond merchant in Amsterdam, Holland, and 
a director in the Dutch West India Company. 
He was the founder of the colony of Rens- 
selaerwyck, and married, in 1627, Anna 
daughter of Jan \'an Wely, of Berneveldt, 
and Leonora Hawkins, of Antwerp. He died 
in 1646. 

His son Jeremias married, July 12, 1663, 
Maria, daughter of Olof Stevense Van Cort- 
landt, of New Amsterdam, president of the 
Dutch council, and died October 14, 1674. 
From his son Killian the manorial branch of 
the \^an Rensselaers is descended, and, from 
the second son, Hendrick, the Cherry Hill and 
Claverack branches. His daughter Maria 
married Colonel Pieter Schuyler. 

Hendrick Van Rensselaer, second son of 
Jeremiah or Jeremias, was born at Green- 
bush, opposite Albany, October 23, i66j ; mar- 
ried. May 16, 1689, Catharina Van Brugh, 
granddaughter of Anneke Jans, and died in 
July, 1740. His daughter Maria married 
Samuel Ten Broeck. 

Colonel Killaen Van Rensselaer, youngest 
son of Hendrick, born December 27, 1717; 
married, January 7, 1742, Ariantje, daughter 
of Dr. Nicholas Schuyler, and died in 1781. 
He was commissioned colonel of the Fourth 
Regiment, New York Militia, October 20, 
1775. and served during the war. He was a 
member of the committee of correspondence, 
and of the New York assembly. 

Philip Van Rensselaer, son of Killaen, born 
May 19, 1747; married to Maria Sanders, by 
Dominie Westerlo, February 24, 176S, at the 
home of her grandfather, Peter Schuyler, at 
the Flatts, and died March 3, 1798. He 
built the present Cherry Hill Mansion in 
1768. shortly after General Philip Schuyler 
built the Schuyler mansion, not far away, and 
one year before the building of the Van 
Rensselaer Manor House, north of the city. 
To this home he brought his bride. The 
mansion subsequently came to General Solo- 
mon \'an Rensselaer, who married Arriet, 
daughter of Philip Van Rensselaer, and t'o hep 
daughter, Harriet, wife of Dr. Peter E. El 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



i8i 



nendorf. Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Van 
Rensselaer had charge of the military stores 
of the Northern Department during the revo- 
lutionary war. He received his commission 
from General Philip Schuyler and was con- 
firmed by congress. He was also a member 
of the committee of public safety of Albany. 
Robert Sanders Van Rensselaer, second 
child of Philip and ]\Iaria Van Rensselaer, 
was born January 19, 1773, at Cherry Hill; 
married, October 9, 1800, Catherine Nicholas 
Bogart, at the home of her stepfather, James 
\'an Rensselaer, at Crystal Hill. Harriet Ma- 
ria, their youngest daughter, married Dr. 
Alonzo Putman, and was mother of Catherine 
Bogart (Putman) Rankin. 

(Anneke Jans Line of Mrs. Rankin's Ancestry.) 

Anneke Jans was daughter of Tryntje Jan- 
sen, and married (first) Roelof Jansen, com- 
ing to America and settling at Rensselaer- 
wyck with him in 1630. They removed to 
New Amsterdam in 1636, where he died. She 
married (second), in March, 1638, Rev. Ever- 
ardus Bogardus, minister of the Dutch church, 
the first settled pastor in the colony. She 
had, by her first husband, five children, of 
whom the second, Tryntje Roelofs, married, 
for her second husband, Johannes Van Brugh. 
Catharina, daughter of Johannes and Tryntje 
Van Brugh, married Hendrick Van Rensse- 
laer. 

(Schuyler Line of Mrs. Rankin's Ancestry.) 

Philip Pieterse Schuyler came from Amster- 
dam to Beverwyck. He married, December 
12, 1650, Margritta, daughter of Brant 
Arentse \'an Schlictenhorst, resident director 
of Rensselaerwyck. He was ancestor of the 
Schuylers, of America, and had ten children. 

Philip Schuyler, Jr., eighth son of Philip, 
was born February 8, 1666, and married 
(first), July 25, 1687, Elizabeth De Meyer, 
dying May 24, 1724. 

Dr. Nicholas Schuyler, son of Philip and 
Elizabeth (De Meyer) Schuyler, was born 
September 11, 1691, married, December 2, 
1714. Elsie Wendell, and died July 3, 1748. 
They had eight children. 

Ariantje Schuyler, third child of Dr. Nicho- 
las and Elsie (Wendell) Schuyler, was born 
March 6, 1720, married, January 7, 1742, 
Colonel Killaen \'an Rensselaer, son of Hend- 
rick, and father of Philip Van Rensselaer, and 
died October 17, 1763. She was a second 
cousin of General Philip Schuyler, and her 
portrait, painted on wood, hangs in the dining- 
room of the Cherry Hill mansion. 

Harmanus Schuyler, seventh child of Dr. 
Nicholas and Elsie (Wendell) Schuyler, and 



brother of Ariantje, wife of Killaen Van Rens- 
selaer, was born April 2, 1727, married Chris- 
tina Ten Broeck, September i, 1796, and had 
nine children. He was assistant deputy com- 
missary general of the Northern Department, 
on appointment of General Philip Schuyler. 
Elsie Schuyler, daughter of Harmanus and 
Christina (Ten Broeck) Schuyler, was born 
February 6, 1760, June 15, 1783, Dr. Nicholas 
N. Bogart, of New York City, and, after 
his death, James Van Rensselaer, of Crystal 
Flill, in town of Bethlehem. She died Sep- 
tember 26, 1838. Her only child, by her first 
husband, was Catherine Nicholas Bogart, who 
married Robert Sanders Van Rensselaer. Dr. 
Bogart died September 26, 1783. 

Pieter Schuyler, fifth son of Philip Schuyler 
and ]\Iargritta Van Schlictenhorst, was born 
in Rensselaerwyck, September 17, 1657, and 
married (second) Maria, daughter of Jeremiah 
Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cortlandt, 
September 14, 1691. He died February 19, 
1724. He was the first mayor of Albany, and 
held various military and civil appointments. 

Peter Schuyler, Jr., third son of Pieter 
Schuyler, baptized January 12, 1698, married, 
November 4, 1722, Catherine Groesbeck. He 
was appointed captain when twenty-three years 
old, and died September 2, 1753. 

Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Schuyler, Jr., 
baptized January 3, 1725, married, January 11, 
1747, Robert Sanders. Their daughter, 'Ma- 
ria, married Philip Van Rensselaer, of Cherry 
Hill, Albany. 

(Sanders Line of Mrs. Rankin's Ancestry.) 

Thomas Sanders, of Amsterdam, married 
Sarah Corneilse Van Gorcum, in New .Am- 
sterdam, September 16, 1640, who died in Al- 
bany, December, 1669. 

Robert, son of Thomas Sanders, baptized, 
New Amsterdam, November 10, 1641, married 
Elsje Barentse. 

Barent, son of Robert Sanders, married 
Maria, daughter of Evert Wendell, September 
19, 1704, and was buried June 22, 1738. 

Robert, son of Barent and Maria (Wen- 
dell) Sanders, twenty-third mayor of Albany, 
was born at Albany, July 11, 1705, married, 
January 12, 1747, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter 
Schuyler, Jr. Their daughter. Maria, mar- 
ried Philip Yan Rensselaer, of Cherry Hill, 
Albany. 

(Wendell Line of Mrs. Rankin's Ancestry.) 
Evert Janse Wendell, born 1615, at Emden, 
Hanover, came to America and settled in New 
Amsterdam about 1642. He married (first) 
Susanna Du Trieux, July 31, 1644, who died 
about 1660; married (second) Maritje 



l82 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Abramse, daugliter of Abraham Pieter \'os- 
burgh. He died in Albany, in 1709. 

Hieronimus (Jeronimus), son of Evert J. 
and Susanna (Du Trieux) Wendell, was born 
in 1655, and married Ariantje Visscher, 
daughter of Harmen and Hester Visscher, 
before 1676. 

Elsie, daughter of Hieronimus Wendell, was 
born April 21, 1689, married Dr. Nicholas 
Schuyler, December 2, -1714, and was the 
mother of Ariantje Schuyler, wife of Colonel 
Killaen Van Rensselaer. 

Maria, daughter of Evert Janse Wendell 
and Maritje, his second wife, was born August 
16, 1677, and married, September 9, 1704, 
Barent Sanders. 

(Ten Broeck Line of Mrs. Rankin's Ancestry.) 
Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck was born De- 
cember 18, 1638, and died September 18, 1717, 
at Clermont, New York. He married, Al- 
bany, 1663, Christyna Van Buren (born May 
19, 1644, died November 24, 1729, daughter 
of Cornelis Maessen Van Buren and Cata- 
lyntje Martensen, who came from Guelder- 
land, 1631). He was alderman under the 
original charter of the city of Albany, 1686, 
recorder for ten years, member of provincial 
assembly, five years, and was appointed the 
fourth mayor of Albany, 1696. 

His son, Samuel Ten Broeck, was born in 
1680, died April 5, 1756, married, Novem- 
ber 7, 1712, Maria, daughter of Hendrick Van 
Rensselaer and Catharina Van Brugh. His 
wife was baptized March 29, 1689, and died 
July 31, 1771. 

Cliristina, daughter of Samuel and Maria 
(Van Rensselaer) Ten Broeck, was born Nch 
vember 29, 1729; married, Claverack, Colum- 
bia county. New York, September 4, 1754. 
Colonel Harmanus Schuyler, who died Sep- 
tember I, 1796. Their daughter, Elsje, who 
married Dr. Nicholas Bogart, entertained, in 
July, 1783, General Washington, Governor 
Clinton and General Philip Schuyler, in the ab- 
sence of her mother, at their home at old 
Saratoga (Schuylerville), when they came to 
visit the scene of Burgoyne's surrender. 



John Ranken, founder of the 
R.ANKEN Troy family, and a pioneer 

woollen manufacturer, was 
born at Wood J'ank, near Garvah, London- 
derry, Ireland, February 26, 1810, died at 
Albia (Troy), September 10, 1864. He came 
to the L^nited States when he was twenty-one 
years of age, located in Albany, afterward in 
Troy. He had learned his trade in the wool- 
len mills at home, and began in Troy his long 
and successful business career as an employee 



of the Troy Woollen Company. He was con- 
nected with this corporation for a period of 
about fifty years, becoming a partner and in 
full charge of the Troy plant. A few years 
before his death he sold his interest and re- 
tired. He possessed a large estate and was 
a leading citizen of the city. He married 
Nancy McNally, born May, 1816, at Auburn, 
New York, died March 20. 1890, at Albia, 
New York. Children: i. Hugh Fulton, born 
June 13, 1835; he shipped on a whaling ves- 
sel bound for the polar seas, and was never 
after heard from, nor was the ship on which 
he sailed. 2. Hannah Delia, born October 8, 

; married Dr. George Billings, of Troy, 

New York. 3. Henry Stearns, see forward. 
4. William John, see forward. 5. Robert 
Brown, born January 2, 1842 ; married Maggie 
Walker. 6. David Molyneux, born May 16, 
1843; married Mary Morrison: child: Fred 
Ranken, the well-known dramatic critic ; nom 
de plume, "Ginger Bread." 7. Elizabeth Jane, 
born March 8, 1845 ; married J. R. Betts, of 
New York. 8. Peter B., born February 6, 
1847; ^ resident of Troy. 9. Sarah L., born 
November 20, 1848; married J. McDowell, 
child : Lulu, married James Van Kuren. 10. 
Mary, born September 26, 1850; married 
Martin McLane. 

(II) Henry Stearns, son of John and 
Nancy (McNally) Ranken, was born at the 
Ranken homestead, Albia, near Troy, New 
York, May 26, 1836. He was educated in 
the public schools and at the boarding school 
at Sand Lake, New York. After an initial 
business e.xperience, he entered into a partner- 
ship with William J. Ranken, and his uncle, 
Hugh Ranken, forming the firm known as the 
Ranken Manufacturing Company, of Cohoes, 
New York. They were a successful cor- 
poration, and for over thirty years Mr. Ran- 
ken was connected with the manufacturing 
business in Cohoes, and the wool business in 
Troy. He then retired to the Ranken estate 
at Albia, of which he is manager. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and a 
Republican in politics. He married (first) 
Eliza Kerr Wickes, born in Sand Lake, New 
York, died in Albia, New York. He married 
(second) Victoria Charlotte Nanson, born in 
Buffalo, New York. Child of first wife: 
Jessie Wickes, married Arthur J. Rockwood, 
and has Arthur (2), Jessica and Elizabeth 
Rockwood. Children of second wife : Vic- 
toria Charlotte and Henry Nanson. 

(II) William John, son of John and Nancy 
(McNally) Ranken, was born at Albia, New 
York, February 10, 1840. He was in busi- 
ness with his father, then in connection with 
his brother, Henry Stearns Ranken, and 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



183 



uncle, Hugh Ranken, he formed the Ranken 
JManufacturingf Company, of Cohoes, New 
York, where they carried on a successful busi- 
-ness for thirty years. He was a man of in- 
fluence and wealth, closely identified with 
Tarious business interests. He married Sylvia 
Jane Bowen, born in South Adams, Massa- 
chusetts, died in Troy, July, 1905. Chil- 
<lrcn : i. Grace, married William J. Gurley. 2. 
Emma G. 3. William John (2), of Seattle, 
AVashington ; married Helen Hastings ; chil- 
•dren : Paul C. and Jack Ranken. 4. Thomas 
Bowen, of Toledo, Ohio ; married Cora Hill, 
of Chicago. 5. Herbert, of Troy. 



The family name of Rath- 
RATHBONE bone is derived from the 
Saxon language, and signi- 
fies an early gift. 

There have been various spellings of the 
name in this country, but some of them are 
by mistake, and it is best to speak only of 
those who, belonging to the same family by 
various lines of descent, have adhered to def- 
inite forms. It is declared, with good author- 
"ity, that the similar naine of Rabone (Rabun) 
was of the same origin, as was also Raws- 
bone and Rathbun. In "James Savage's Gen- 
'ealogical Dictionary," prominent mention is 
made of George Rabun, and in "Belknap's 
History of New Hampshire" it is stated that 
this was probably a mistake for Rathbone, 
who was in Exeter in 1639. The year previ- 
ous he had sympathized with the Rev. Mr. 
Wheelwright, a man of considerable learning, 
piety and position, and the brother of Mrs. 
Anne Hutchinson. With him, Rabun, or 
Tfathbone, was banished from Boston for de- 
fending his religions opinions. Having been 
deprived of his privileges, he combined with 
some others suffering the same fate, about 
thirty-five in all, and set up an independent 
•government at Squamscot Ealls, New Hamp- 
shire, naming the place Exeter. The Rath- 
bone arms consist of a shield argent, three 
doves azure. Crest : A dove proper, holding an 
•olive branch. Motto: Suaviter et fortiter. 

Regarding the origin of the family in 
America, there were several accounts former- 
ly current. It was asserted that this family 
descended from Thomas Rathbone, who came 
from England in 162 1. A second statement 
is to the effect that those of the name came 
from John Rathbone, a member of a Liver- 
pool family who came to America in 1625. 
Another explanation is that they are de- 
scended from an elder brother of Colonel 
John Rathbone, who was an officer of the 
■parliamentary army of 1658, noted for his de- 
motion to Republican principles. 



The earliest authentic records point to the 
Rev. William Rathbone as the first of the 
name appearing in America, and allusion is 
made to him in a work published in 1637, 
which item was reprinted in the "Historical 
Collections of Massachusetts." This man was 
an author. It is shown that his doctrinal 
views were not in accord with the members 
of the Massachusetts colony, and it is believed 
that he and likewise his descendants were not 
admitted into the New England church, with 
the consequence that they were not permitted 
to participate in the general public affairs. 

The Rhode Island colonial records mention 
John Rawsbone, of New Shoreham, as one 
who was admitted to full political rights as 
freeman, on May 4, 1664, being the same per- 
son whom the Block Island records name John 
Rathbone. The latter was one of those who 
met at the house of Dr. Alcock on August 
17, 1660, to confer regarding the purchase 
of Block Island, and was one of the original 
sixteen purchasers of that island from Gov- 
ernor Endicott and three others, to whom it 
had been granted for public services, hence 
he will long continue to figure in the coun- 
try's history. 

John Rathbone was chosen in 1676 one of 
the surveyors of highways. He occupied a 
place in the Rhode Island general assembly, 
in 1682-83-84, as representative from Block 
Island. He was one of the petitioners to the 
King of Great Britain in 1686 in reference to 
the "Quo Warranto," and was one of the 
Rhode Island grand jury in 1688. He had 
an interesting experience during the French 
and Indian wars which has been handed down 
with authenticity as family history. In the year 
1689, in the month of July, Mr. Rathbone 
had a narrow escape from the French, who 
had come in three vessels and were then pil- 
laging the island. They inquired of some 
one or more of the people "who were the 
likeliest among them to have money." They 
told them of John Rathbone as the most like- 
ly. The French proceeded to capture him, 
as they supposed, and demanded of him his 
money. The captive denied having any but 
a trifling sum. They endeavored to make him 
confess that he had more and to deliver it to 
them by tying him up and whipping him bar- 
barously. While they were doing all this to 
an innocent man whom they mistook for the 
monied John Rathbone, the latter made his 
escape with his treasure. They had mistaken 
the son for the father, who by submitting to 
this cruelty in the room of his father saved 
him from being robbed. 

That the lives of the early Rathbones who 
settled on Block Island were fraught with 



I 



i84 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



severe hardship and ahnost continuous danger 
may well be believed from all accounts. In 
his history of Rhode Island, Arnold makes 
this reference : "The local history of Block 
Island, truthfully written, would present an 
interesting study. The traditional history of 
the aborigines is full of the romance of war. 
Their authentic history in connection with the 
whites abounds in stirring incidents, the pe- 
cularities of the Englsh settlers and their pos- 
terity, their customs, laws and domestic in- 
stitutions are among the most singular and 
interesting developments of civihzed life, 
while the martial defense of a people, within 
and around whose island there has been more 
hard fighting than on any territory of equal 
extent in America, and where the horrors of 
savage and of civilized warfare have alter- 
nately prevailed, almost without cessation 
from the earliest traditionary period down to 
a recent date, would altogether furnish mater- 
ial for a thrilling history that might rival the 
pages of a romance. The dangers of the sea 
and the sterner perils of war united to pro- 
duce a race of men whose courage and hardi- 
hood cannot be surpassed.' It was out of such 
material that naval heroes were made." Of 
this character were the men and women also 
of the earlier generations of the Rathbone 
family. 

(I) John Rathbone, of Block Island, was 
born about 1634, died there between Febru- 
ary 12, 1702, the day on which he signed his 
will, and October 6, 1702, the date on which 
Simon Ray, warden, took oath that William 
Hancock, Jr., James Welch and Roger Dick- 
ens appeared before him to testify "that they 
were testimony to the signing and sealing." 
It is an interesting family document, and a 
portion of it is worth citing. "I give and be- 
queath to my son Samuel Rathbone the table 
and cubbard which stand now in his house as 
for are lomes (heirlooms?) to the house, and 
I leave my wife Margaret Rathbone my exec- 
utri.x of all my movable and household goods, 
houses and chatties, cattle, sheep and horse 
kind: and I leave (her?) the income of my 
house at Newport for her lifetime, and at her 
decease the westward (end?) of my house at 
Newport, and the leanto of that end so far as 
the post that the door hangs on, and the shop 
to be left for my son John Rathbone's son 
John, and his heirs forever: and the eastward 
end of said house and the rest of the leanto 
to be left for my son William Rathlione's son 
John and his heirs forever, and the yard to 
be equally for their use. And I leave to 
my wife for her life-time the twenty acres 
of land which I bought of Henry Hall, and 
the running of two cows and a horse and the 



end of the house which I now live in ; and 
I leave that my four sons shall pay to my 
wife during her life-time forty shillings a 
piece a year. * * * And I leave to my 
wife during her life-time my nigger man, 
and at her disposing, and at her decease 'to 
my son Thomas Rathbone for three 3'ears, and 
at the end of the three years, to give him 
as good clothes as his mistress leaves him, and 
then to set him free." It may be said in this 
connection that the family lands at Newport 
greatly increased in value, as did the estate 
situate in Block Island, and while he gave 
evidence of abolition tendencies by his pro- 
vision for his negro, he did not care to put 
his ideas into effect wliile he yet lived. 

John Rathbone married JMargaret Dodge. 
Children: i. William, married, December 18, 

1680, Sarah . 2. Thomas, married, 

April 21, 1685, Mary Dickens. 3. John, see 
forward. 4. Joseph, married. May 19. 1691, 
Mary Mosher. 5. Samuel, married, Novem- 
ber 3, 1692, Patience T. Coggeshall; died 
January 24, 1757. 6. Sarah, born June 10, 
1659; married (first) December 20, 1678, 
Samuel George: married (second) September 
I. 1 7 ID, John Ball. 7. Margaret. 8. Eliz- 
abeth. 

(II) John (2), son of John (i) and Mar- 
garet (Dodge,) Rathbone, was born in Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, in 1658. He was ad- 
mitted a freeman by the assembly of Rhode 
Island, May 5, 1696. He received from his 
father, just previous to his marriage, a deed 
for sixty acres of land on Block Island, the 
nominal consideration for which was "one 
barrel of pork on demand." It may be con- 
cluded that this farm was therefore a wedding 
present or settlement. It is known that the 
father, some years before his death, settled 
his sons on farms on the island where he 
lived, and entertained great hopes that his de- 
scendants would forever dwell there. Their 
grandchildren, however, scattered, leaving" 
Samuel Rathbone's descendants the only one 
of the name on that island. The original set- 
tler's grandson, Jonathan, son of John Rath- 
bone, Jr.. removed to Colchester, Connecticut, 
and is the ancestor of the Rathbones of Al- 
bany, New York, as well as those of Otsego 
county, New York. Joshua, another son of 
John, Jr., settled at Stonington. Connecticut, 
and is the ancestor of the Rathbones of New 
York City. Other sons of the same, John, 
Benjamin, Nathaniel and Thomas, settled in 
Exeter, Rhode Island. Elijah, son of Samuel, 
settled in Groton, Connecticut, and in this 
way the family spread to various sections of 
the country, while very few represented the 
old stock at the place of original settlement. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



On December 13. 1698, "Great James" and 
Jane, his wife, two Indians, bound their 
daughter, Betsey, to John Rathbone, Jr., and 
his wife, as an indented servant for eighteen 
years, the consideration being only one gallon 
of rum and one blanket in hand, and five years 
after one gallon of rum, and yearly thereafter, 
and if she remained five years, then the said 
Rathbone was to pay four blankets and one 
every third year thereafter. John Rathbone, 
married, January 10, 1688, Ann Dodge. Chil- 
dren : I. Mary, born October 3, 1688. 2. 
Jonathan, see forward . 3. John, born De- 
cember 23, 1693; married, December 20, 1720, 
Patience Fish. 4. Joshua, born February 9, 
1696; married, February 16, 1724, ]\lary 
Wightman. 5. Benjamin, born February 11, 
1701. 6. Annah, born August 9, 1703. 7. 
Nathaniel, born February 6, 1708. 8. Thom- 
as, born March 2, 1709. 

(Ill) Jonathan, son of John (2) and Ann 
(Dodge) Rathbone, was born May 22, 1691, 
died April i. 1766. Possessing the same sort 
of pioneering spirit which had so largely char- 
acterized many of his ancestors, while still a 
young man he set out for other parts, remov- 
ing previous to 17 15 to that part of Xew Lon- 
don county in Connecticut formerly known as 
Colchester, later the town of Salem. Here 
he purchased a tract of land from the Mohe- 
gan Indians, on which he settled, and a por- 
tion of this estate has continued uninterrupt- 
edly in the possession of his descendants of 
the same name for two centuries. He was 
a member of the Baptist church there in 1726. 

He married Elizabeth . Children : John, 

born January i, I7i5,died November 27,1755; 
married, March 30. 1737, Anna Tennant. 2. 
Benjamin, married, November 11, 1742, Mary 
Cohoon. 3. Jonathan, married, November 8, 
1744, Abigail Avery. 4. Joshua, see forward. 
5. Isaiah, born September 7, 1723; married. 
May 9, 1764, Fanny Lamphear. 6. Joseph. 7. 
Elizabeth. Probably others. 

(I\') Joshua, son of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth Rathbone^ was born September 7, 1723, 
being twin brother of Isaiah. It is said that 
"he was a godly, truth-seeking man," and 
was always known as "Deacon Rathbone." 
He married, December 4, 1745, Sarah Ten- 
nant. Children: i. Elizabeth, born June 9, 
1747. 2. Tabitha, born August 4, 1749 ; mar- 
ried (first) Treadway; children: Sa- 
rah and Mary; married (second) 1806, 

Holmes ; child, Clarissa. 3. Joshua, 

born May 7, 1751 ; married Eunice Martin. 4. 
Sarah, born November 23, 1752 ; married 

Chamberlain ; removed to Richfield 

Springs, New York. 5. Moses, born Novem- 
ber 12, 1754; married Olive Ransom. 6. 



Samuel, see forward. 7. Anna, born Septem- 
ber 12, 1758; married Holmes. 

(V) Samuel, son of Joshua and Sarah 
(Tennant) Rathbone, was born September 12, 
1758, and was twin brother to Anna. He 
died at Colchester, Connecticut, February 16, 
183 1. His life had been spent on a farm of 
several hundred acres which had been be- 
queathed to him by his father. He married 
Lydia, daughter of Simon and Lydia 
(Brown) Sparhawk, March i, 1785. She died 
July 13, 1825, aged si.xty years. Children: 
I. Samuel, born August 8, 1786, died October 
9, 1787. 2. Valentine Wightman, born Sep- 
tember 13, 1788, died May 18, 1833; married,, 
in 1814, Nancy Forsyth. 3. Jared Lewis, Sa- 
lem, Connecticut, born October 2, 1791 ; a 
successful merchant of Albany, New York, 
who for several years was elected to the com- 
mon council and was thrice called to fill the 
position of mayor of the Capital City, being 
the last mayor chosen by the council, and 
the first elected by the vote of the people. 
He assumed that office first as the forty-first 
mayor, January 24. 1839, and the third time, 
on election by popular vote, on May 12, 1840, 
at which time only four thousand five hundred 
and eighty-eight votes were cast at that impor- 
tant municipal election ; he resided at No. 28 
Eagle street, corner of State street, Albany; 
married, June 26, 1834, Pauline Noyes, 
daughter of Joel Penney, of Buffalo, New 
York ; children : Charles, Henry R., Anna Pau- 
line and Jared Lawrence. 4. Lydia. born March 
21, 1794, died August 7, 1873: married, No- 
vember 17, 1819, William W. Reed. 5. Sam- 
uel, born November 6. 1796, died unmarried 
October 17, 1818. 6. Sabria Lewis, born July 
3' 1799; married, February 10, 1818, Clark 
Ransom. 7. Anna, Iwrn November 6, 1803; 
died November 12, 1865 ; married David Jew- 
ett, no children. 8. Joel, see forward. 

(VI) Joel, son of Samuel and Lydia 
(Sparhawk) Rathbone, was born in Salem, 
Connecticut, August 3, 1806, died in Paris, 
France, Sunday, September 13. 1863. He 
came to Albany, New York, to reside in the • 
fall of 1822, as a clerk to his brother, Val- 
entine \^'. Rathbone, who then kept a whole- 
sale grocery store on the corner of Hudson 
avenue and Quay street, then the busiest sec- 
tion of the city. Two years later he became 
associated with him in business. In 1827, as 
one of the firm of Hermans, Rathbone & 
Company, he commenced the wholesale stove 
business. By reason of certain modifications 
and improvements in the patterns of stoves 
made under his direction, he secured a very 
large and lucrative business, which became 
known all over the country, and doubtless was 



i86 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



the most important concern of the kind then 
in America, and destined to make the name 
■of Rathbone known for the century or more. 
Following the death of Mr. Hermans, in 1829, 
Mr. Rathbone succeeded to the entire busi- 
ness, which he continued in his own name 
until 1841, when at the early age of thirty- 
five years, with a well-earned fortune, he 
retired from active mercantile pursuits to the 
enjoyment of country life. He purchased a 
large estate bordering the southern end of 
Albany, which he laid out and made beautiful, 
and "Kenwood" became his residence for a 
number of years. Although he had retired 
from business cares so early, he was still con- 
nected with many of the public enterprises of 
Albany, being vice-president of the New York 
State Bank, the oldest institution in the city, 
president of the Exchange Company, doing 
"business where the Federal Building was lo- 
cated in 1910, and an active co-operator in 
and a generous contributor to most of the 
"benevolent enterprises of Albany. He was 
"known as a conscientious and consistent 
Christian, a gentleman of unusual taste and 
refinement. He married. May 5, 1829, when 
twenty-two years of age, Emeline Weld, 
daughter of Lewis and Louisa (Weld) Munn, 
and she died in Newport, Rhode Island, Au- 
•gust 25, 1874. Her father, Lewis Munn, was 
born December 14, 1784, died July 8, 1810. 
Her mother, Louisa Weld, was born April i, 
1791, died December 6. 1808. Children: i. 
Jared Lewis, born April 23, 1830, died Au- 
•gust 20, 1 83 1. 2. Erastus Corning, born Jan- 
uary I, 1832, died February 2, 1832. 3. Joel 
Howard, born June 11, 1835, died single, 
March 29, 1865. 4. Sarah, born December 
5, 1837; married, November 19, 1863, Gen- 
•eral Frederick Townsend, born in Albany, 
September 21, 1825; graduate of Union Col- 
lege, 1844; admitted to practice 1849; adju- 
tant-general of New York state, 1857-61 ; 
raised and commanded the Third Regiment, 
New York Volunteers, May, 1861 ; brevetted 
l)rigadier-general, and resigned from army, 
1868: appointed adjutant-general by Gover- 
nor Cornell in 1880, serving until January i, 
1883, and died at Albany. She died, Albany, 
March 13, 1910. Children: Annie Martin 
Townsend, born in Paris, November i, 1866; 
Sarah Rathbone Townsend, born March 23, 
1869, in Albany; Frederick Townsend, born 
October 28, 1871 ; Joel Rathbone Town- 
send, born October 13, 1879, died October 15, 
1879. 5. Albert, born May 27, 1841, died 
single, December 10, 1865. 6. Clarence, .see 
forward. 7. Edward Weld, born October 20, 
^1848, died July 30, 1849. 

(VH) Clarence, son of Joel and Emeline 



Weld (Munn) Rathbone, was born on his 
father's handsome estate, "Kenwood," on the 
southern outskirts of Albany, New York, No- 
vember 17, 1844. He received his education 
at Farmington, Connecticut, and at Charlier's 
French Institute in New York City. He 
entered the Naval Academy, then located at 
Newport, Rhode Island, in September, 1861, 
and was graduated the fifth in his class of 
1863, having successfully undertaken the 
three-year course in the space of two years. 
He received his commission as an ensign in 
the United States Navy, and was ordered to 
the "Niagara" in the fall of 1863, and was 
then on duty at Newport. In June, 1864, he 
was ordered to New Orleans, where he was 
given duty in the squadron of Admiral Farra- 
gut. He served during the latter part of the 
war of the rebellion, taking part in the cele- 
brated battle of Mobile Bay, where he was 
wounded slightly. Subsequently he served 
on blockade duty oflf Galveston, Texas. At 
the termination of the civil war, he returned 
to New York. June, 1865, and shortly there- 
after resigned his commission on account of 
his being left the only son of his widowed 
mother upon the death of his brothers, Joel 
Howard and Albert, which had occurred in 
1865. For several years following this per- 
iod of his life, he was the head of a large 
manufactory of stoves but while still in the 
prime of life retired from active business 
concerns. He is a trustee of the Albany Sav- 
ings Bank, and trustee of Albany Medical 
College, and the Dudley Observatory. When 
first married he resided at No. 5 Elk street, 
his handsome residence fronting on the Acad- 
emy Park, and later removed to his present 
spacious home nearer the city outskirts. No. 
576 Western avenue. He is an Episcopalian, 
and in politics a Democrat. He is a past mas- 
ter of Masters Lodge. No. 5, P'ree and .Ac- 
cepted Masons. Mr. Rathbone is a member 
of the following clubs : Army and Navy and 
Manhattan of New York, the Loyal Legion 
of America and Graduates Association of the 
United States Naval Academy. 

Clarence Rathbone married, at Albany, 
New York, September 11, 1866, Angelica 
Bogart Talcott, born at Albany, February 24, 
1846. Her father was Sebastian \'isscher 
Talcott, son of George and Angelica (Bo- 
gart) Talcott. He was born in New York 
City, November 24, 1812, and died at his res- 
idence. No. 748 Broadway, Albany, Novem- 
ber 10, 1888. He attended Yale, and became 
a civil engineer, doing considerable excellent 
work in the survey of the boundary line be- 
tween the United States and Canada, and 
also in the improvement of navigation in the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



187 



] kulson river near Albany, which work has 
endured as a specimen of the best construc- 
tion of its nature along the length of the en- 
tire river. He was appointed quarter-master 
by Governor Horatio Seymour, in 1862, with 
the rank of brigadier-general. Mr. Talcott 
has left an enduring memorial of himself in 
several volumes of genealogies which he pre- 
pared with indefatigable labor, notably his 
"Genealogical Notes of New York and New 
England Families," published by him in 
1883. Her mother was Olivia Maria (Shear- 
man) Talcott, who married S. V. Talcott, 
November 23, 1843. She was born in Utica, 
New York, October 14, 1823, and died in Al- 
bany. January 29, 1888. She was the only 
child of Robert Shearman, son of Robert and 
Honor (Brown) Shearman, who was born at 
South Kingston, Rhode Island, September 
10, 1790, died at Westmoreland, New York, 
September 6, 1838 ; and Anna Maria Sher- 
man, daughter of Watts and Olivia (Gillson) 
Sherman, who was born September 17, 1800, 
died at St. .Augustine, Florida, March 9, 
1825. Children: i. Albert, see forward. 2. 
Joel, see forward. 3. Angelica Talcott, see 
forward. 4. Ethel, see forward. 

(Vni) Albert, son of Clarence and Angel- 
ica Bogart (Talcott) Rathbone, was born at 
Albany, July 27, 1868, and in 1910 was a resi- 
dent of New York City. He received his 
early education by attending the Albany Acad- 
emy for about ten years, and then entered 
Williams College, where he was a member 
of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He com- 
menced the study of law, graduating from 
the Albany Law School. After practicing a 
few years in his native city, in the firm of 
Tracy, Cooper & Rathbone, he removed to 
New York, where he is a member of the 
prominent firm of Joline Larkin & Rathbone. 
He married, at Albany, April 14, 1891, Emma 
Marvin, daughter of Thomas Worth and Em- 
ma (McClure) Olcott. Children: 1. Grace 
Olcott, born in New York City, December 
9, 1894. 2. Anna Talcott, born August 14, 
1897. 

(Vni) Joel, son of Clarence and Angelica 
Bogart (Talcott) Rathbone, was born in 
Newport, Rhode Island, the summer home 
of his parents, September 12, 1869. He was 
educated at the .Albany Academy. He entered 
the employ' of the National Commercial Bank 
of .Albany, and afterwards was the treasurer 
of the Albany Railway Company. In 1895 
he left for New York City, where he is first 
vice-president of National Security Company. 
He married, in New York City, October 4, 
1894, Josephine, daughter of Carlisle and 
Ethel Josephine (Hanbury) Norwood. Child: 



Carlisle Norwood, born in Saratoga Springs, 
July 26, 1895. 

(VIII) Angelica Talcott, daughter of Clar- 
ence and Angelica Bogart (Talcott) Rath- 
bone, was born in .Albany, New York, March 

13, 187 1. She received her education at St. 
Agnes' school in her native city. She mar- 
ried, in New York city, December 25, 1899, 
Dr. Charles Russell Lowell Putnam, of Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts, who is now practicing 
medicine in New York City. Child : Patrick 
Traccy Lowell Putnam, born in New York 
City, September 15, 1904. 

(VIII) Ethel, daughter of Clarence and 
.Angelica Bogart (Talcott) Rathbone, was 
born in Albany, New York, December 11, 
1877. She married, in Paris, France. March 

14, 1907, Jean Marty, son of Jean Marty, of 
Carcassonne, France, and his wife, Marie 
Claudine (Chaumien,) Marty, of Alligny en 
Moreau, France. 



The family name of Griffith 
GRIFFITH is derived from the Welsh 
and Cornish British, and sig- 
nifies one who has strong faith ; from "cryf," 
Welsh for strong, and "ffyd," meaning faith. 
The Griffith .Arms : Shield : Gules, three 
lioncels passant in pale argent armed gules. 
Motto: Virtus omnia nobilitat. 

(I) William Griffith came to .America 
from Cardigan, Wales, in 173 1, and was one 
of the earliest settlers of Oneida county. New 
A'ork. The line of his descent leads to Lle- 
wellyn, last King of Wales, beheaded by the 
English in 1282, and to Griffith, his son, also 
King of Wales. His participation in the rev- 
olution as a soldier is established. His wife, 
Ruth Griffith, born in England, accompanied 
him to .America. 

(II) Major Joshua, son of William and 
Ruth Griffith, was born February 8, 1763, 
died April 10, 1830. He lived at Nassau, 
Rensselaer county. New York. He was a par- 
ticipant in many of the actions in the war of 
1812. His militia commission as a captain 
in Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas Staat's regi- 
ment, dated March 30, 1803, also his commis- 
sion, dated April 10, 181 1, as a major in Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Cornelius J. Schermerhorn's 
regiment, Rensselaer county militia, can be 
seen in tlie office of the secretary of state 
at the capitol, Albany, in "Minutes of Coun- 
cil of Appointment (Militia)," Book E, pp. 
107 and 444: also, in "History of Rensselaer 
County, N. Y.," page 71, under heading "43rd 
Regt., Field and Staff." Just as the war of 
1812 opened, he was visiting his father in 
Central New York, and was mustered into 
Colonel Mead's Seventeenth New York state 



i88 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



detached militia regiment, Captain Daniel 
Root's company, as a private, and performed 
active service in that capacity. After the war 
he returned to Nassau, where he died, his 
wife, Ruth (Paine) Griffith, surviving him. 
She was a daughter of Smith Paine, and sixth 
in descent from Stephen Paine, of Rehoboth, 
jNIassachusetts, who was one of the principal 
subscribers to King Philip's war, and a de- 
scendant of Hugh de Payen. Their son was 
given the name of her father, becoming Smith 
Griffith. 

(HI) Smith, son of Major Joshua and 
Ruth (Paine) Griffith, was born at Nassau, 
Rensselaer county. New York, April 20. 1793, 
died of old age and general decline, February 
22, 1878. He occupied nearly all the official 
positions in the gift of the town, was an 
elder in the Presbyterian church of his native 
town, and gained renown as a prominent 
Abolitionist in civil war times. During the 
anti-slavery agitation he helped to carry on 
the famous "Underground Railroad," as the 
secret method for liberating the slaves was 
styled, and by his instrumentality many of the 
colored race escaped to Canada. In a number 
of ways he helped to improve Nassau, and 
worked actively to increase its prosperity. 
Smith Griffith married (first) Lemira Her- 
rick, born April 30, 1793, died November 15, 
1859, daughter of John and Nancy (Piatt) 
Herrick, and she was second in lineal descent 
from Colonel Rufus Herrick, of the New 
York continental line in revolutionary war ; 
seventh in lineal descent from Sir William 
Herrick, of London, Leicester and Beau Man- 
or Park (one of the most distinguished cour- 
tiers at the Court of Elizabeth) ; and eigh- 
teenth in lineal descent from Eric, King of 
Denmark. She made use of the arms granted 
to Sir William Herrick by Queen Elizabeth, 
and which are registered in the Herald's Col- 
lege, viz. : "Argent ; a fesse vaire or and gules. 
Crest : A bull's head, couped argent, horned 
erased sable and gorged with a chaplet of 
roses proper. Motto: Yirtus omnia nobili- 
tat." Her mother's father was Captain Israel 
Piatt, of the New York line in the revolu- 
tion, who was a grandson of Major Epenetus 
Piatt, of colonial times. She was also fifth 
in lineal descent from Captain John Stanton 
of the colonies, and sixth from Thomas Stan- 
ton, interpreter-general to the colonics and 
assistant to Governor Winthrop ; sixth in de- 
scent also from Captain John, and the seventh 
from Captain George Denison, a noted leader 
in King Philip's war, and seventh also in de- 
scent from Captain James Avery of the same 
w-ar. By this marriage Smith Griffith had 
two children, Edwin Henry and Mary. Some 



years after the death of his wife, he married5l 
the widow of Chester Griswold, of Troy,. 
New York ; no children by that marriage. 

(I\') Edwin Henry, son of Smith and Le- 
mira (Herrick) Griffith, was born at Nassau,. 
Rensselaer county. New York, December i,. 
1830, died at Albany, New York, May 16,- 
1875. He received his early education and 
was prepared for college at the Nassau Acad- 
emy, following which course he entered Ober- 
lin College, Ohio, and shortly left it for Yale, 
where he was acknowledged to be one of the 
brightest men in his class, and was affiliated 
there with the Kappa Sigma Theta fraternity. 
Hardly had he left college when he married, 
and immediately embarked in the milling bus- 
iness at Nassau. By close application and 
judicious management, he soon built up a 
prosperous business, principally in the sale of 
rye flour and feed, which he shipped to large 
firms in New York city and other places. He 
sold his mills in 1864, and removed to Castle- 
ton, New York, where he established the 
banking business of the place, founding the 
National Bank of Castleton, with which he 
was officially connected as cashier until the 
failure of his health in 1874. While there 
he was prominently identified with the busi- 
ness and religious interests of the place, and 
was actively concerned in all public improve- 
ments. He was an officer of the Dutch Re- 
formed church, and the superintendent of the 
Sunday school. About two years before he 
left Castleton, a severe attack of pleurisy left 
him with a cough which later developed into 
consumption, and desiring to test the climate 
of California and Colorado, he resigned from 
his office at the bank and started for the west 
in October. 1874, stopping for the winter in 
Denver. The result was not a change for 
the better, for his health failed rapidly, and 
after the death of his only daughter. Grace, it 
was decided that he could not stand the clim- 
ate and he returned to Albany with his family 
in the spring of 1875, where he died May 
i6th. He was universally esteemed, and dur- 
ing his successful career made and kept a 
great number of friends, who regarded him 
highly because of his sterling integritv and 
Christian character, which never allowed him 
to waver in his duty. Edwin H. Griffith 
married, at Nassau, New York, Septeml)cr 
29, 1852, Mary Louisa, daughter of George 
Washington and Sybil .Anne (Rowe) Knowl- 
ton, born in Greenbush, New York, March 
26, 1833. Children: i. Edwin Henry, born 
January 23, 1855, died at Nassau, New York, 
July 24, 1864. 2. George Smith, October 26, 
1857, died at Albany, New York, October 8, 
1876. 3. William Herrick, January 27, 1866, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



•see forward. 4. Grace, April 25, 1870, died 
:at Denver, Colorado, February 6, 1875. 

(\') William Herrick, son of Edwin Hen- 
ry and ;\Iary Louisa (Knowlton) Griffith, 
was born at Castleton, Rensselaer county, 
"New York, January 27, 1866, named for Sir 
William Herrick, of London, Leicester and 
Beau IManor Park, from whom he is ninth in 
lineal descent. On his father's side he is 
linealh- descended from the New England and 
Colonial families of Herrick, Paine, Smith, 
Perrin, Trask, Leonard, Avery, Denison, 
Stanton, Starkweather, Lord, Thompson, 
Peck, Chickering. Cross, Lay, and the Platts 
and Scudders of Long Island. Of these the 
Paines, Perrins, Herricks, Averys, Denisons, 
Stantons, Lords, Pecks and Platts were enti- 
tled to and made use of coats-of-arms. Mr. 
Griffith received his primary education at 
"Jane Coley's Private School for Boys" at Al- 
bany. He was partly prepared for college at 
the Albany Academy and advanced by the pri- 
vate tuition of Rev. Charles H. W. Stocking, 
D.D. He entered Yale in 1886, but ill health 
prevented completion of the course, and he 
then traveled with Dr. Stocking through Eng- 
land, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, 
Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, mak- 
ing his sojourn in these countries an educa- 
tional one, to a great extent, and studying 
the archaeology, life and customs of the va- 
rious places, which brought about his contri- 
butions to various American periodicals while 
he was abroad. 

On returning from Europe, Mr. Griffith ac- 
cepted a position in the First National Bank, 
of Albany, and after some years resigned to 
embark for himself in the insurance business, 
his offices in igio being in the Tweddle Build- 
ing, Albany, New York, and his residence 
No. 445 State street. He was probably the 
first to attempt organizing the members of 
his family on the maternal side into the 
Knowlton Association of America. This was 
due to the fondness he had always had for all 
matters appertaining to genealogy, history 
and patriotic hereditary orders, and it was 
natural that he was chosen its secretary and 
treasurer. He possesses many heirlooms and 
relics, chief among which he prizes the mus- 
ket carried by his great-great-grandfather. 
Lieutenant Daniel Knowlton, while a private 
and sergeant in the old French war ; some 
revolutionary scrip with which he was paid 
off, and a few of his old books. Credit is 
due to him for his activity in the interest of 
Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Rev- 
■olution, of which he was treasurer in 1896, 
secretary in 1897-98, vice-regent in 1899 and 
regent in 1900-01. 



Mr. Griffith can count twenty-five ances- 
tors vi'ho performed illustrious military and 
civil services in the colonies previous to 1775 ; 
six ancestors who were officers in the con- 
tinental army during the revolution, and two 
who rendered service in the war of 1812. This 
unusually favorable condition renders him 
eligible to nearly all of the patriotic hereditary 
orders, and he has joined nearly every one. 
He holds membership in the "Sons of the 
Revolution" in right of services of and lineal 
descent from: Colonel Rufus Herrick, Ma- 
jor Robert Freeman, Captain Israel Piatt, 
Lieutenant Daniel Knowlton, William and 
Joshua Griffith, Ensign W'illiam Peters, Pri- 
vates Nicholas and Garrett Ro\y. In the So- 
ciety of "Colonial Wars" he represents : Gov- 
ernor Robert Treat, Hon. Richard Treat, 
Stephen Hopkins of the "Mayflower" ; eight 
in King Philip's war. General Constant South- 
worth, Captain George Denison, Captain John 
Denison, Major Epenetus Piatt, Captain 
James Avery, Capttain John Stanton, Captain 
Edward Bangs, Deacon John Doane, Sergeant 
Daniel Knowlton, Stephen Paine, Thomas 
Stanton, Nicholas Snow, Samuel Mayo, Wil- 
liam Lumpkin, William Collier, Joseph Ford, 
Bozoan Allen, John Pinder, Samuel Leonard 
and Stephen Herrick. In the "Society of 
Mayflower Descendants" he represents : 
Stephen Hopkins. In the "Order of Found- 
ers and Patriots" he represents: John 
Knowlton (1639) and Lieutenant Daniel 
Knowlton (1738-1825). In the "Society of 
W^ar of 1812," he represents: i\Iajor Joshua 
Griffith. In the "Order of the Old Guard 
of Illinois" he represents Colonel Rufus Her- 
rick. Captain George Denison and ]\Iajor Jos- 
hua Griffith. He was chosen registrar-gener- 
al and genealogist of the "Ancient Heraldic 
and Chivalric Order of Albion," founded by 
Sir Edmund Plowden in 1640, and holds 
membership in the New England Historical 
Genealogical Society, Baronial Order of Run- 
nymede. Order of Colonial Governors, the 
New York State Historical Association, Old 
Northwest Genealogical Society, and is a 
thirty-second degree Mason, being a member 
of Masters Lodge, No. 5, Free and .Accepted 
Masons, and of Albany Sovereign Consistorv, 
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. While 
residing from 1892 until 1907 at 989 Madison 
Avenue, was a vestryman of St. Andrew's 
Episcopal Church, Pine Hills, and was also 
lay reader of the parish. He is now a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Cathedral of AH Saints 
at .-Mbany. In politics he is a Republican. 

William H. Griffith married, in St. Paul's 
Church, Albany, February 3, 1892, by Rev. J. 
S. B. Hodges, S.T.D., of Baltimore, and Rev. 



I90 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



C. H. W. Stocking. D.D.. of Orange, New 
Jersey, Grace Elizabeth Chite. daughter of 
Hon. Matthew Henry and Ehzaljeth (Clute) 
Robertson, who were married at St. George's 
Church, Schenectady, June 2, 1863. Child, 
Margaret Frances, born at Albany, New 
York, December 27, 1892. 

Grace Elizabeth Clute (Robertson) Grif- 
fith was born in Albany, New York, and was 
baptized in St. George's Episcopal Church of 
Schenectady. She was educated at St. Ag- 
nes' School, Albany, graduating in 1883, as 
Latin salutatorian of her class. She was elec- 
ted regent of Gansevoort Chapter, Daughters 
of the American Revolution, and president of 
the Society of Graduates of St. Agnes' 
School. She has been a member of the Na- 
tional Mary Washington Colonial Association 
since her mother's death. 

Afatthew Henry Robertson, father of Mrs. 
William H. Grifhth. was born at Malmesbury, 
Wiltshire, England, died at Albany, Decem- 
ber 19, 1903. He studied law at the place 
of his birth, and in 1858 came to Albany, 
where he continued his studies in the office 
of Hon. William Barnes, continuing thus un- 
til January, i860, when the New York State 
Insurance Department being organized, and 
Mr. I'.arnes receiving the appointment of its 
first superintendent, on May i, i860, Mr. 
Robertson became a regular clerk in the de- 
partment ; in 1870 became the chief clerk, 
continuing as such until in June, 1892, Super- 
intendent James F. Pierce appointed him the 
second deputy, which position he held until 
his death. He was a vestryman of St. Paul's 
Church for fourteen years. He was the son 
of James Robertson, born at Malmesbury, 
England, August 12, 1802, died March 16, 
1876, at Chicago, Illinois, and his wife, Eliza- 
beth \\'orcester, born October 25. 1804, at Co- 
ventry, England, died at Malmesbury. Eng- 
land, March 15, 1841, whom he married April 
6, 1826. Elizabeth Worcester was the daugh- 
ter of Charles Worcester, born at Coventry, 
England, November i, 1773, who married, 
June 5, 1802, Elizabeth Ncwcomb, born No- 
vember 25, 1782, at Coventry, England; son 
of Joseph Worcester, born December 7. 1739; 
married, January 3, 1764, Susannah Holmes. 
born 1742; son of John Worcester, died April 
14, 1763: married. May 28, 1738, ]\Iary 
Smith, died May 12. 1763: son of Joseph 
Worcester. Matthew H. Robertson's grand- 
father was Matthew Robertson, of Monditts 
Park. Malmesbury, England, born in 1756, 
died August 21, 1825: married Ann Beams, 
born at Chippenham. England, in 1765, died 
at Malmesbury. in 1839. He was of Scottish 
descent, from Alexander Robertson, of Stro- 



wan, distinguished as a poet and partisan of 
the Stewarts in the uprisings of 1690, 1715 
and 1745. This was one of the oldest and 
most distinguished families of Scotland, being 
the sole remaining branch of the Royal House 
which occupied the throne of Scotland during 
the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. 
Elizabeth (Clute) Robertson, mother of 
Airs. William H. Griffith, was born at Sche- 
nectady, New York. She resided for many 
years at her home. No. 445 State street, Al- 
bany, New York, and died there August i, 
1906. She was a member of Mohawk Oiap- 
ter. Daughters of the American Revolution, 
and of National Alary Washington Colonial' 
Association. She traces her descent from 
Frederick Clute, who came to this country 
from Neurenbergh as a trader, and after liv- 
ing a time at Kingston, New York, in 1703, 
bought land of Johannes Clute at Niskayuna, 
New York. He married Francyntje Du Alont 
fDumond) and they had son, Jacob, born at 
Kingston, November 6, 1698, who married, 
November 16, 1727, at Albany, Alaria Brouw- 
er, baptized Alay i. 1709, at Brooklyn, 
through her heirs to the Anneke Jans estate 
and descent from William I. of Holland. Ja- 
cob Clute and Alaria Brouwer had a son, 
Pieter Clute, born at .-Xlbany, died at Sche- 
nectady, 1780; married Catherine Alarselis, 
born February 15, 1736, died at Niskayuna, 
aged eighty-one years. They had a son, Pe- 
ter Clute, born at Schenectady, April 28, 1765, 
died there July 7, 1833 ; married, Alarch 5, 
1786. Angelica Van Slyke, born, Schenec- 
tady, September 2, 1764. died there Alay 24, 
1848, being the daughter of Cornelius \'an 
Slyke, born, Schenectady, December i, 1736, 
who was first lieutenant in Colonel Goose 
\'an Schaick's regiment. New York State 
Continental line in the revolution, and Cath- 
erine Veeder, born, Schenectady, April 22, 
1744. Peter Clute and Angelica \'an Slyke 
had a son, Cornelius Peter Clute, born at 
Schenectady, November 14, 1788, died there, 
August 30, 1870; married, Schenectady, April 
16, 182S. Angelica Truax, lx)rn February 13, 
1796, at Schenectady, died there October 4, 
1878, being the daughter of Isaac Truax, born 
at Schenectady, July 19, 1755, died there De- 
cember 22, 1854: married, January i, 1794, 
Elizabeth Clute, born, Albany, August 21, 
1757 died Schenectady, August 4. 1847. Cor- 
nelius P. Clute and .Angelica Truax had a 
daughter, Elizabeth Clute, who married Hon. 
Alatthew Henry Robertson. 

(The Knowlton Line). 
The family name of Knowlton is derived 
from the Cornish- British word, "knowl," a 



i 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



191 



promontory, hill or eminence, with the suffix 
"ton," or the old Saxon "tun," for town, and 
signifies people "from tlie hill town." The 
place where the Knowltons lived was long 
known as Knowhill. In the Domesday Book 
the name is Chenoltone, and in subsequent 
books it may be found indifferently spelled 
Cnolton, Knolton, KnoUton, Knowlton, 
Knoulton, Knowton, Knowlden, Nowton, 
Noulton and Nolton. 

Going- hack to the Middle Ages, one learns 
of the tradition of two brothers enlisting in 
the service of William the Conqueror, and 
fighting so bravely during his invasion of 
Wales, that they readily won their spurs. 
Having observed that they resided, the one on 
a hill and the other on a knoll, or lesser hill, 
the king, on investing them with the honors 
and insignia of knighthood, dubbed them Hill- 
ton and Knoll-ton. Whatever of truth may 
attach to this tradition, it is certain that the 
name is an ancient one, born out of its own 
native soil. The Knowlton Arms — certified 
by H. Farnham Burke, Somerset Herald. 
Shield : Argent, a chevron between three 
crowns or ducal coronets sable. Crest : A 
demi-lion rampant. Motto : \^i et virtute. 

Regarding where they lived, in the Domes- 
day Book, that curious and quaint record of 
estates and surveys which the Conquerer or- 
dered in 1083. that he might know the extent 
of his realm and provide for the royal rev- 
enues, there was a Knowlton Hundred, 
which was originally but a mere hamlet in 
Dorsetshire, which became by royal appoint- 
ment a Fair Town and a rural center of con- 
siderable importance. The original hamlet 
and manor have long since passed away ; but 
the name survives. Knowlton Parish and 
Knowlton Hall still designate a manor and 
baronial residence in Kent county, six miles 
from the archiepiscopal city of Canterbury. 

Thomas Knowlton, the antiquarian, was 
fond of telling of the distinction enjoved bv 
one of his ancestors, a retainer of the Earl 
of \\'arwick, who always appeared in court 
dress, with a silver and jewelled sword at 
his belt, and other insignias of rank, and who 
stood high with the king. He had charge 
of one of the Earl's castles in Kent, and was 
a descendant of the Knowltons mentioned. 

(I) Captain William Knowlton, the proge- 
nitor of the family in America, sailed from 
the port of London for Nova Scotia in 1632- 
34, as is usually believed, although this date 
is only approximate. It is probable that his 
sons, John, William, Deacon Thomas, and 
perhaps Samuel, accompanied him on the voy- 
age, for one of the latter name was found in 
Hingham soon after the others appeared in 



Ipswich, and he died in 1655, leaving a will, 
probated September, 1655, in which he names 
"brother John" as executor. Captain Knowl- 
ton died on the westward voyage, and his 
widow and children proceeded to Nova 
Scotia, where they remained only a short 
time. They are next heard of as being in Ips- 
wich, Massachusetts, where his son John be- 
came a resident in 1639, William and Thom- 
as following him there in 1642. The old 
town had been organized only the previous 
year, when John arrived. Captain Knowlton 
was at least a part owner of the vessel in 
which he sailed for America, and his death 
doubtless occurred not far from Nova Scotia,, 
for a land surveyor, Alphonso Wells, em- 
ployed by the Canadian government to sur- 
vey land in Shelburne in 1839, found an an- 
cient headstone there bearing the name of 
William Knowlton, 1632. It is tradition that 
the vessel was sold there, near Annapolis the 
first settlement, and with the proceeds his wid- 
ow and children went to Hingham the fol- 
lowing year, where it is believed that she re- 
married. 

Patriotic devotion to their new country was- 
a marked feature of these early settlers, and 
the Knowltons were no exception. Four of 
the name, John, Benjamin, Abraham and 
William, served in King Philip's war : several 
of them participated in the siege and capture 
of Louisburg: the rosters of the revolutionary 
troops frequently bear the Knowlton name, 
and in the subsequent wars of 1812 and of 
the revolution the same stock was notably at 
the front. Old Ipswich gave an extraordinary 
proof of this devotion to country on June 9, 
1788, wlien all the commoners, including 
many Knowltons, surrendered all their lands 
to pay the town debts incurred during the war 
of independence. Family history gives the 
name of Ann Elizabeth Smith as the wife 
who came to this country with Captain Wil- 
liam Knowlton. and on June 9, 1668, the rec- 
ords show that one Ann, widow of William 
Knollton, petitioned for an appraisal of land 
in Hingham. Qiildren : John, born 1610. see 
forward; William, born 1815, married Eliza- 
beth ; Deacon Thomas, born 1622, 

married (first) Susannah ; (second) 

Mary Kimball : Samuel. 

(II) John, son of Captain William and 
Anne Elizabeth (Smith) Knowlton, was born 
in 1610, in England. He was a shoemaker, 
and resided in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He 
became a citizen there in 1639, and a free- 
man June 9. 1641. On December 19, 1648, he 
subscribed to a fund for the pay of Major 
Denison, to whom he had entrusted the de- 
fence of the township against the assaults of 



I 



192 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Indians and other enemies. From the records 
of sales and transfers of property in Ipswich, 
it would appear that he accumulated a con- 
siderable property. He died October 8, 
1654-55. John Knowlton married Marjery 
Wilson, born m England, survived him but a 
few months. Children : John, born 1633, see 
forward : Abraham, born 1635, died unmar- 
ried ; Elizabeth, born 1639. 

(III) John (2), son of John (i) and Mar- 
jery (Wilson) Knowlton, was born in 1633. 
He was, as his father, a shoemaker. He 
took the freeman's oath October 16, 1680, and 
was drafted into the Narragansett Expedition 
November 30, 1670. He had the misfortune 
■of failing eyesight when only forty-two years 
•old, as shown by a letter written April 5, 

1675, and this forced him into a precarious 
condition as he had to abandon his trade, par- 
ticularly because he would require someone 
to protect him, and this burden troubled him. 
His name, however, appears connected with a 
number of real estate transactions, so he was 
•evidently a man of substance. He removed 
to Wrentham, before 1679, and died October, 
1684. John Knowlton married Sarah, daugh- 
ter of John and Sarah Whipple, her father 
being "feoffee of the Grammar School" in 
Ipswich, a deputy to the general court in 1640, 
deacon and ruling elder ; she died February 
4, 1678. Children: Joseph, born 1652, mar- 
ried Mary Wilson, August 14, 1677 ; Samuel, 
"born 1653, married Mary Witt, August 16, 
1669 : Daniel, born 1655, married and resided 
at Holliston, Massachusetts ; John, born 1656, 

married Sarah ; Nathaniel, born July 

24, 1658, see forward ; Elizabeth, born 
Alarch i, 1659, married Timothy Dorman, 
November 30, 1688, and died September 22, 
1788; Thomas, born May 19. 1662, married 
Hannah Carter, 1683; William, born 1664, 

married Lydia , March 16, 1688, and 

settled in Wenham ; Jonathan, born 1665, 
married Elizabeth , and settled in Mai- 
den, Massachusetts ; Susannah, born August 

15. 1673- 

(IV) Nathaniel, son of John (2) and Sa- 
rah (WTiipple) Knowlton, was born July 24, 
1658, died September 18, 1726. He was a 

man of consequence in Ipswich, and was re- 
corded a commoner February 18, 1678. He 
was made a deacon of the First Congrega- 
tional Church in 1697; for many years was 
treasurer of the church, and was a deputy to 
the general court in 1700-02-03-05-09-14-20. 
Nathaniel Knowlton married. May 3, 1682, 
Deborah Jewett, from Rowley, Massachusetts, 
daughter of Benjamin Jewett. who conveyed 
land to his son-in-law, December 26, 1684, 
and she died in 1743. Children : Nathaniel, 



born May 3, 1683, see forward ; John, born 
December 7, 1685, married Susannah Hut- 
ton; Joseph, born April, 1687, died young; 
Thomas, born November 8, 1692; Abraham, 
born February 27, 1698, married ]\Iary Smith 
Knowlton, September 20, 1722 ; Elizabeth, 
born September 15, 1702; David, born Alay 
15, 1707, married Esther Howard, February 

25, 1731- 

(Y) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (i) 
and Deborah (Jewett) Knowlton, was born 
May 3, 1683. He married Mary Bennett, 
publication of which was made February 13, 
1703. Children: Mary, born June 3, 1704; 
William, born February 8, 1706, see forward; 
Nathaniel, born June 30, 1708, married 
Mary Fuller; Jeremiah, born July 13, 1712, 
died young; Jeremiah, born August 2, 1713, 
married Sarah Allen, July 24, 1735, and re- 
sided at Concord, New Hampshire ; Alartha, 
married Dr. Flint. 

(\T) William, son of Nathaniel (2) and 
Mary (Bennett) Knowlton, was born at Ips- 
wich, Massachusetts, February 8, 1706, died 
in Ashford, Connecticut, March 13, 1753. He 
was a "housewright." He moved to West 
Boxford, where he married ]\Iartha Finder, 
a granddaughter of John Pynder, an English 
soldier who subscribed to advance the cause 
in King Philip's war. The publication of 
their marriage was on February 13, 1728. I 
After marriage, he removed to Ashford, Con- I 
necticut, 1748, where he purchased a farm 
which he divided among his sons. Children : 
Lucy, died young ; Lucy, born February 
20, 1736, married Deacon Abijah Brooks, of 
Ashford, Connecticut ; William, born Decem- 
ber 23, 1738, married Mehitable Eaton, of 
Ashford; Daniel, born December 21,, 1738, see 
forward; Thomas, born November 30, 1740, 
married Anna Keyes, April 5, 1759; Na- 
thaniel, born May 9, 1746, died young; Mary, 
born I\Iay 9, 1746, married Ezekiah Tiffany, 
of Ashford ; Sarah, married Joshua Kendall, 
of Ashford ; Priscilla, died unmarried. 

(VII) Lieutenant Daniel, son of William 
and Martha (Pinder) Knowlton, was born 
December 23, 1738, and was baptized in the 
West Parish of Boxford, Massachusetts, De- 
cember 31, 1738. He was but two years old 
when his father removed to Ashford, Con- 
necticut. When only nineteen years of agr. 
he enlisted in the colonial regiments for ser- 
vice in the French and Indian war, together 
with his brother. Thomas. From the start he 
distinguished himself for bravery and daring, 
particularly as a scout. On one occasion, 
while in Captain John Slapp's company, in 
Lord Loudon's expedition to Fort Edward, 
between IMarch 15 and October 17, 1757, he 



HUDSON AND JMOHAWK WKLLEYS 



193 



saved the life of his companion, Israel Put- 
nam, who was about to fall at the hand of 
an Indian swaying a tomahawk above him. 
In June, 1758, he served in Colonel Elea- 
zer Fitch's third Connecticut regiment at 
Crown Point. About this time he captured 
three bloodthirsty desperadoes. From May 7 
to December 30. 1761, he served as sergeant 
in Captain Robert Durkee's company, and 
from March 17, to December 4, 1762, in Cap- 
tain Hugh Ledlie's company, engaged in the 
Crown Point Expedition. He married, No- 
vember 3, 1763, Elizabeth, daughter of Ma- 
nassah Farnham, of Windham, and Keziah 
(Ford) Farnham. She was born at Wind- 
ham, March 10, 1742. Qiildren : i. Daniel, 
"born December 17, 1765 ; married, April 4, 
1793, Betsy Burchard ; died February, 1834. 
2. Elizabeth, born March 24, 1768; married 
Frederick ChafYee, of Ashford. 3. Nathaniel, 
born December 24, 1770; married Sarah 
Leach, November 25, 1798. 4. Manassah, 
born December 24, 1770, see forward. 5. Eph- 
raim, born October 3, 1773; married Jemima 
Farnham, of .\shford. 6. Martha, born Feb- 
ruary 24, 1777: married Charles W. Bran- 
don, of Ashford. 7. Keziah, born February 
•9, 1781 : married, January 3, 1805. Amasa 
Lyon. 8. Hannah, born April 19, 1783 ; mar- 
ried Daniel Knowlton. 

(\'III) Alanassah, son of Lieutenant Dan- 
iel and Elizabeth (Farnham) Knowlton, was 
born at .\shford, Connecticut, December 24, 
1770, died at Greenbush. New York, January 
21, 1841. He was a thrifty, industrious, solid, 
benevolent man, whose advice to young and 
old brought to him in the later years of his 
life the honored name of "Father Knowlton." 
It is related that he so closely resembled his 
twin brother, Nathaniel, that his mother had 
to e.xcite the boys to laughter in order to dis- 
tinguish them apart, \\nien twenty-one years 
old he settled in Greenbush, New York, 
across the Hudson river from Albany. He 
made considerable money as a farrier during 
the war of 1812, when innumerable cavalry 
•officers were wont to draw up before his place 
•on the old Rensselaer and Columbia turnpike. 
In 1798 he purchased a farm of one hundred 
.and sixty-two acres of what was formerly the 
Van Rensselaer Manor grounds. He declined 
to unite with any church until about eight 
years previous to his death, when he became 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
On June 8, 1808, he was commissioned lieu- 
tenant in Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Staats' 
regiment, and was promoted to captain, Feb- 
ruary 29, 1812. He married (first) Lydia 
Burton, of Schodack. New York, who died 
July 15, 1806; married (second) Elizabeth 



Card, of Greenbush, New York : married 
(third) Clarissa Cogswell, of Greenbush. 
Children: Oren, born September 17, 1794, 
died young ; Ephraim, born December 9, 1795, 
died January 5, 1824; Isaac, born Alay 7, 
1797, died May 23, 1883, married Rachel 
\\'hitbeck ; Orendia, born February 20, 1799, 
died October, 1861, married Benjamin Brad- 
bury, February 20, 1818; Almyra, born Feb- 
ruary I, 1801, died September 10, 1827; Ma- 
ria, born October 13, 1802, died February 
9. 1830: George Washington, Ix)rn January 
16, 1804, see forward ; Parmelia, born August 
16, 1805, died young. 

(IX) George Washington, son of Manas- 
sah and Lydia (Burton) Knowlton, was born 
January 16, 1804, died at Albany, New York, 
October 11, 1884. He entered upon a mer- 
cantile career at an early age, and in 1833 
associated himself with his brother-in-law, un- 
der the firm name of Knowlton & Rowe, as 
rectifier of spirits and oil merchants. They 
were the first to manufacture and to use as 
an illuminator the old "burning fluid." He 
sold out his interest in 1841, and retired to 
his place in Greenbush, residing later at Nas- 
sau and Castleton, finall)- returning to Albany 
to spend his last days. He married S3'bil 
Anne Rowe, born November 15, 1812, a de- 
scendant of the Rhenish German Rowes 
(Rauh), a member of which family, Johannes 
Rauh, settled in the Nine Partners Tract, in 
Dutchess county. New York, about 1705. She 
died in .\lbany, August 20, 1897. Children: 
Mary Louisa, born Alarch 26, 1833, see for- 
ward; George Henry, born November 2, 1835, 
married, September 15, 1863, Ellenore Ross, 
of Terre Haute, Indiana: Charlotte A., born 
.\pril 9, 1838, died February 15, 1842; Fran- 
cis F., born Julv 17, 1847, died Julv 18, 
1864. 

(X) Mary Louisa, daughter of George 
Washington and Sybil Anne (Rowe) Knowl- 
ton, was born in Greenbush, Rensselaer coun- 
ty. New York, March 26, 1833, and was a 
resident of Albany, New York, in 1910. She 
obtained her education at the East Green- 
bush and Nassau academies, and Tyler's In- 
stitute. Pittsfield. Massachusetts. Imbued 
with a tense feeling of patriotism and inter- 
ested in the history of her ancestors, she was 
one of the most active originators of the 
Knowlton Family Association. Her city resi- 
dence has been at No. 328 Hudson avenue, 
Albany, for thirty-five years, and at Castle- 
ton, New York, she has a summer home 
known as Glenwood, where she owns about 
one hundred acres of attractive land. She 
married, at Nassau, New York, September 
29, 1852, Edwin Henry Griffith, of that place. 



194 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



After marriage, she removed with him to Cas- 
tleton, where her husband founded the Na- 
tional Bank of Castleton. In 1874, owing to 
the faihire of his liealth, she went with him 
to Denver, Colorado, where their youngest 
child Grace died, February 6, 1875, and real- 
izing he could not long survive, they returned 
to Albany, where he died May 16, 1875 (see 
Griffith IV). 



John Packer, having obtained 
PACKER a grant of land in the southern 

part of Connecticut, emigrated 
from England about the year 165 1 and set- 
tled in the town of Groton, Connecticut. He 
shortly became one of the largest and most 
influential of the planters in the struggling 
colony. In time he became the father of 
twelve children, seven being sons. 

(II) James, youngest son of John Packer, 
was born in 1681, died April 24, 1765. Like 
his father, he made his mark in the commu- 
nity by industrious management, becoming 
noted among the large planters and leading 
a life which made him highly respected. He 
had twelve children. 

(III) James (2), eldest son of James (i) 
Packer, was born in Groton, Connecticut, in 
1734. In middle life he removed with his 
family from there to Guilford, Vermont. 
Among his children were James, born August 
17, 1760; Jeremy, born about 1762; Eleazer, 
see forward. 

(IV) Eleazer, son of James (2) Packer, 
was born in Groton, Connecticut, June 26, 
1770, and died in Peachem, Vermont, March 
29, 1864. He was one of the earliest, in 
fact the second, of those who settled in New- 
ark, Vermont. He cleared a tract of what 
was then a virgin forest in the wilds of Ver- 
mont, and built thereon a log cabin, where 
he took up his residence and commenced 
farming. About the year 1801, this tract 
of land had come into the possession of James 
Packer, eldest brother of Eleazer, who ef- 
fected a change of property with him, Eleazer 
taking the lot of land in Newark, Vermont, 
and turning over to James his own farm in 
Guilford. About two years after he had erec- 
ted this crude habitation he brought thither 
his wife and little ones from Guilford to dwell 
there with him. Shortly afterwards, others 
seeing he had acquired a piece of favorable 
property which he had converted into a com- 
fortable and paying estate, came to settle 
there, and when a sufficient number had fol- 
lowed his lead the town was organized. He 
and two others, James Ball and John Sleeper, 
were chosen selectmen. Eleazer Packer was 
made the first justice of the peace for the 



place, which was a recognition of his promi- 
nence, and in 181 1 was chosen the first rep- 
resentative to the general assembly. To his 
credit as a pioneer it is recorded that he sol- 
emnized the first marriage at the place, mar- 
rying Philemon and Sally Hartwell, June 28, 
1812, at Newark, Vermont. As he continued 
to prosper he cleared still more acres of land 
thereabouts. Pushing back farther and far- 
ther the line of wild forest, he increased the 
proportion of his crops, built a larger and 
more commodious residence, and moved into 
it from the modest one which had sheltered 
him when he made his start. Here he lived 
for half a century and was permitted to see 
his cultivated acres increase from the small, 
original clearing to a large, well-managed and 
prosperous farming estate. As the town grew, 
schools were established, a church (the Meth- 
odist Episcopal) of which he became an hon- 
ored and devoted member, was organized, audi 
the entire machinery of the town came into 
existence under his eye and was largely aided 
by his ability and willingness to furtlier such 
important public movements. In all the res- 
pective advances he is known to have borne a 
conspicuous part, and not infrequently it was 
he who furnished the intiative for the various 
steps. That he thoroughly enjoyed the con- 
fidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen is 
sufficiently evidenced in the fact that he was 
chosen to represent his town in the legisla- 
ture of Vermont for fifteen consecutive years 
and was justice of the peace there for no less 
than two-score years. He might have con- 
tinued much longer to serve the public in the 
former office had he not relinquished the de- 
sire on account of the demands upon his time 
by increasing home duties. Serving the town 
for so lengthy a period as a justice, fastened 
upon him the familiar sobriquet of "Squire," 
which he seemed to appreciate and favor as a 
sign of cordial friendship, and wherever he 
was known he was mentioned with that dis- 
tinguishing title prefixed to his name. Eleazer 
Packer married, at Leyden, Massachusetts, 
March 16, 1796, Abigail Potter. Children: i. 
Philura, died 1824; married Curtis Newell. 2. 
Electra, died 1824. 3. Horace, born March 

9, 1801. see forward. 4. Eleazer, born 1803; 
died April 3, 1806. 5. Austin, born April 28, 
1805. 6. Osman (twin of Austin). 7. David, 
born February 20, 1808. 8. Eli Wing, Jan- 
uary 5. 181 1. 9. Josephine, March 30, 1814. 

10. Rebecca Barney, July 23, 1817. John 
Quincy Adams. 1820. 

(V) Horace, son of Eleazer and Abigail 
(Potter) Packer, was born in Newark. Ver- 
mont, March 9, 1801, and died at Burke, Ver- 
mont, October 19, 1868. As his father and 







\^^/L4y ^-^^-r^y^To/^^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



195 



grandfather before him. he was to follow 
large agricultural pursuits. He owned and 
lived upon an extensive farm in his native 
town, but his health becoming somewhat im- 
paired, he preferred to remove to Burke, 
where he died at the age of sixty-seven. He 
married Hopestill W'hipple Brown, daughter 
of Josiah Brown, of Kirby, Vermont. After 
his removal to Burke, Horace Packer, with 
his son, H. H. Packer, engaged in the manu- 
facture of boots, and shoes, and continued in 
this business during the remainder of his life. 
Among the town offices which he held was 
that of town excise agent, a position which 
he retained from the date of his appointment 
to his death. Children: i. Electra, died in 
infancy. 2. Halsey, died young. 3. Eli Elea- 
zer, born July 30, 1834, see forward. 4. Mary 
C, born June, 1837, died June, 1852. 5. Mar- 
tha J., born May, 1840, died March, 1854. 6. 
Horace H., born September 9, 1843, died 
April 13, 1904. Was veteran of civil war, 
prominent in Grand Army and Masonic cir- 
cles ; was in the boot and shoe trade forty 
years, first with his father, afterward alone 
till death; married (first) Carrie Kahili; (sec- 
ond) Mary W. Whillock. The last named 
is now living at West Burke, Vermont. 7. 
Esther M., born 1846, died 1852. 8. Arianna, 
born 1849, at Newark, Vermont, died at Be- 
thel, Maine, 1884; married H. W. Bishop, a 
jeweller, who died 1882; after his death his 
widow was appointed postmistress of Bethel, 
and retained the office until the time of her 
death. 

(VI) Professor Eli Eleazer Packer, son of 
Horace and Hopestill Whipple (Brown) 
Packer, was born in Newark, Vermont, July 
30, 1834, and in 1910, was principal of School 
No. 12, Albany. New York. He received his 
earliest education at the Shelburne Falls In- 
stitute, in Shelburne. Franklin county, Mas- 
sachusetts, from which he graduated in 1855, 
and later attended the academy at St. Johns- 
bury, Vermont, for two years. He developed 
a strong inclination to become an instructor 
and taught for two years in Vermont schools, 
after which, in 1858, he removed his field of 
effort to New York state, teaching for seven 
years in the scjiools and the academy at 
Whitehall, New York, then throughout five 
years in the Union School of Cohoes. In 
1870 he was called to Albany to become the 
principal of its Public School No. 12. one of 
the largest in that city, with six hundred pu- 
pils under his care in 1910. He ranks among 
the most prominent of Albany's educators, 
and many hundreds of the city's best men of 
business owe much to him for the strengthen- 
ing of character under more than common 



solicitude of one in his position. He has con- 
tributed frequently to educational periodicals, 
and is forceful in utterance as he is decisive 
in his thoughts. He has always been much 
interested in music, particularly that of the 
church organ, and was for a considerable time 
organist at Whitehall and afterward at Co- 
hoes. He is an attendant of the Emmanuel 
Baptist Church, of which he has been a dea- 
con for more than twenty years. His resi- 
dence is at No. 486 Madison avenue, Albany, 
New York. He is a member of Masters 
Lodge, No. 5, Free and Accepted Masons, of 
Albany, New York. He visited Europe in 
1 90 1 and spent tlie summer. He has visited 
nearly every state and territory in the United 
States. In politics he is a Republican. 

Professor Packer married, at Sutton, Ver- 
mont, July 8, 1858. Emily Hill, of that place ; 
daughter of .'\mos Hill and Mary Smith, and 
was born July 27, 1833, at Sutton, Vermont, 
and died at Albany, March 19, 1905. Chil- 
dren: I. Clarence Hill, born at Whitehall, 
April 2, 1859 ; married, at Jackson, Michigan, 
December, 1883, Nellie Beebe, daughter of 
the cashier of National Bank at Jackson, 
Michigan, by whom : Mabel Packer, born at 
Jackson, Michigan, November 2'>„ 1884, mar- 
ried, October 8, 1909, Roy Kenney ; Ethel, 
born at Jackson, Michigan, June 13, 1888, 
died at Toledo, Ohio, April, 1908 ; Charles 
Horace, born at Jackson, Michigan, July 12, 
1890; Orlow, born at Jackson, Michigan, No- 
vember II, 1892; Edwin Eli, born at Toledo, 
Ohio, August 20, 1895 ; Helen, born at To- 
ledo, Ohio, August 26, 1897; Laura Belle, 
born at Toledo, Ohio, October 2, 1900. 2. 
Anabel. born at Whitehall, August 12, i860; 
married Clarence A. Draper, of Toledo, Ohio, 
October 25, 1886. For nearly thirty years 
Clarence A. Draper was a prominent busi- 
ness man of Toledo, being in jjartnership dur- 
ing this long period with M. Nugent. Early 
in 1910, the partnership was dissolved, Mr. 
Nugent retaining tlie store and furniture bus- 
iness, and Mr. Draper taking an equivalent 
value in property gained outside the busi- 
ness. 



The descent of the Hun family in 
HUX .America is traced to Harmen Hun. 
He resided in Amersfoort, a town 
in the province of Utrecht, Holland, situated 
on the Eem river, some twenty-si.x miles 
southeast of Amsterdam. Pie had a son 
named Thomas, and a daughter called Wen- 
deltie. This fact is set forth in the Notarial 
Papers (page 103) on record in the office of 
the clerk of Albany county. New York, 
wherein she is mentioned as Wendeltie Har- 



196 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



mense, or in actuality, \\'en(leltie, daughter 
of Harmen Hun, and sister of Thomas. 

Thomas Hun had a grandson named Har- 
men Thomase, who is mentioned in the docu- 
ment above referred to, which reads : "On 
July 5, 1661, his son Harmen and liis wife 
Catalyntie Berck (spelled Bercx in Pearson's 
"First Settlers of Albany") gave a power of 
attorney to collect a certain sum of money 
from Angenitie Cornelisen, of Amsterdam, in 
Holland, belonging to the aforesaid Catalyntie 
as an inheritance from the late Tryntje Jan- 
sen van Rechter, her mother, late wife of 
Cornelis Stoffelse Bui, of Amsterdam, and 
also from her brother, Hendrick Berck, a cer- 
tain sum on an obligation,'' dated on March 

8, 1656: also, to close up the estate of Wen- 
deltie Harmense (maiden lady), late aunt, or 
father's sister, of the above-named Harmen 
Thomase, slie being dead at Alckmar, Hol- 
land. 

(H) Thomas, son of Harmen Hun, resided 
at Amersfoort, Holland, and had a son named 
Harmen Thomase. It is not known what 
other children, if any, he might have had. 

(HI) Harmen Thomase, son of Thomas 
Hun, came to this country from Amersfoort, 
Holland. He married Catalyntie Berck in 
1661 (or, Pearson, 1662). She was born in 
1625, and was the widow of Dirck Bensingh, 
(Bensing, Bensen). and the daughter of Cor- 
nelis Stoffelse Bui and his wife, Tryntje Janse 
van Rechter (widow of Samuel Berck), of 
Amsterdam, Holland. When she married 
Hun she had had five children by Bensingh. 
He and his wife made a joint will in 1663, 
and she died April 14, 1693. Children: i. 
Weintie, born February 9, 1662. died Febru- 
ary 19, 1662. 2. Weintie, October 29, 1663 ; 
married, September 11, 1692, Rutger Mel- 
cherts Van Deusen, son of Melchert and En- 
geltje (Van Schoenderwoert ) Van Deusen. 3. 
Thomas, November i, 1666, died November 

9, 1667. 4. Thomas Harmense, see forward. 
(IV) Tliomas Harmense, son of Harmen 

Thomase and Catalyntie (Berck) Hun, was 
born in Beverwyck, New Netherland, (Al- 
bany, New York), October 2, 1668, died 
January 12, 1716, Albany. He married, 
November 20, 1692, Mayeke (Maaike, 
Mary) Oothout, daughter of Jan Janse 
and Hendrickje (\^an Ness) Oothout. 
She died October 14, 1759. Children: i. Ca- 
talyntie, born September 4, 1693 (Pearson, 
baptized September 3, 1693) ; married, No- 
vember. 1726, John G. Lansing; died October, 
1727. 2. Johannes, October 10. 1693, see for- 
ward. 3. Harmen, November 23, 1697 ; (Pear- 
son, baptized July 21, 1700) ; died young. 
4. Cornelis, June 9, 1700, (Pearson, baptized 



July 21. 1700). 5. Hendrickje, September 12, 
1702, (Pearson, baptized August 20, 1702) ; 
married, December 20, 1724, Pieter Schuyler. 
6. Dirck, September 7, (Pearson, September 
17), 1704; married Alargaret Cornelia Ho- 
gan. 7. Rutger, j\Iarch 15 (Pearson, bap- 
tized March 16), 1707. 8. Adrian, June 15, 
(Pearson, baptized July 24), 1709; married, 
August, 1733, Phoebe Smith ; died January 
II, 1737. 9. Harmen, September 15, 1712; 
married, December 6, 1735. Elsje Lansing. 

(\') Johannes, son of Thomas Harmense 
and Mayeke (Oothout) Hun, was born in 
Albany, New York, October 10, 1695, died 
there January 22, 1776, and it has been said 
that he was buried in the churchyard of the 
"Middle" Dutch Reformed Church on the 
south side of Beaver street. It may be that 
the remains were re-interred there ; but it is 
probable that they were interred, as all men 
of prominence connected with the Dutch 
church of that period in Albany were, in the 
Dutch Church which stood at the intersec- 
tion of Broadway and State street, (between 
1656-1715, of timber, and 1715-1805 of stone) 
and when it was taken down in 1805, that the 
street might not be hampered in traffic, the 
material was employed in the construction of 
the new church, above referred to, on Beaver 
street, and the cornerstone of the new edifice 
laid on April 30, 1806, so that at his death 
in 1776, it is unlikely that he was buried there 
directly, although it is shown that his remains 
were removed from the church lot in 1803, by 
his grandson, Abraham Hun, to the vault 
which he had erected on a lot on Chestnut 
street, between Hawk and Swan streets. 
When regrading took place, this vault was 
abandoned, and the bodies therein removed 
to the Buena Vista farm at Normanskill, 
reached in 1900. by following Delaware ave- 
nue to the creek. The bodies were, about 
the time of this latter date, reinterred in the 
Hun lot in the Albany Rural cemetery. He 
married. May 4, 1725, Anna, daughter of 
Francis and Elsie (Gansevoort) Winne. She 
died March, 1759. Children: i. Thomas, 
born June, 1726, died December 14, 1731. 2. 
Elsie, May 16, 1728, died January 4, 1732. 3. 
Elsie, March 18. 1733; married. May 19, 
1757, Philip, son of Johannes Janse and Geer- 
truy (-Schuyler) Lansing; eight children. 4. 
Thomas, see forward. 

(VI) Thomas (2), son of Johannes and 
Anna (Winne) Hun, was born in Albany, 
New York, February 28, 1736, died there No- 
vember 17, 1802. He was agent for Patroon 
Steplien \'an Rensselaer and was a surveyor. 
He built a house on the east side of Broad- 
way, (then Market street) fifty feet south of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



197 



Maiden Lane, demolished in 1845. He mar- 
ried, in Albany, Aiisjust 27, 1761, the Rev. 
Eliardiis Westerlo officiating, Elizabeth Wen- 
dell, born in .Albany, September 2, 1738, 
daughter of .\braham and Geertruy (Bleeck- 
er) Wendell. Children, born in .Albany: i. 
.Annetje, September 15, 1763, died in Penn 
Yan, New York, October 17, 1848; married, 
Albany, May 19, 1795, Rev. John Bassett ; 
five children. 2. Abraham, see forward. 

(AH) .Abraham, son of Thomas (2) and 
Elizabeth (Wendell) Him, was born in Al- 
bany. New York, February 17, 1768. He died 
there, January 29, 18 12, and was placed in 
his own vault on Chestnut street, between 
Hawk and Swan streets.- He graduated from 
Columbia College, immediately afterward 
took up the study of law, and forming a part- 
nership with Rensselaer Westerlo, half broth- 
er of the Patroon of the \'an Rensselaer Man- 
or, acted as agent for Stephen Van Rens- 
selaer until his death. He resided in 
his house on the east side of Mar- 
ket street (later Broadway), which was 
situated about fifty feet south of Maid- 
en Lane, which site was later built upon 
when the Stanwix Hall Hotel was erected, 
and he also owned a well cultivated farm of 
about three hundred and seventy-five acres 
extending along and northward back from the 
Normanskill creek (at the end of Delaware 
avenue in 1900), which place he called "Bue- 
na \ista." after the battle in which General 
Taylor figured. On the brow of the hill, he 
built a summer residence, which his son 
Thomas reconstructed in 1852, at about the 
same time the farm was reduced to about 
twenty-five acres. He married, in .Albany, Sep- 
tember 22. 1796, Rev. John Bassett officiating, 
]\raria. daughter of Judge Leonard and Maria 
(\'an Rensselaer) Gansevoort. She was born 
in .Albany, New York, February 17, 1778, 
died there, October 19, 1813. and was buried 
in her husbantrs vault, as mentioned. Chil- 
dren: I. Elizabeth, born January 13, 1798, 
died -Albany, June 9, 1804. 2. Alaria, July 
23. 1800, died .April i, 1801. 3. Elizabeth, 
July I, 1804; married, Albany, April 4, 1833, 
Bernard S. \'an Rensselaer ; died Albany, 
July I, 1834. 4. Ann Maria, Albany, Oc- 
tober II, 1807, died October 27, 1807. 5. 
Thomas, see forward. 

(VUl) Thomas (3) Hun, M.D., son of 
Abraham and Maria (Gansevoort) Hun, was 
born in .Albany, New York, September 14, 
1808, died at his residence. No. 31 Elk street, 
Albany, June 2^, 1896. Losing both parents 
at an early age, he and his sister Elizabeth 
were brought up by their maternal grandpar- 
ents. Judge and Mrs. Leonard Gansevoort, Jr. 



He received his earliest education as a lad at 
a private school conducted by an Englishman 
and his wife, Mr. and Airs. Upfold, and in 
18 18 entered the Albany Boys' Academy, 
where he remained until graduation, follow- 
ing a complete course which fitted him for 
college. He was intelligent and studious, 
possessing a decided character, which ac- 
counted for his always standing high in his 
various classes. Because of his more than 
customar\' preparation and industry, when 
only sixteen years of age. he was able to enter 
the junior class of L^nion College, in the fall 
of 1824, following his graduation from the 
Academy, and while there his "chum'' was 
the popular Professor Isaac W. Jackson. He 
graduated with honors in 1826. taking the 
degree of .A.B. After leaving college, he be- 
gan the study of medicine, for which he had 
a decided leaning, and entered the office of 
Dr. Piatt Williams, a practitioner of eminence 
in .Albany. After serving thus as a student, 
he entered the medical department of the Un- 
iversity of Pennsylvania, in 1827, and com- 
pleting the full course, graduated in 1830 
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He 
returned to Albany and commenced to prac- 
tice with his former instructor. Dr. Williams. 

\\'hen the cholera epidemic broke out in the 
summer of 1832, a cholera hospital was in- 
stituted in .Albany, and he was appointed one 
of the physicians. The death rate was alarm- 
ingly high, with more funerals each da\- than 
could be arranged for, and everyone afraid 
to mix with his neighbors. Burning barrels 
of tar filled the atmosphere with a heavy 
smoke, calculated to purify the air. Dr. 
Hun's position was unenviable and heroic. 
He discharged his duties with fortitude and 
skill, until the closing of the hospital in the 
cold weather, when the scourge was stamped 
out. In the spring of 1833 he went to Eur- 
ope to prosecute his studies further, and ex- 
cepting two brief visits to his home, remained 
there, residing chiefly in Paris, until 1839. 
The si.x years of foreign study afforded him 
a liberal range of experience, attending the 
large hospitals, and he gradually limited his 
wider range of the sciences to a knowledge 
of practice. 

During his last year abroad, the .Albany 
Medical College was organized and incorpor- 
ated, and before his return home in 1839, 
he was invited to accept the professorship of 
the Institutes of Medicine. He accepted, and 
his inaugural address excited considerable in- 
terest and admiration from its large grasp of 
principles as well as by rea.son of its lucid 
style and forcible illustrations. The students 
came to regard his lectures as the most in- 



198 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



teresting' and instructive, which abiUty on his 
part greatly increased the reputation of the 
young college. He continued these lectures 
until 1858, when he resigried to devote all his 
time to his practice, which had grown to be 
the best in Albany, and demanded this atten- 
tion. 

\\'hen the Albany Hospital was incorpora- 
ted in 1848, Dr. Hun became one of the board 
of consulting physicians, and had subsequent- 
ly held the same position with St. Peter's 
Hospital, Albany. He was made president 
of the New York State Medical Society in 
1862, and his inaugviral address attracted 
much favorable comment, despite his theories 
in opposition to the traditional ideas of medi- 
cal theory and practice. He maintained that 
neither medicine nor the physician, although 
both were of importance in their place, ever 
cured disease ; that the curative power rested 
in nature alone, and the function of the phy- 
sician not to "cure" ; but to preside over, 
watch and aid the efforts of nature to cure, 
by recognizing the true character of the dis- 
ease, its course, its processes and effects, also 
the accidents and dangers to which it is lia- 
ble, and thus to be able to secure, as far as 
possible, such favorable circumstances, aids 
and conditions as may be most contributory 
to the restorative powers of nature. He was 
unanimously called to be dean of faculty of 
the Albany Medical College. He was espec- 
ially noted as a practitioner for his sagacity 
and accuracy in the diagnosis of disease, and 
also for his calm, far-sighted comprehension 
of the constitutional tendencies affecting the 
case called to his attention. He was always 
studiously inclined, contemplative and given 
to thought along philosophical and metaphy- 
sical lines, for ethical investigation was a de- 
light for him. Xo physician in Albany ever 
stood higher in the confidence of both the pro- 
fession and the public. He was a devout 
Christian, worshipping at the Episcopal Cath- 
edral of All Saints, a man possessing the 
warmest of hearts for the distressed. He 
had been an alderman, and at his death was 
president of the Albany Academy board of 
trustees. 

Dr. Tliomas Hun married, in Albany, New 
York, April 29. 1841, the Rev. Horatio Pot- 
ter, rector of St. Peter's Church officiating, 
Lydia Louisa, daughter of Hon. Marcus Tul- 
lius and his (first) wife, Cynthia (Herrick) 
Reynolds. She was born in Amsterdam, 
New York, September 11, 1817, died at her 
residence, No. 31 Elk street, Albany, January 
26, 1876, and was buried in the Albany Rural 
cemetery. Her father, Marcus T. Reynolds, 
an attorney of Albany and one of the ablest 



of his times, was born in Minaville, Montgom- 
ery county. New York, December 29, 1788, 
son of Dr. Stephen Reynolds, of Amster- 
dam, and died at No. 25 North Pearl street, 
Albany, July 11, 1864. Her mother, Cynthia 
(Herrick) Reynolds, was daughter of 
Benjamin and Cynthia (Brush) Her- 
rick, the latter a daughter of Rich- 
ard Brush ; she was born at Amenia, New 
York, December 26, 1794, died at Amsterdam, 
New York, November 25, 1820. Benjamin 
Herrick was the son of Benjamin and Sarah 
(Denton) Herrick. Mrs. Thomas Hun was 
widely known through her endeavors to alle- 
viate the condition of the poor and ignorant, 
as well as in her own circle, where she was 
welcomed as one whose mind had been en- 
riched by a liberal education and by life-long 
habits of good reading and reflection, which 
gave her a graciousness of character and bril- 
liancy of conversation. Her chief interest lay 
in planning to reform what was evil and to 
aid those oppressed by undue hardships, in 
which aim she was always practical in the 
carrying out of her admirable ideas. She felt 
that the poor needed, even more than money, 
sound advice and cordial encouragement. She 
purchased and fitted up a sort of model tene- 
ment house, to occupy which became an es- 
teemed privilege, and here she watched over 
them, inculcating habits of neatness and sav- 
ing. She also sought to establish in the 
neighborhood of the poor reading rooms and 
a place of cheerful resort. In many other 
similar ways she led a worthy life and died 
blessed by every one who had the benefit 
of her acquaintance. 

Children of Dr. Thomas and Lydia Louisa 
(Reynolds) Hun. born in Albany: i. Ed- 
ward Reynolds, born April 17, 1842, see for- 
ward. 2. Marcus Tullius, May 22, 1845, see 
forward. 3. Leonard (jansevoort, May 10, 
1848, see forward. 4. John, June 10, 1852, 
died in Albany, August 16, 1852. 5. Henry, 
March 21, 1854, see forward. 

(IX) Edward Reynolds Hun, M.D., eldest 
son of Dr, Thomas (3) and Lydia Louisa 
(Reynolds) Hun, was born in Albany, New 
York, April 17, 1842, died in Stamford, Con- 
necticut. March 14, 1880. He received his 
early education at the Albany Boys' Acad- 
emy, which he entered in the fall of 1850. He 
also attended boarding-school at Sing Sing, 
(Ossining) New York, and at Byfield, 
Massachusetts. He went to Harvard and 
graduated in the class of 1863, then studied 
medicine in the Albany Medical College, and 
followed this with the regular course in med- 
icine of Columbia University, where he grad- 
uated in 1866. He visited Europe, studying- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



199 



in London and Paris in the large hospitals. 
Upon returning to his home, he engaged in 
general practice. He was chosen a member 
of the Albany Medical College faculty in 1867, 
and was elected a member of the American 
Medical Association in 1870, and of the Med- 
ical Society of the State of New York in 
1873, elected its secretary in 1875 : of the New 
York Society of Neurology and Electrology, 
in 1873; the New York Neurological Society, 
in 1874; the American Neurological Society, 
in 1876. and in 1875 was elected to the chair 
of nervous diseases in the Albany Medical 
College. He translated Bouchard's "Secon- 
dary Degeneration of the Spinal Cord," in 
1869, and was the author of "Trichina Spira- 
lis." in 1869; "The Pulse of the Insane,'' 
in 1870, and "Haematoma Auris," in 1870; 
also contributing valuable scientific matter 
along lines of his investigation to a number 
of medical journals. From 1869 until his 
■death, he was the attending physician at St. 
Peter's Hospital, and from 1876, at the Al- 
bany Hospital. He was special pathologist to 
the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Uti- 
ca. New York, for several years. 

From the outset of his professional life, he 
had an unusually large and responsible prac- 
tice, and rose rapidly to professional promi- 
nence. He was greatly interested in the ad- 
vance of medicine and in new scientific meth- 
ods and appliances. He possessed unusual 
qualities of mind, and great quickness of per- 
ception in detecting the characteristics of dis- 
ease. His nature was an ardent and sympa- 
thetic one. Some years before his death he 
met with a serious accident while driving on 
the Troy road with Mr. Dean Sage, and from 
that time his health gradually failed. He suf- 
fered a stroke of apoplexy while recreating at 
Stamford, Connecticut, ]\iarch 14, 1880. 

Dr. Edward Reynolds Hun married, at 
Troy, New York, April 29, 1874, Caroline De 
Forest, daughter of John B. Gale (son of 
Samuel and Mary E. (Thompson) Gale) and 
Elizabeth V. S. Wells (daughter of Philander 
and Elizabeth (McDonald) Wells) ; she was 
"born in Troy, December 27. 1848. Children: 
I. Lydia Louise, born in Albany, New York, 
July 8, 1875 : married, .\lbany, April 29, 1903, 
Frederick Williams Kelley, son of James B. 
and Alice (Williams) Kelley, who was born 
in Albany, December 15, 1870; children: 
Alice W'illiams Kelley. born, Albany, Novem- 
ber 26, 1904, and Frederick Williams Kel- 
ley, born, Albany, January 18, 1908. 2. Eliz- 
abeth Gale. Albany, November 5, 1876, died, 
Albany, October 15, 1889. 3. John Gale. Al- 
bany, November 21, 1877: married. Westfield, 
Massachusetts, June 26, 1906, Leslie Stafford, 



daughter of Rev. Lyndon Smith and Susan 
Van Vranken (Doolittle) Crawford, born in 
Smyrna, Turkey, May I, 1881 ; children: Les- 
lie Crawford Hun, born, Princeton, New Jer- 
sey, October 21, 1907, and Elizabeth Gale 
Hun, born, Albany, July 9, 1909. 4. Katha- 
rine, born, Stamford, Connecticut, January 
21, 1880; married, Albany, April 29, 1907, 
William Law Learned Peltz, son of John De 
Witt and Mary Marvin (Learned) Peltz, 
born in .\lbany. May 27, 1882: children: Car- 
oline Peltz, born Albany, February 19, 1908, 
and William Learned Peltz, born, Albany, 
February 11, 1909. 

(IX) Marcus Tullius, second son of Dr. 
Thomas (3) and Lydia Louise (Reynolds,) 
Hun, was born in the house on the southeast 
corner of North Pearl street and Maiden 
Lane, Albany, New York, May 22, 1845. He 
attended a school on the east side of North 
Pearl street above Clinton avenue, kept by a 
Mrs. Williams, until he became of sufficient 
age to enter the Albany x\cademy. where he 
remained until the fall of the year 1859, when 
he was entered as a student at Dummer Acad- 
emy, Byfield (near Newburyport), Massa- 
chusetts, under Professor Flenshaw. He re- 
mained at Dummer Academy for one term, 
at tiie end of which Professor Henshaw gave 
up the charge of the school. Mr. Hun then 
returned to Albany and attended the remaind- 
er of that year at the Albany Academy. In 
the fall of i860 Mr. Hun entered a school 
at Lancaster, Massachusetts, kept by a Mr. 
Kimball, with whom he boarded. He re- 
mained at that school for one year, and in 
the fall of 1861 entered Union College, Sche- 
nectady, from which he was graduated in the 
summer of 1865. In the fall of 1865 he en- 
tered the Albany Law School, from which 
institution he was graduated in the spring of 
1866. He then passed his examination before 
the examiners appointed by the supreme court 
and was admitted to the bar. He entered 
the office of Meads & Reynolds as a law stu- 
dent and after some two years became a part- 
ner with Orlando Meads, and, under the firm 
name of Meads & Hun continued the practice 
of the law in partnership with Mr. Meads 
until 1872, when the partnership was dis- 
solved, and the same year he formed a co- 
partnership with his younger brother, Leonard 
G. Hun. In January, 1872, Mr. Hun was ap- 
pointed deputy attorney general by General 
Francis C. Barlow. For the ensuing two 
years he acted as deputy attorney general, at 
the same time continuing the private practice 
of the law with his brother. He retired from 
the attorney general's office at the expiration 
of the term of General Barlow, December 31, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1873. Russell yi. Johnston was afterwards 
admitted into this firm, and subsequently the 
Hon. Learned Hand. In 1902 Mr. Hun 
formed a new copartnership with his son-in- 
law, Lewis R. Parker, under the firm name of 
Hun & Parker, and to this firm, Thomas Hun, 
son of Marcus T. Hun, was subsequently, in 
1909, admitted as a member. 

Mr. Hun was appointed in January, 1874, 
by the governor, secretary of state and at- 
torney general, reporter of the supreme court, 
pursuant to chapter 99 of the laws of 1869, in 
the place of Abraham Lansing, resigned. Im- 
mediately on his appointment he prepared and 
submitted to the justices and presented to the 
legislature, a bill, by the provisions of which 
the power to appoint a reporter of that court 
was given to its justices. This bill was op- 
posed in the legislature and defeated, al- 
though apparently required by section 23 of 
article \T. of the constitution of the state. 
The next year (1875) the bill was again pre- 
sented to the legislature and passed, conferr- 
ing this power of appointment of its reporter 
upon the justices of the supreme court. In 
Alarch. 1874, ('not having been able to se- 
cure the passage of the bill presented by him 
to the legislature that year) Mr. Hun began 
the publication of the series of supreme court 
reports, seven volumes of which had been 
edited by his predecessor, Abraham Lansing. 
In June, 1875, he was appointed reporter of 
the supreme court by the justices of the sev- 
eral general terms of that court pursuant to 
the provisions of the law chapter 131, of the 
laws of 1875, the passage of which had been 
secured by him. At the end of consecutive 
terms of office of five years he was reap- 
pointed by the justices first of the general 
terms of the supreme court and subsequently 
by the justices of the appellate divisions of 
the supreme court, and continued the publica- 
tion of the reports until the fall of 1905, (pub- 
lishing in all 200 volumes of these reports) at 
which time, Mr. Hun declining a reappoint- 
ment, Jerome Pi. l-'isher was apjiointed re- 
porter in his place, at a convention of the 
justices, held at the city of Albany. October 
24, 1905. At this convention resolutions were 
adopted by the justices in reference to Mr. 
Hun's retirement, which are published in vol- 
mne 108 of the appellate division reports. 

In party politics Mr. Hun, while an earnest 
Abolitionist during the civil war, never took 
any active part. The conditions which at- 
tended party management were not acceptable 
to him. He was, however, always largely in- 
terested in public affairs and in procuring a 
decent and honest administration of them. 
The conditions which prevailed in the govern- 



ment of the city and county of Albany in the 
seventies were very scandalous, and with a 
view to the establishment of a better condi- 
tion of affairs a Citizens' Association was or- 
ganized by him, the executive committee of 
which was known as the committee of thir- 
teen. The creation of this Citizens" Associa- 
tion arose out of an action brought by him in 
February, 1878, to enjoin the payment by the 
city of Albany of a fraudulent claim presented 
against the city for alleged work done upon 
the building on the southwest corner of South 
Pearl and Howard streets in that city. In 
this litigation of Anthony Bleecker Banks, 
Erastus Corning, Henry H. Martin, J. How- 
ard King, Thomas W. Olcott, Franklin Town- 
send. John H. \*an Antwerp, Frederick 
Townsend, Charles B. Lansing and Matthew 
Hale against Nathan D. \A'endell and others, 
he was successful at the trial term and on the 
appeal to the general term of the supreme 
court, and prevented the payment of the claim 
by the city. The favorable outcome of this 
action gave encouragement to many of the cit- 
izens of Albany, some of whom had been 
plaintiffs in that action, to organize an associa- 
tion which prosecuted for a period of some 
ten years a ven,- earnest and arduous work 
of establishing a better system of administra- 
tion in Albany city and county. Indeed prior 
to that time it is hardly an exaggeration to 
say that there existed no system under which 
the taxpayers had any adequate redress for 
the wrongdoing of ]niblic officials. After ten 
years of very strenuous effort, the procuring 
of much remedial legislation, and the carry- 
ing on of much litigation, during which the 
public were kept advised of public conditions 
by annual reports made by the committee of 
thirteen, narrating the wrongdoings and their 
remedies, the city and county administration 
was effectively purified. These annual re- 
ports, co])ies of which can be found in the 
state library at Aliiany. are an interesting re- 
cital of what can be done by citizens, who 
hold no public office and have no political 
influence, by a persistent recital to the public 
of the evils of i>arty mismanagement. On 
May 30, 1885, I\Ir. Hun was presented with 
a service of silver by the citizens of .Mbany 
for his gratuitous services in this work. An 
account of the presentation appears in the Al- 
bany Et-rnini; Journal of that date. In the 
final outcome of this movement the political 
complexion of the city was changed by the 
permanent substitution of a Republican for a 
Democratic majority. The committee of thir- 
teen still (1910) retains its organization and 
exercises a supervision over the affairs of the 
city and county, and on occasions represents 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



a gathering point for tlie expression of public 
0])inion. 

This work in which Mr. Hun occupied the 
most prominent part was a signal service to 
the city in which he and his ancestors had 
resided for six generations. Mr. Hun was a 
director of the New York State National 
Bank for a quarter of a century, and a trustee 
of the Albany Trust Company for several 
years. In the fall of 1909 he was elected pres- 
ident of the .\lbany Savings Bank, of which 
institution he had been for many years a 
trustee. On his election to the presidency of 
the Albany Savings Bank, in view of the fact 
that that bank carried very large deposits of 
money in other financial institutions of the 
city, he thought it proper to resign his posi- 
tions in the State Bank and in the Albany 
Trust Company. Mr. Hun was originally a 
member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. 
When Dr. William C. Doane was elected bis- 
hop of Albany, he followed the bishop and 
became a member of the Cathedral of All 
Saints, in the chapter of which he succeeded 
his father, Thomas Hun, on the latter's retire- 
ment therefrom. 

Marcus T. Hun married, in Albany, New 
York. December 21, 1875, Mary Keith Van 
der Poel. born in Albany, November 26, 1854, 
daughter of Isaac \'an der Poel, son of James 
and Anna (Doll) \'an der Poel, born May 
7, 1821, died in Albany, December 28, 1868, 
and Susan (Foster) \'an der Poel, daughter 
of .\dams and ^lary (Keith) Foster, born 
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1832, 
died in Albany, October 11, 1907. Mrs. Hun's 
parents were married May 14, 1850. Chil- 
dren, born in Albany: i. Ellen Van der 
Poel, born February 25, 1877 ; married, Al- 
bany, October 18, 1902. Lewis Rathbone 
Parker, son of General Amasa Junius and 
Cornelia Kane (Strong) Parker, born in Al- 
bany, November 30, 1870: children: Lewis 
Rathbone Parker, born, Albany, October 19, 
1904, and Ellen Parker, born, Albany, May 
20, 1907. 2. Mary \"an der Poel, April 2, 
1882. 3. Thomas, 'October 28. 1883. 4. Su- 
san Van der Poel, April 29, 1888 ; married, 
Albany, February 20, 1909, Stephen Carlton 
Clark, son of Alfred Corning, and Elizabeth 
(Scriven) Clark, born at Cooperstown, Ot- 
sego county. New York, August 29, 1882; 
child, Elizabeth Scriven Clark, born at New 
York City, November 24, 1909. 5. Elsie Gan- 
sevoort, July 10, 1896. 

(IX) Leonard Gansevoort, son of Dr. 
Thomas (3) and Lyrlia Louisa (Reynolds) 
Hun, was born in Albany, New York. May 
10, 1848, died in Boston. Massachusetts, 
Alarch 11, 1891. His early education was re- 



ceived at the Albany Boys' Academy, which 
he entered in the fall of 1856, and from there 
went to Union College, but before completing 
the course left the college to enter the United 
State Military Academy at West Point. He 
made a brilliant record there, and was grad- 
uated second in the class of 1868. He excelled 
the leader in all studies excepting one, draw- 
ing, which reduced his average a single point 
below his competitor's standing. He was as- 
signed to duty at Fort Warren. After two 
years of military life, he resigned from the 
army to return to Albany, and entered the 
law office of Orlando Meads and Marcus T. 
Hun, his elder brother. After reading law 
there, he was admitted to the bar, and entered 
upon the joractice at No. 25 North Pearl 
street, the firm being known as I\L T. & L. G. 
Hun, Orlando Aleads, Esq., having retired 
from practice. His early life was passed 
among the best influences, and the intellectual 
tendencies which he inherited were assisted 
and enlarged by close application to books and 
by persistent, almost a relentless, determina- 
tion to master the subject in hand. The log- 
ical and mathematical character of his mind 
was entirely suited to a semi-exact science 
like the law, and at an early period in his 
legal career he had won high appreciation of 
his legal attainments. His practice was con- 
siderable although he was averse to the hurry 
and struggle of the trial courts. In the ap- 
pellate courts, however, he was very success- 
ful, and the large interests entrusted to his 
care proved the confidence reposed in his abil- 
ity. He was a man of high ambitions in his 
profession, and studied law as a science ; was 
familiar with international law, and gave up 
much time to the consideration of the Roman 
law. of which he gathered together a very 
considerable library. In politics, although a 
Republican in convictions, he reserved the 
right of independent judgment. His public 
interest centered chicflv in the improvement 
of the conduct of civil affairs, mainly along 
lines of honesty and economy. He was ap- 
pointed on the commission having charge of 
the erection of the new City Hall in 1881. 
He w-as much interested in charitable under- 
takings and devoted both time and money 
liberally, towards their advancement and sup- 
I)ort. He was attorney for the Watervliet 
Turnpike & Railway Company, the New York 
State National Bank, the Albany Savings 
Bank and the Albany Insurance Company ; 
was legal adviser of James Barclay Jermain 
and trustee for several large estates. He 
traveled extensively abroad ; was a lover of 
art, and a collector of fine Ixioks. He was a 
member of the Cathedral of All Saints. He 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



went to Boston, March 5, 1891, to seek bene- 
fit from medical specialists, and died suddenly 
on the nth, at Somerville, ^Massachusetts. He 
was buried in the Albany cemetery. 

(LX) Henry Hun, M.D., son of' Dr. Thom- 
as (3) and Lydia Louisa (Reynolds) Hun, 
was born in Albany, New York, March 21, 
1854. He entered the Albany Boys' Academy 
in the fall of 1865 and graduated from it in 
1870. He next attended the Sheffield Scien- 
tific School of Yale College, and graduated in 
1874, after which from the Haryard Medical 
College in 1879. He then spent two years 
studying medicine in Europe, after which he 
returned to Albany, where he has since prac- 
ticed the profession of medicine. He has been 
Professor of Diseases of the Neryous Sys- 
tem in the Albany Medical College since 1883, 
and has written many papers and pamphlets 
on medical subjects. He is president of the 
board of trustees of the Albany Academy. 
Henry Hun married, Albany, April 28, 1892, 
Lydia Marcia, daughter of Hon. Samuel and 
Lydia Coit (Learned) Hand, born Albany, 
February i, 1864. Children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hun. born in Albany: i. Henry Hand, No- 
vember 18, 1893. 2. Katrina de Wandelaer, 
January 26, 1895, died. Albany, February 14, 
1895. '3. Lydia Marcia, March 8, 1897. 4. 
Samuel, February 20, 1900. 



The family name of 
\'AN VECHTEN Van Vechten is de- 
rived from the Dutch, 
signifying that those who bore that name and 
were met on their journeyings or located in 
other places than on the original estate, came 
"from the Vechet" river in Holland. Three 
centuries ago, or about 1600, the Van Vech- 
tens resided in Vechten, province of Utrecht, 
Holland. For a century and a half prior to the 
American revolution the name was also very 
commonly spelled Van \'eghten. and this 
form may be seen signed on hundreds of the 
revolutionary records in the state of New 
York, and on any numl>er of private docu- 
ments, wills, deeds and family Bible records. 
Van Vechten arms : Shield : Sable, a fesse 
battled counter, embattled and cotised argent. 
Crest: Issuing out of a ducal coronet a pair 
of eagle's wings erect : dexter wing sable : sin- 
ister, argent. It was borne by Tennis Dirck- 
sen Van Vechten, of Vechten, province of 
Utrecht, Holland, prior to 1638. The fesse 
crossing the shield signifies a military belt of 
honor conferred by the monarch for some es- 
pecial deed of valor, and the battlements show 
it to have been given in defence of an attack 
on a fortress of great strength. 

( I ) The progenitor of the \'an Vechten 



family in America was Teunis Dircksen Van 
\'echten, son of Dirck Van V^echten, of Ut- 
recht, who came to this country in 1638 from 
Holland in the ship called "The Arms of 
Norway." He brought with him his wife, 
child and t\yo servants, and located on the 
bank of the Hudson river opposite Albany, 
but a little south of the city proper, where he 
proceeded to engage in farming. It is re- 
corded that he succeeded to the farm of 
Michael Jansen in 1646, and 1648 found him 
located at the southern end of Greenbush, 
changed later to Rensselaer, New York. In 
1663 he is chronicled as one of the "old in- 
habitants." He was sometimes styled "Poen- 
tie." Their children (living in 1700) were: 
I. Dirck Theunise, see forward. 2. Cornelis 
Theunise. married (first) Sara Salomense 
Goewey, in 1668; married (second) Annatje 
Leendertse; married (third) Maria Lucase 
Claase, widow, July 3, 1689. 3. Gerrit Theu- 
nise, married (first) Antje Janse ; married 
(second) Greetje Volckert, daughter of 
Volckert Jans Douw. 4. Pietertje, married 
Myndert Frederickse \'an Yveren, in 1663. 

(II) Dirck Teunis (or Theunise), son of 
Teunis Dircksen Van Vechten, purchased Oc- 
tober 20, 1 68 1, from Stephen \'an Cortland 
"a certain tract of land in Catskill, in the 
county of Albany, which was afterwards con- 
firmed by a patent under the hand and seal of 
His Excellency, Thomas Dongan. State Gov- 
ernor of New York, bearing date the 21st day 
of March, Anno Domini. 1686." It was made 
over to his sons, Samuel and Johannes Van 
\'echten. following the parent's death, by 
their brothers, Michael and Abraham, by deed 
bearing date March 30, 1715. and Johannes 
made his share over to .Samuel, August 9, 
1721, thus Samuel acquired the property and 
was able to leave it by will to his nephew, 
Teunis, Dirck Teunis Van Vechten died No- 
vember 25, 1702. His will was made April 
4, 1687, and proved March 30. 1703. He 
married Jannetje, daughter of Michiel Jan- 
sen and Fytje (Hartman) Vrelant, of Com- 
munipaw. New Jersey. Children: i. Jan- 
netje, born September 25, 1660. 2. Wyntje, 
January 17, 1662: married Philip Leendertse 
Conyn, of Coxsackie. 3. Michiel, November 
28, 1663; married (first) Marytje Parker, 
November 21, 1686; married (second) Jan- 
netje Du Mont, April 2, 1691. 4. Neeltje, 
March 24, 1665. 5. Johannes, June 24, 1666, 
died single, June i, 1735. 6. Teunis, May 24, 
1668, see forward. 7. Antje. May 4, 1670. 8. 
Fytje. December 6, 1671 ; married. May 23, 
1697, William Janse Caspersc Halenbeck. of 
Coxsackie, New York. 9. Samuel, April 12, 
1673. died single, March 30, 1741. 10. .Saat- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



203 



je (Sara), January 8, 1675. 11. Abraham, 
April 14, 1679, died single before October 
16. 1739. 

( III ) Tennis, son of Dirck Teunis and Jan- 
netje (Vrelant) V'an V'echten, was born Alay 
24, 1668, (lied in 1707. He married, Novem- 
ber 2S. 1^194. Cathlyntje (Caatje), daughter 
• of Claas Frederickse \'an Petten, of Schenec- 
tady. New York. Children: i. Dirck, born 
Septeniljer 12. 1695 ; married, in Kingston, 
Helena Seulant (or Suybrant), December 26, 
1722; died in 1782. 2. Eve. baptized in Al- 
bany, Alay 12. 1700: married Johannes Suy- 
lant. 3. Jannetje, baptized in Schenectady, 
May 24, 1702. 4. Maria, baptized in Albany, 
June 4, 1704. 5. Teunis, born April i. 1707, 
see forward. 

(I\' 1 Teunis (2). son of Teunis (i) and 
Cathlyntje (Caatje) (Van Petten) Van \'ech- 
ten of Schenectady, was born April i, 1707. 
died April 3, 1785. He lived in Catskill, 
Greene county. New York. He married, Jan- 
uary 9, 1742, in Kingston, New York, Judik- 
je, daughter of Jacob Ten Broeck, of that 
•place. Children: i. Samuel, born Septem- 
ber 28. 1742: married Sara Van Orden in 
1781 : died February 12. 181 3. 2. Jacob, born 
September 18, 1747; married Elsie Staats, 
January 21, 1787; died, without issue, April 
30, 1806. 3. Teunis Teunissen. born April 
24. 1749. see forward. 4. Elizabeth, born Oc- 
tober 6. 1757: married Hezekiah \'an Orden, 
June 2 (or 9). 1782; died February 17. 1813. 
5. Abraham, born December 5, 1762, see for- 
ward. 

(\") Teunis Teunissen, son of Teunis (2) 
and Judikje (Ten Broeck) Van Vechten, was 
born April 24, 1749. He was a prominent 
merchant of .Klbany. with his store in 1805 
located on the west corner of Broadway and 
Maiden Lane. He held the office of commis- 
sary on the staff of Governor Morgan Lewis 
during the revolution. He was one of the 
foremost citizens, and died in .Mbany, Decem- 
ber 7, 181 7. He married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Pieter and his second wife, Anna (Bogar- 
dus ) (\^an \'echten) De Wandelaer. Chil- 
dren: I. Judith, born October 30. 1777: mar- 
ried George Pearson. December 12, 1808. 2. 
Peter, July 10. 1780; died June 3, 1795. 3. 
Annatje. November 7. 1782, died Mav 31, 
1817. 4. Teunis, November 4, 1785, see for- 
ward. 5. John, March 23. 1788. 

(\') .Abraham, son of Teunis (2) and Ju- 
dikje (Ten Broeck) \'an Vechten, was born 
December 5. 1762. He was a man of con- 
siderable renown throughout New York state, 
adding a lustre to the family name throughout 
a century, and spoken of to this day in terms 
■of highest respect. He married, May 20, 



1784, Catharina, daughter of Philip Pieterse 
Schuyler, by whom he had fifteen children, 
and died in Albany, January 6, 1837. Of his 
character and attainments, Joel Munsell spoke 
in an unimpassioned estimate as follows : 
"This distinguished lawyer and statesman 
was the youngest son of Teunis Van V^echten 
and Judith (Judikje) Ten Broeck. Few men 
have been called to so extensive a sphere of 
usefulness and filled it so long and well as 
Abraham \'an \'echten. }Te entered upon the 
scenes of active lifeishortly after the revolu- 
tionary war. He received his elementary edu- 
cation at a public school in Esopus, which has 
been the nursery of many of our distinguished 
men. He pursued his professional studies un- 
der the direction of the late Chancellor Lan- 
sing, and began the practice of law in the 
county of Montgomery, but was soon invited 
to occupy a more e.xtensive field in the cit}' of 
Albany. The high places of the bar were then 
filled by a gifted race of advocates. Among 
them were Hamilton, Harrison, Burr, Jones 
and Livingston. But the brilliancy of the bar 
could not cast young Van \'echten in the 
shade. He soon ranked among his illustrious 
seniors as an equal, and a competitor for the 
highest professional eminence. Untiring in 
his efforts, the powers of his highly-gifted 
mind were continually developed and ex- 
panded. His intellect was formed to grapple 
with the most abstruse and difficult of judicial 
investigations, and he early inured himself to 
the most intense application of mental indus- 
try. In acuteness and the ready comprehen- 
sion of any subject presented for his investi- 
gation, he had few equals, and nature seemed 
to have furnished him with powers eminently 
adapted to the illustration of legal principles. 
He made no display of legal lore, his learning 
seemed to be incorporated with his thoughts. 
What he had once read was well digested 
and remained every ready for application. .A. 
large portion of his life was spent in the dis- 
cussion of legal questions in our highest tri- 
bunals of law and equity ; there he was al- 
ways listened to with profound attention by 
our most eminent judges. His arguments 
were calculated to elucidate and instruct, and 
greatly to aid the tribunals to which they were 
addressed, in forming correct conclusions. His 
style was remarkable for purity, perspicuity 
and strength. His train of thought was unim- 
passioned. yet earnest and forcible. His tal- 
ents were too conspicuous to allow him to con- 
fine his efforts to the bar. He was repeatedly 
chosen to represent his fellow citizens in both 
branches of the legislature. The senate cham- 
ber was the theatre of some of his brightest 
intellectual eft"orts. .As a member of the court 



204 



HUDSON AND I\IOHAWK \"ALLEYS 



for the correction of errors, he has left be- 
hind him enduring monuments of his legal 
wisdom. For a number of years he filled the 
office of attorney-general with distinguished 
ability. At an early period of his life a seat 
on the bench of the supreme court was of- 
fered to him bv Governor John Jay ; a similar 
oflfer was made to him at a later period. He 
declined these protfered honors, preferring 
the labors of the bar as more congenial to 
his habits and feelings. The causes in our 
books of reports, in whj^h he took part as 
counsel, numerous as they are. give but faint 
idea of the amount of professional labor per- 
formed by him. For more than half a century 
his brilliant mind was constantly shedding its 
light over the jurisprudence of the state. The 
bar had long delighted to accord him the high- 
est honors it could bestow. To the younger 
members of the profession he had greatly en- 
deared himself by his kindness and courteous 
manners, and by all he was venerated as an 
illustrious model of professional excellence. 
In his daily consultations with his clients he 
was emphatically a peacemaker. It was his 
constant habit to devise the settlement of dis- 
putes whenever it was practicable. He al- 
lowed no sordid motives to influence his ad- 
vice, nor to bias his mind in giving his opin- 
ions." He was recorder of the city of Al- 
bany from 1/97 to 1808: state senator from 
1798 to 1805, and from 1816 to 1820: mem- 
ber of assembly from 1805 to 1815; attorney- 
general of the state for the year 1810. and 
was again appointed in 181 3. and served two 
years, and was a member of the constitutional 
convention of 1821. His character as a citi- 
zen in the private walks of life afforded a 
model to the younger generation. He con- 
stantly displayed in his daily intercourse with 
his neighbors and acquaintances the most am- 
iable social qualities which adorn the human 
heart, and his home life was along the same 
lines. He married. May 20, 1784, Catharina 
Schuyler: died January 6, 1837. 

(\'I) Teunis (3), son of Tennis T. and 
Elizabeth ( De Wandelaer) \'an \'echten, was 
born in Albanj', November 4, 1785. He grad- 
uated with high honors at Union College, and 
immediately thereafter took up the study of 
law, entering the office of Chancellor John 
Lansing. Jr.. also prosecuting his professional 
studies under Recorder Baldwin, John Davis, 
Daniel Cady and Charles M. Jenkins. On the 
death of his illustrious uncle, Hon. .\braham 
^'an Vechten, he became the attorney and ad- 
viser of General Stephen \'an Rensselaer, the 
patroon, undertaking the arduous duties of 
settling the manorial controversies which were 
so stolidly defended that they resulted in the 



famous anti-rent feuds, necessitating the sum- 
moning of various companies of state militias 
from up and down the river to quell the dis- 
turbances in the Helderbergs. His reputation' 
was that of a sound, discriminating lawyer, a. 
man abundantly qualified to make his own 
mark aside from the brilliant reputation of his- 
uncle. He was typical of the best character- 
istics of his Holland ancestry, of scrupulous 
integrity, industry and economy, and none the 
less looked up to as one of the city's fore- 
most philanthropists, in his home all devotion 
as the head of a large family. Not only was 
Teunis \'an \'echten proud of Albany and 
ever deeply concerned in its advancement, but 
the city was proud of him as a citizen, and' 
so bestowed on him its greatest honors, eleva- 
ting him by the steps of supervisor and alder- 
man to be the chief executive. Four times 
he was chosen mayor. The first three terms 
he was elected by the common council, as was 
the method of procedure when securing a 
mayor in those days, and the fourth time by 
a vote of the people. His first term began 
May 15, 1837; the second, Januan,- i, 1838 — 
December 31, 1838; the third, January i, 
1839 — January 21, 1839, when he resigned; 
the fourth term. }ilay 11, 1841 — May 9, 1842. 
In the municipal election of April 13. 1841. 
he ran against Gerrit Yates Lansing, and 
his vote was 2.449. against 2.339 for his op- 
ponent. He was for many years associated 
with the large moneyed institutions as direc- 
tor, and with both charitable and religious 
societies as trustee. His residence was at No. 
15 Montgomery street, when that was the 
court part of the city ; but later at No. 725 
Broadway, where he died February 4. 1859, 
and was buried in the Albany Rural ceme- 
tery. 

Hon. Teunis Van \'echten married. Decem- 
ber 4, 1810. Catharine Cuyler, daughter of 
Hon. Leonard Gansevoort. She died in Al- 
bany, December 1. 1831. aged within two 
weeks of being seventy-eight years old. Chil- 
dren: I. Elizabeth Ames, born February 20, 
1812. died .August 18, 1812. 2. Leonard 
Gansevoort. July 9. 1813, died July 24. 1837. 
3. Hester Elizabeth, June 8, 1815; married, 
June 28. 1838, Dr. John H. Trotter. 4. Sam- 
uel, June 22, 1817. 5. Teunis. May 18. 1819, 
see forward. 6. John Beeckman. February 
10. 1822. died -April 16. 1822. 7. Cuyler, 
February 2, 1823, died November 6, 1825. 8. 
John, June 2~. 1824. died November 8, 1825. 
9. Catharine Cuyler. June 8. 1826 : married 
Elisha P. Hurlbut. 10. Cuyler. January 31, 
1830; married Hannah R. Hammond: died 
July ir. 1875. 

(\TI) Teunis (4). son of Teunis (3) and 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \^\LLEYS 



205 



Catltarine Cuyler (Gansevoort) \^-in \'ecliten, 
was born in Albany, May 18, 1819. He was 
educated at the Albany Boys' Academy, and 
when a young man was connected with the 
large hardware firm of Pruyn & Vosburgh, 
and later entered a lumber office expecting 
to make it his business, but he lived mostly 
as a man of means because his father had 
discouraged him on those lines in which he 
was most interested himself, and he did not 
take kindly to those alTairs which most con- 
cerned his father. He attended the Dutch 
church originally, but following a difference, 
left it, and his children grew up as Episco- 
palians. 

He was a Republican, and although he was 
somewhat interested in politics never held any 
office. He was captain of Company B, W'ash- 
ington Continentals, which command received 
his best attention, and it was while marching 
with his men in parade that he contracted the 
sickness resulting in liis death. This oc- 
curred on January 14, 1859, at his handsome 
residence. No. 725 Broadway, Albany. He 
married, Albany, July 20, 1838, Margaret 
Trotter, daughter of William and Margaret 
(Trotter) Lush. She died at Albany, No- 
vember, 1902. Children: i. Margaret Trot- 
ter, born July 20, 1839 ; married Thaddeus 
W. P. Kendrick; died June 6, 1877; children: 
Teunis \'an \'echten, born August, 1859; 
Margaret, born in 1865, died in 1865. 2. 
Catharine Elizabeth, September i, 1842; mar- 
ried, October 18, 1864, James Ten Eyck; 
died May 2;^, 1865. 3. Anna Lush, Albany, 
February 18, 1845, see forward. 

(\Tn) Anna Lush, daughter of Teunis 
(4) and Margaret Trotter (Lush) Van 
\'echten, was born in Albany, February 18, 

1845- 

She was educated at the Albany Fe- 
male Academy. For many years she resided 
at No. 2 Lodge street with her mother, but 
in 1903 removed to No. 22 Elk street, the 
Young Woman's Christian Association, de- 
siring the location as part of the site for its 
new building. Unlike many another house 
whose beautiful furnishings are of the long 
ago, her home contains those things which 
have come down from generation to genera- 
tion in her own family, and it is a treat to be 
permitted to sit in her parlor or dining-room, 
surrounded by these treasures in silver and 
carved woodwork. Miss Van \'echten takes 
a deep and close interest in a number of chari- 
table works. She is an attendant of St. Pe- 
ter's Episcopal Church and a manager on the 
boards of St. Margaret's House for Children, 
Home for Incurables, Home for Aged and St. 
Peter's Church Guild House. 



The name of Ward signifies a 
W.VRD kec]jer, one who is a guardian or 

a defender. The Ward family 
settled in \'irginia in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and Samuel Ward, born August 27, 
1724, emigrated from that state about the 
middle of the eighteenth century to settle in 
Morris Plains, in the vicinity of Morristown, 
New Jersey, where he died April 15, 1799. 
Left an orphan in his boyhood, he had been 
reared by an older brother on one of the 
frontier settlements on a southern branch of 
the Potomac river. Governor Gooch's offer 
of free farms in the rich meadow lands of this 
valley, coupled with the guarantee of religious 
toleration, had, about the year 1735, attracted 
thither a great number of immigrants from 
the colonies of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
as well as from Europe. These colonists not 
having taken the precaution to secure titles 
to their farms in the proper form, subse- 
quently found themselves obliged to choose 
between vacating them or else remaining sub- 
ject to the most onerous terms as the tenants 
of Lord Fairfax. This nobleman, an early 
patron of Washington, emigrating to Vir- 
ginia after these settlements had been made 
in good faith, was enabled, by a peculiar con- 
struction of the terms of the Culpepper grant 
which he inherited, to include these farms 
within the boundaries of one of his great 
manors. The survey for this purpose was 
made by Washington in 1748. Following it 
there was a general exodus of the original 
settlers who deeply resented what they con- 
sidered most unworthy treatment. Samuel 
Ward married Mary Shipman and they had a 
son, born in 1767, whom they named Silas, 
see forward. 

(H) Silas, son of Samuel and Mary (Ship- 
man) Ward, was born in Morris county, New 
Jersey, in 1767, died in 1862. He married 
Phoebe, daughter of Daniel Dod, who was a 
descendant of Daniel Dod, an early settler of 
Bradford, Connecticut, about the year 1646. 
The Dod family has long been noted for its 
mathematical and mechanical ability. Daniel 
Dod was the first man to make mathematical 
instruments in this country, and Dr. Samuel 
B. Ward has in his possession a clock made 
by Mr. Dod in 1813, which is still running 
and keeping the best of time. Albert Dod, 
son of Daniel Dod, was professor of mathe- 
matics at Princeton College. It was Daniel 
Dod who established himself in Elizabeth- 
town, New Jersey, and erected shops for the 
construction of steamboat machinery, and in 
1818 fitted out the "Savannah," which was the 
first vessel to cross the Atlantic under steam 
power. New Jersey was closely identified 



206 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



with the early progress of steam navigation, 
and her legislature had been the first to en- 
courage Fitch, a former resident, who in 
1787 constructed the first practical steam- 
boat, demonstrated on the Delaware river. 
Stevens, of Hoboken. was working along simi- 
lar lines at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, and Robert Fulton had his workshop 
in Jersey City when constructing his "Cler- 
mont," which demonstrated in 1807 the prac- 
ticability of steamboating. It was in conse- 
quence of these interests centering in that lo- 
cality that Dod, reinforced by his scientific 
knowledge and mechanical skill, was called 
upon to supply machinery for these earliest of 
steamboats, and shortly won an exceedingly 
wide reputation. His works were soon the 
chief ones in the entire country. Children : 
John D., born January 6, 1795. died May 19, 
1873; Lebbeus Baldwin, April 7, 1801. see 
forward ; Shipman, twin of Lebbeus B. ; Sam- 
uel S. ; Caroline ; Phoebe ; Nancy. 

(HI) Lebbeus Baldwin, son of Silas and 
Phoebe (Dod) Ward, was born April 7, 1801, 
died in New York City, June 15, 1885. He 
received a practical education and was a man 
of studious habits, of trustworthy judgment 
and of unusual mechanical ability. It was 
he who erected the celebrated Hammersley 
Forge in New York and thereby won a wide 
reputation as a builder of engines, later as a 
manufacturer of heavy wrought iron forgings. 
He was one of the early commissioners of the 
Metropolitan board of police, a member of 
assembly in 1851, and his brother, John D., 
served as chairman of the commission ap- 
pointed by the municipality of New York to 
construct the Croton Aqueduct and the High 
Bridge. In conjunction with his two brothers, 
John D. and Samuel S., he built the first 
steamboat and the first railroad ever operated 
in Canada, their firm conducting an exten- 
sive business in Montreal from 1820 to 1838. 
Lebbeus B. Ward married three times, his first 
wife being a Miss Dickinson, whom he mar- 
ried in 1828; his second wife was Abby 
Dwight Partridge, whom he married in 1838, 
born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, the daughter 
of a noted clergyman descended from Pil- 
grim stock; and his third wife was Elizabeth 
Starr, whom he married in 1848. Children 
of second wife : Dr. Samuel Baldwin, born 
June 8, 1842, see forward; Willard Partridge, 
October 12, 1845. 

(IV) Dr. Samuel Baldwin, son of Lebbeus 
Baldwin and Abby Dwight (Partridge) 
Ward, was born in the city of New York, 
June 8, 1842. He received his early educa- 
tion at private schools, and at the age of fif- 
teen he matriculated at Columbia College, 



graduating from that institution in 1861 witb 
third honors. He then entered the oftice of 
the celebrated surgeon. Dr. Willard Parker,, 
and in 1861-62 attended the course of lec- 
tures at the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons in New York. He entered the United 
States service in 1862, and became acting 
medical cadet in the L'nited States army. In. 
1864 the medical department of the George- 
town University conferred upon him the de- 
gree of M.D. In 1863 Dr. Ward became 
acting assistant surgeon. United States army, 
and shortly afterward President Lincoln com- 
missioned him an assistant surgeon of L'nited 
States Volunteers. Following the termination, 
of the civil war, he went to Europe, there tO' 
pursue his studies in medicine and surgery 
for a year in some of the largest hospitals 
of the Continent. On his returning from 
Europe, he was made professor of anatomy 
and surgery at the Women's Medical College- 
of the New York Infirmary. He also became- 
attending surgeon of the Northern Dispensary, 
consulting surgeon of the Dispensary and 
New York Infirmary for Women and Chil- 
dren, visiting surgeon of the Presbyterian Hos- 
pital in New York City, and in 1872 was 
'commissioned assistant surgeon of the Seventh. 
Regiment, National Guard, State of New 
York, with the rank of captain, and was bri- 
gade surgeon of the Ninth Brigade, National 
Guard, State of New York. Dr. Ward re- 
moved to Albany in 1876, where he has since 
resided, winning further honors in his pro- 
fession. At this time he was chosen pro- 
fessor of surgical pathology and operative 
surgery in the Albany Medical College, and 
later professor of theory and practice of medi- 
cine at that institution, which position he con- 
inues to hold. He also becanie the attending 
surgeon at both the Albany and St. Peter's 
hosi)itals, the leading institutions of the city. 
He allied himself with a great number of 
prominent organizations, such as the Asso- 
ciation of American Physicians : the Albany 
County Medical Society, of which he was 
made president ; a permanent member of the 
New York State Medical Society, of which 
he was elected its president ; a trustee and 
president of the Dudley Observatory of Al- 
bany; a trustee of the Albany Female Acad- 
emy; ex-president of the New York State 
Board of Survey ; member and ex-president of 
the Fort Orange Club ; member and ex-presi- 
dent of the Albany Camera Club, and mem- 
ber of the Albany Country Club, Century As- 
sociation of New York City, University Club 
of New York City and the Lo\-al Legion, as 
well as a number of social and scientific or- 
ganizations. Dr. Ward is secretary and treas- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



207 



urer of the executive committee of New 
York State Normal College at Albany; 
member of the board of governors 
of Union University ; member of the board 
of governors of Albany Hospital ; former 
president of the medical examining board of 
the civil service commissioners of the state 
of New York. The University of Columbia 
conferred on him the degree of A.M. in 1864, 
and L'nion L'niversity that of Ph.D. in 1882. 
To the leading journals of the country he 
has contributed a number of valuable articles 
on medicine and surgery, and being recog- 
nized as an authority on specific subjects con- 
nected with his profession, has repeatedly been 
called upon to lecture before large bodies. 
He attends St. Peter's Church, Albany. 

Dr. Ward married Nina, daughter of Wil- 
liam A. Wheeler, of New York, October 10, 
1 87 1, who died October 19, 1883, by whom 
he had three children, and April 29, 1897, 
married Grace Fitz-Randolph Schenck, daugh- 
ter of Rev. Noah Schenck, of Brooklyn, New 
York, born December 23, 1857. Children: 
Nina, born January 18, 1874: Annie Wheeler, 
September 29, 1875; married Henry M. Sage; 
Samuel Dwight, April 15, 1880, a graduate 
of Yale, class of 1903; married, June, 1909, 
Edna Brady, of Brooklyn, New York. 

(V) Annie Wheeler, daughter of Dr. Sam- 
uel B. and Nina (Wheeler) Ward, was born 
in New York City, September 29, 1875. She 
married Henry Manning Sage, of Albany, Oc- 
tober 29, 1895. Children: Anne Erskine, born 
January 27, 1897; Katherine Linn, June 25, 
1898. 



From entries made in 
A'AN GAASBEEK the family Bible of 

Dominie Laurentius 
\'an Gaasbeek, extracts of which are still 
preserved, it is learned that his parents were 
Goevert and Jacomyntje \'an Gaasbeek, pre- 
sumably residents of Leyden. Holland. From 
the same record it is learned that they had 
at least three children : Dominie Laurentius, 
Cornelius and Cornelia. 

(H) Among the first of the Dutch clergy 
educated in the universities of Holland and 
sent to this country by the classis of Am- 
sterdam, was Dominie Laurentius Van Gaas- 
beek. He was born in Holland and died in 
the city of New York, February, 1680. He 
was the first to arrive in America, and was 
progenitor of all who bear his name in this 
country. From his diploma, secured from the 
University of Leyden, it appears that he was 
graduated from that university wath honors, 
May 25, 1674, receiving the degree of M.D. 
He married. May 28, 1673, Laurentia Van de 



Kellemaar (died ]\lay 3, 1703), sister of Sarah 
Van de Kellemaar, who married Dominie Jo- 
hannes Wieckstein, the third pastor of the 
Dutch church at Kingston, New York. After 
having been without a regular pastor for 
about ten years, the consistory of the Dutch 
church at Kingston, Hurley and Marbletown 
made a request to the classis of Amsterdam 
for a pastor to be sent out to them by that 
body. (The original call in the Dutch lan- 
guage with the signatures of the consistory 
was brought back to this country by Dominie 
\'an Gaasbeek, as part of his credentials, and 
is still preserved). In response to this call. 
Dominie Laurentius Van Gaasbeek, duly ac- 
credited by the classis of Amsterdam, sailed 
for New Amsterdam, May 13, 1678, arriving 
there August 21 of that year. He departed 
for the town of Kingston, in Ulster county, 
New York, where he arrived with his family 
on September 8, 1678, and delivered his first 
sermon on the 15th of the same month. In 
consequence of the protracted vacancy in the 
pastorate, the church had become somewhat 
weakened and scattered. Dominie Van Gaas- 
beek at once set to work with vigor to re- 
cover some of the ground lost in the previ- 
ous eleven years. He was zealous in the 
work of the church, and faithful in the dis- 
charge of his duties. In one year he in- 
creased the membership to one hundred and 
eighty. During his pastorate a new and 
substantial stone church, forty-five by sixty 
feet, was erected on the northeast corner of 
Wall and Main streets. It was built in the 
Holland style, with highly-colored painted 
window glass bearing the coat-of-arms of 
William, Prince of Orange. The new edifice 
was completed and dedicated about January 
I, 1680. Dominie \'an Gaasbeek did not live 
long to enjoy and preach in the new and 
commodious church, as his career was cut 
short by death in February, 1680. He was 
taken sick with a fever, and for medical treat- 
ment went to New York, where he died. 
Dominie \'an Gaasbeek was a man of culture 
and refinement, having been educated both as 
a physician and clergyman, and was familiarly 
called the "Dominie Doctor." 

He was' a member of the first ecclesiastical 
body of the Dutch church in America. la- 
the year 1679 Governor Andros authorized 
and directed the Dutch clergy to form a 
classis, and ordain Peter Tesschemacker. then 
a candidate for the ministry. Accordingly 
Dominie \'an Nienivenhuysen, Schaats, Van 

Gaasbeek and Van Z formed a classis 

and examined and ordained Tesschemacker to 
the university. The proceedings of this clas- 
sis, convened at the call of an Episcopal gov- 



208 



HUDSON AND ]MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



grnor, were afterwards confirmed by the 
plassis of Amsterdam. 

The widow of Dominie Van Gaasbeek, 
Laurentia (Kellemaar) Van Gaasbeek, mar- 
ried (second), 1681, Major Thomas Cham- 
bers, Lord of thg Manor of Foxhall, who de- 
parted this Hfe April 8, 1694, leaving his 
' property to the children of the dominie, and 
devising his manor to the dominie's only son, 
upon the condition of his assuming the sur- 
name of Chambers. Laurentia married 
(third), September 26, 1695, Wessel Ten 
Broeck, Sr. The three children of the domi- 
pie were as follows: i. Jacomyntje, born No- 
vember 26, 1673, at Leyden, Holland, died 
January 29, 1741 ; married, June 6, 1694, 
Wessel Ten Broeck, Jr. 2. JMaria, December 

10, 1674, at Leyden, Holland, married, 1693, 
Francis Salisbury. 3. Abraham, see forward. 

(HI) Abraham, known as Abraham Gaas- 
beek Chambers, son of Dominie Laurentius 
and Laurentia (Kellemaar) Van Gaasbeek, 
was born December, 1679, died September 28, 
1759, buried in the Foxhall family vault at 
the Strand (Rondout), Kingston. New York. 
He married, August 26, 1703, at New York, 
Sarah Bayard, baptized [March 11, 1683, died 
November 13, 1739, daughter of Peter and 
•Blandina (Kiersted) Bayard. Abraham as- 
sumed the surname of his stepfather. Major 
Thomas Chambers, and inherited the lordship 
^nd manor of Foxhall. When Abraham 
^Gaasbeek Chambers became lord of the manor 
of Foxhall, in 1700, vested with all its privi- 
leges and estates, he became the richest and 
one of the most influential men in the Esopus. 
His children: i. Laurentius, born July 11, 
1704, died October 15. 1705. 2. Blandina, 
November 16, 1705, died August 7, 1784; 
married, December 15, 1727, Wessel Ten 
Broeck. 3. Thomas, March 23, 1707, see 
forward. 4. Anna Maria, baptized October 20, 
1708, died May 10, 1761 ; married, January 
12, 1735, Lawrence Salisbury. 5. Lawrence, 
born March 4, 1710, died August 16, 1785. 

6. Peter, July 21. 171 2, died (October 17, 1731. 

7. Abraham, October 21, 1714, died Decem- 
ber 31, 1715. 8. Sarah, April 30, 1716, mar- 
ried, August 26, 1744, Abraham Delamater, 
Jr. 9. Abraham. December 3, 17 18, married, 
June I, 1 75 1, Sarah Ten Broeck. 10. Cathe- 

"rine, December 3. 1718, died March 28. 1785; 
married, January 6. 1738, Anthony Hoffman. 

11. John, December 26, 1720, died September 

8. 1759; married, August i6, 1746, Antje 
Louw. 12. William, January 10, 1723, died 
November 6, 1792; married, December 7, 
1750, Catharine Delamater. 13. Elizabeth, 
August 21, 1725, died March 26, 1734. 

(IV) Thomas Van Gaasbeek, son of Abra- 



ham Gaasbeek and Sarah (Bayard) Cham- 
bers, was born March 23, 1707, died 1755. 
He married. December 22, 1732, Margaret El- 
mendorf, baptized October 24, 1708, died Feb- 
ruary 3, 1788, daughter of Jacobus and Antje 
( Cool ) Elmendorf. Thomas was the eldest 
and probably the most esteemed son, and heir- 
apparent to the manor of Foxhall. In 1750 
his father deeded to him large portions of 
the manor. One deed bearing date of De- 
cember 3, 1750, is in consideration of two 
thousand pounds. Another, dated April 3, 
1752, is in consideration "of the natural love 
and affection and for the advancement of 
the said Thomas." In 1738 he was cornet 
in the company of troopers imder command 
of Captain John Ten Broeck. He died in 
1752 and was buried in the Foxhall family 
vault at the Strand (Rondout), which stood 
where the present residence of Janson Has- 
brouck now stands. Children: i. Thomas, 
baptized September 9, 1733, died in infancy. 
2. Jacobus, born February 27, 1737, see for- 
ward. 3. Sarah, baptized December 4, 1743, 
died September 6, 1795: married Philip Whit- 
taker. 4. Antje, baptized January 11, 1747, 
married. August 10, 1783, Tobias \^an Steen- 
burg. 5. Abraham, January 14, 1750, died 
1750. 6. Elizabeth, March 4, 1753, married, 
February 5. 1781, Jacob Marius Groen. 

(V) jacobus, son of Thomas and Margaret 
(Elmendorf) Van Gaasbeek, was baptized 
February 27, 1737. died January 2t,. 1825. 
He married, November 5, 1760, Deborah Kier- 
sted, born July 4, 1745, died September 19, 
1836, daughter of Christopher and Catharine 
(De Meyer) Kiersted. Children: i. Catha- 
rine, born April 20, 1768. died August 15, 
1854. 2. Margaret, December 13, 1769, died 
1828. 3. Thomas Chambers. August 29, 1772, 
died August 15, 1857; married, November 10, 
1 79 1, Alargaret Folant. 4. Ariaantje, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1775, died August 14. 1852: mar- 
ried, February 14, 1799, William Swart. 5. 
Christopher, August 6, 1777, died December 
20, 1864; married. April 24, 1800, Catherine 
Osterhout. 6. Jacobus, February 2, 1780; see 
forward. 7. Peter, December 16, 1782, died 
December 16, 1870; married, December 11, 
1810, Catherine Chipp. 8. William, August 
14, 1786, died August 14, 1786. 9. Abraham, 
January 21, 1788, died Deceiuber 21, 1854; 
married, July 9, 1811, Catharine Beekman. 

(\I) Dr. Jacobus, or James, \'an Gaas- 
beek, son of Jacobus and Deborah (Kiersted) 
Van Gaasbeek, was born P^ebruary 2. 1780, in 
Kingston, Ulster county. New "S'ork, died 
April 14, 1863. He was a prominent physi- 
cian in Middleburg, Schoharie county. New 
\'ork, where he practiced medicine for many 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



209 



years. He was long connected with the Re- 
formed church of that town, as an active mem- 
her and elder. He married (first), October i, 
1809, Helen Boyd, born at Middleburg, New 
York, died ■March 21, 1823. daughter of Alex- 
ander and Elizabeth (Becker) Boyd. He 
married (second) Susan Parsons Sanderson, 
born March 20. 1789, died September 12, 
1869, daughter of David and Hannah (Par- 
sons) Sanderson. Children of first wife: i. 
Eliza C, born August 4, 181 1, married, 1836, 
Elijah Parsons; children: Deborah, John, 
Elijah, Eliza and Edwin. 2. Deborah, 
September 14, 1812; unmarried. 3. Mar- 
garet, August 4. 1814; married, 1840, Is- 
rael Larkin ; children : i. Mary Helen, 
born September 15, 1841 ; ii. Susan, 
October 11, 1842; iii. John G., August 29, 
1844; iv. Eliza, January 2, 1846; v. James E., 
May 10. 1848. 4. Alexander B., April 11, 
1816, see forward. 5. William, March 29, 
1818. died December 19, 1903; married. June 
6, 1840, Helen Ford; children: i. William 
Alexander, born September 5, 1841 ; killed 
in civil war; ii. Eliza Jane, February 15, 1843; 
aii. Edwin, January 20, 1847; 'v. Helen P., 
June 5, 1850; V. John, June 9, 1856. 6. John, 
Octot>er 20, 1820, died December 19, 1902; 
married ;\lay Groat Groat, of Schenectady, 
New York ; no children. 7. Edwin, March 7, 

1823 ; married ; had one son, Edwin, 

•now deceased. By his second wife Dr. Van 
Gaasheek had one child, Sarah P., born July 
14. 1826. 

(\'II ) Alexander Boyd, son of Dr. Jacobus 
and Helen (Boyd) Van Gaasheek, was born 
in Middleburg, New York, April 11, 1816. 
He was educated in his native town in a 
private school. At an early age he began 
■what proved to be a long and successful busi- 
ness career. His first work was in a law- 
yer's office in Jiliddleburg, and for a short 
period he was engaged in a general store in 
that town. He then went to Lawyersville, 
where he was employed as a clerk for Peter 
Osterhout. He remained in that position for 
a year, and in 1832 went to Albany and 
clerked for John Garnsey in the dry goods 
"business for the following two years. He 
then secured a position with a Mr. Bagley, 
with whom he remained until 1836, and in 
that year started in for himself. In connec- 
tion with Frank Aloseley he established a 
dry goods business under the firm title of 
Mosley and Van Gaasheek. This partnership 
continued four years, when it was dissolved 
and Mr. Van Gaasheek continued the business 
by himself for the following nine years. About 
this time gold was discovered in California. 
Like many another of his day, he caught 



the gold fever, sold out his business and 
started for Panama. He got as far as New 
York City, where he was induced to associate 
himself with a man by the name of Reynolds, 
to start a commission business in Panama. On 
arriving at the Isthmus, however, he, becom- 
ing dissatisfied with his relations with Rey- 
nolds, decided to dissolve the partnership. 
This accomplished, he formed a partnership 
with Amos Corwin, at that time United States 
consul to Panama. They carried on a suc- 
cessful business until December, 1850, when 
he returned to Albany to be married. Mr. 
\'an Gaasheek after his marriage went back 
to Panama to continue the business there, but 
owing to an illness brought on by the climatic 
conditions of the tropics he was obliged to 
give up his work and return North. Once 
more he established himself in Albany, this 
time going into the carpet business, opening 
a store on the corner of Broadway and Co- 
lumbia street. The business growing rapidly, 
he moved, in the early sixties, to larger quar- 
ters on Pearl street, where he acquired the 
property which he held at his death. He be- 
came the leading carpet man in Albany, and 
continued to conduct a large and successful 
business until he retired, in 1901, from an 
active participation in commercial life. Mr. 
\'an Gaasheek was a member of the First Re- 
formed Church, of Albany, and for many 
years was one of the most active elders. In 
politics he was first a Whig and later a Re- 
publican, and, though urged many times to 
hold office, always declined. For nine years 
he was a volunteer fireman in Albany in the 
days of the old hand-engine. Though Mr. 
Van Gaasheek had attained the ripe old age 
of more than ninety-four years, he was in 
possession of all his faculties, attended to all 
the business connected with a considerable 
estate personally, and gave no visible signs of 
the approaching end until shortly before his 
death, January 15, 191 1. 

He married, February 20. 185 1, Antoinette 
Hoyt Keeler, born March 12, 1827, died April 
22, 1901, daughter of Jasper S. Keeler. Chil- 
dren: I. Amos Corwin. born July 29, 1852, 
married, November 4, 1874. Helen W. Corn- 
stock : resides at Orange, New Jersey. 2. 
Theodore Cuyler, November 22, 1852, died 
December 17, 1858. 3. James Bovd, 'Decem- 
ber 6, 1856, died December 6, 1858. 4. John 
Irwin, April 30, 1859, died December 29, 
1875. 5. Mary, June 15, i860, died August 
II. i860. 6. IBertha. January 17, 1864, died 
July 31, 1864. 7. Antoinette,'March 30, 1868, 
married, October 3, 1894, John F. Nash ; chil- 
dren : i. Helen, born August 24, 1895 ; ii. Al- 
exander \'an Gaasheek, October 19, 1859; iii. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Antoinette Van Gaasbeek, October 9, 1904. 
8. Alexander, and 9. W'illiam, twins, Decem- 
ber I, 1869, died in infancy. 10. An infant 
daughter. May 7, 1871. 



These are two well- 
SIMONS — CHASE known names in the 

United States, the for- 
mer being borne by men well-known in the 
annals of the Mohawk Valley, the latter by 
men of national prominence from early New 
England days. 

Nathan E. Simons was born in Schagticoke, 
Rensselaer county, New York, in 1829, died 
in Albany, New York, September 13, 1889, 
and is buried in Rural cemetery. His father 
died when he was a small boy, and his mother 
married a second time. At the age of four- 
teen years, the lad left home and started out 
to make his own way in the world. He worked 
in Lansingburg, New York, for a few years, 
gaining education and business experience. 
He next went to Albany, being a bookkeeper 
and yard salesman for a lumber firm, where 
he acquired a thorough practical knowledge 
of the lumber trade and methods of conduct- 
ing it. Lentil he was twenty-seven, he was 
in the employ of Richard Whitlock, then a 
prominent dealer. In 1856 he entered in part- 
nership under the firm name of Mattice & 
Simons, and established yards and salesrooms 
on Water street, where he successfully en- 
gaged in the lumber business. In 1859 his 
firm dissolved and was succeeded by Simons 
& Griswold, lumber dealers, Aaron Griswold 
being his new partner. He died in 1872, and 
Mr. Simons became sole owner. In 1878 he 
admitted A. K. Richards, under the firm name 
of Simons & Richards, which continued until 
the death of Mr. Simons. He was a public- 
spirited man, and a liberal supporter of all 
worthy causes. He was active in local af- 
fairs, was one of the promoters of the Al- 
bany Institute, and a member of the First 
Dutch Church of Albany. In politics he was 
a Republican. He married, in 1855, Mcribah 
Chase, born in Little Falls, New York, May 
2, 1837. daughter of Sylvanus G. Chase, of 
Little Falls and Albany, New York. Chil- 
dren of Nathan E. and Meribah (Chase) Si- 
mons: I. Charles Newman, born June 5, 
18.S7, died .April 2, 1866. 2. Lillian, born 
July 20, 1863 : married Herbert Wright Stov- 
er, of riainfield. New Jersey. 3. Alfred, died 
at age of nineteen years. 4. Alay L., unmar- 
ried, resides with her mother in Albany. 

(I) Jacob Chase, of Vermont, was born, 
lived, and died in that state. He attained the 
great age of ninety years. 

(II) Moses, son of Jacob Chase, was born 



in \'ermont, but located in New York state, 
at Rome. He had three wives, his first, Mer- 
cy Goodenough, being the mother of his chil- 
dren. 

(HI) Sylvanus Goodenough, son of Moses 
and Mercy (Goodenough) Chase, was born 
at Rome. New York, December 28, 1806, died 
at Albany, at age of eighty-three years. He 
was a lad of ten years when he witnessed the 
gathering of a few distinguished gentlemen 
about four miles east of Rome to throw the 
first shovel fulls of earth that inaugurated the 
building of the Erie canal. Eight years later 
he was a passenger on the first Erie canal- 
boat ever built. It was a memorable, as well 
as a historic trip. Soon after his parents re- 
moved to Herkimer county. New York, where 
he attended school during the winter months, 
and was employed on the canal in the sum- 
mer. He next became steersman on one of 
the two small packet boats that plied on the 
canal between Little Falls and Utica. He was 
later steersman on one of the large packets 
plying to Schenectady, and had the honor of 
conveying General Lafayette as passenger. In 
1827 he became captain of one of the boats 
carrying freight and passengers between Al- 
bany and New York City, owned by Dows & 
Cary, also owners of the \N'ashington line of 
canal and river boats. He continued as cap- 
tain of the boat until 1835, when he engaged 
with E. S. Prosser, of Albany, as tally clerk, 
continuing until 1841, when he organized a 
line of boats for freight and ])assengers to 
ply between .Albany and Buffalo, connecting 
at the latter city with the transportation line 
of John R. Evans and Bro. for the lakes, and 
with the Santvoord and Company "Swiftsure" 
line at .Albany for New A^ork. The firm name 
of the company, S. G. Chase & Company, be- 
came a well-known one. In 1856 eight dif- 
ferent canal lines combined, forming a stock 
company under the name of "The Western 
Transportation Company." Air. Chase en- 
tered the combination and became a director 
and agent on the pier at Albany, remaining 
until 1879, when he disposed of his entire in- 
terest and retired from business, after a pe- 
riod of forty-four years in business on the 
old Albany pier. He was a member of the 
Albany Board of Trade, director of the Capi- 
tal Insurance Company, and trustee of the 
Jaggcr Iron Company. He was a member of 
the First Reformed Church, and for many 
years an elder. He was of coiumanding, dig- 
nified bearing, and a most upright and hon- 
orable business man. He married, (first) 
Mary .A. Dewey; married (second) Elizabeth 
lojomis, of Suffield, Massachusetts: no chil- 
dren. Children of first marriage: i. Amy, 




yynl/ia/i 0. C/(f, 



(/HC/li 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



died in childhood. 2. Darius, died in child- 
hood. 3. Aljilenali, married Albertus K. 
Richards, a partner of his brother-in-law, and 
his successor in the firm of Simons & Rich- 
ards, died in 1895 : she survives her husband, 
is a resident of .Albany and had children : i. 
Jesse A., of lirooklyn. New York. ii. Walter 
S., of Albany ; iii. Bertha, deceased ; iv. Ham- 
ilton, of New York City. 4. JVIeribah, see for- 
ward. 5. Orlando, accidentally killed at age 
of two years. 6. Esther, married Charles M. 
Sears; she survives her husband, resident of 
Leno.x, Massachusetts, with children, Charles 
and Grace, both married and of Lenox. 7. 
Henrietta, married Irving Knickerbocker, re- 
tired lumber dealer of Albany. 8. Agnes, 
married John D. Parsons (2), whom she sur- 
vives, resident of Albany. 

(W) Meribah, daughter of Sylvanus G. 
and Mary A. (Dewey) Chase, was born at 
Little h'alls. New York, May 2, 1837. Her 
parents removed to Albany in 1839. and in 
that city she received her education, attending 
private schools and Albany Female Academy. 
She married, 1855, Nathan E. Simons (see 
Simons). She is a member of the First Re- 
formed Church, and since the death of her 
husband has continued her residence at 26 
First street, where she has as companion her 
youngest daughter. May L. Simons. 



The Albany family of this name 
RUDD are lineal descendants of that 
Jonathan Rudd, whose romantic 
marriage is so beautifully described by Miss 
Caulkins in her "History of New London, 
Connecticut," p. 48. Jonathan was a native of 
England, who came to America and settled 
perhaps in New Haven. Connecticut, in 1640. 
Certain it is that he took the oath of fidelity, 
October i, 1644. He was of Saybrook, Con- 
necticut, in 1646, was admitted a freeman, 
was of Hartford in 165 1. He probably died 
in 1668. He was a man of importance as 
shown by the records. He was married in the 
winter of 1647 by John Winthrop, of New 
London, who was acting under a Massachu- 
setts commission. The name of his bride is 
not given, but the circumstances attending the 
marriage have been and always will be pre- 
served. "The wedding day was fixed and a 
magistrate from up river engaged to perform 
the ceremony as tiiere was not anyone in Sav- 
brook qualified to officiate." But "there fall- 
ing ont at that time a great snow" so that "the 
magistrate intended to go down thither was 
hindered by the de]ith of the snow." But the 
nuptials must not be delayed, application was 
made to Mr. Winthrop to come to Saybrook 
to perform the ceremony, but he deriving his 



authority from Massachusetts had no legal 
right to officiate in Connecticut. He, however, 
agreed if the parties would meet at a brook 
designated he would there perform the cere- 
mony as that was Massachusetts territory. 
The offer was accepted. On the Iirink of this 
little stream, the boundary between two col- 
onies, the parties met, Winthrop and his 
friends from Pequot, and the bridal train 
from Saybrook. Here the ceremony was per- 
formed under the shelter of no roof, by no 
hospitable fireside, without any accommoda- 
tion but those furnished by the snow covered 
earth, the overarching heavens and perchance 
the sheltering side of a forest of pines or 
cedars. Never perhaps was the rite performed 
in a situation so wild and solitary and under 
circumstances so interesting and peculiar. 
The impressive group stood around wrapped 
in their frosty mantles with heads reverently 
bowed and at the given sign the two plighted 
hands came forth from among the furs, and 
were clasped in token of a lifelong affectionate 
trust. The stream received the name of 
"Bride Brook" on the spot, and is so known 
to this day. Jonathan Rudd had issue. His 
daughter Patience married, October 7, 1675, 
Samuel Bushnell. Mary, supposed to be the 
first born, married, December 12, 1666, Thom- 
as Bingham. Two sons were Jonathan, and 
Nathaniel, see forward. 

(H) Nathaniel, son of Jonathan Rudd, was 
born in Saybrook, probably died in Norwich, 
in April, 1727. He settled at West Farms, 
Norwich, Connecticut. His homestead was 
in that part of the West Farms now called 
Bozrah. He seems to have prospered as he 
left at his death an estate valued at six hun- 
dred and eighty-nine pounds. He married, 
(first) Mary, daughter of John Post, .April 
16, 1685, who bore him Jonathan, Mary (i) 
Mary (2), Lydia. Mary (Post) Rudd died 
November, 1705. His second wife was Abi- 
gail Hartshorn, whom he married January 31, 
1706. She bore him Nathaniel, see forward; 
Joseph and eight other children. 

(HI) Captain Nathaniel (2), son of Nath- 
aniel (i) and Abigail (Hartshorn) Rudd, 
was born in Norwich, 1684. He removed to 
Windham, Connecticut, where he died Febru- 
ary 20, 1760. He was an ensign of militia, 
1722, captain in 1736. deputy to Connecticut 
general assembly, 1737. He married. Decem- 
ber 27. 1709, Rebecca, daughter of John and 
Rebecca (Adams) Waldo. They had issue. 

(IV) Jonathan (2), son of Captain Nath- 
aniel (2) and Rebecca (Waldo) Rudd, was 
born in Windham. Connecticut, in 17 10. He 
married Esther Tyler and had issue. 

(V) Deacon Jonathan (3), son of Jonathan 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(2) and Esther (Tyler) Rudd, was born in 
Windham, Connecticut, April 29, 1743, died 
April 3, 1823. He was a prominent man and 
a deacon of the church. He married, October 

1, 1766, Mary, born at Norwich, Connecticut, 
August II, 1741, youngest daughter of Dea- 
con Simon Tracy, by his first wife, Elizabeth 
Hyde, and granddaughter of Jabez Hyde, son 
of Samuel, son of William, the first of 
Norwich, the English emigrant who probably 
first landed in this country in 1633. Deacon 
Jonathan Rudd settled in Windham, where 
his seven children were born: i. Simon 
Tracy, born September i, 1768: married 
(first) Alice Adams; (second) Mary Carew. 

2. Mary, August 22, 1770 ; married Asahel 
Lord. 3. Elizabeth, March 13, 1772; mar- 
ried, January, 1795, Gurdon Lathrop. 4. Jon- 
athan, of further mention. 5. Sarah, Decem- 
ber 17, 1776; died at Oberlin. Ohio, Febru- 
ary, 1842 : unmarried. 6. Hezekiah, February 
2, 1781 ; married (first) Maria De Forest; 
(second) Mary E. Coggesel. 7. Lydia, May 
6, 1785 ; married, in 1809, Andrew Benton, 
Deacon Rudd married (second) Anne Tyler, 
March i, 1804. 

(VI) Jonathan (4), second son of Deacon 
Jonathan (3) and Mary (Tracy) Rudd, was 
born in Windham, Connecticut, August 16, 
1774, died in 1863, at Cherry Valley, New 
York. He married, in 1801, Sarah Johnson, 
born February 11, 1774, at Windham, died at 
Cherry \'"alley, March 17, 1853. They set- 
tled at Canajoharie. New York, then removed 
to Cherry Valley, New York. Children: i. 
Charles, born November 15. 1803, at Canajo- 
harie, New York : he was graduated at Fair- 
field Medical College, 1832, and was a prac- 
ticing physician ; he settled in Canajoharie, 
removed in 1838 to Cherry Valley, where he 
died May 14, 1852. He married Emily Bar- 
nard,' of Paris, New York, and had Charles 
H., \\'illiam H., Anne Elizabeth and Julietta 
Barnard. 2. Laura, died in infancy. 3. Har- 
riet, born 1806, died yXpril 3, 1880. 4. Laura 
(2), born September, 1807; married, 1847, 
Orin Sibley, of Middlefield, New York. 5. 
Ralph, torn November 7, 1808 ; married Mary 
Briggs and settled at Cherry Valley. He had 

^^liza M., Henry, Sarah J., Laura, Frances 
/A., Charles H., James W. 6. George H., born 
June 6, 1810; died unmarried. 7. Annie M., 
born January, 1813; married. 1837, Henry D. 
Baker and had Hattie M., Henry L., George 
A., Georgianna A., Abigail E. 8. Jonathan 
R., died young. 9. William Tracy, see for- 
ward. 10. Elizabeth L., born 1820; married, 
1842, Jesse SutlilT, of Cherry Valley; died, 
1856. 

(VII) William Tracv, fifth son of Jonathan 



(4) and Sarah (Johnson) Rudd, was bom 
in Cherry Valley, New York, September 22, 
1816. He entered the employ of the Amer- 
ican Express Company in 1844, and later of 
the New York Central railroad, which he 
served and its successor faithfully for thirty- 
eight years. He married, in 1848, at the city 
of Utica, New York, Adeline Martha Piatt, 
eighth in descent from Richard Piatt, of 
Hertford. England, the American ancestor. 
Children: i. William Piatt, see forward. 2. 
Charles Beckley. born June 27, 1855, died 
January 9, 1858. 3. Adeline Martha, torn 
November 3, 1859, now the widow of George 
Parker Howlett and resident in West New- 
ton, Massachusetts. 

(VIII) William Piatt, eldest son of Wil- 
liam Tracy and Adeline Martha (Piatt) 
Rudd, was born in Albany, June 9, 185 1. He 
was graduated from Union College in 1873, 
taking the Clark Essay prize and Phi Beta 
Kappa honors. He was admitted to the New 
York state bar in 1875. In 1877 he formed 
a partnership with Hamilton and Frederick 
Harris, constituting the law firm of Harris 
& Rudd. of Albany, New York. This con- 
nection continued until 1900, when by tlie 
death of Hamilton Harris the firm was dis- 
solved. Mr. Rudd then associated himself 
with William L. Visscher in the law partner- 
ship which still continues. He is a man of 
many and varied interests and tastes. He was 
president of the board of public instruction in 
1893; corporation counsel in 1894-95; is in- 
spector of elections of all the railroads in 
New York state associated in the Vanderbilt 
system. He is an ex-president and a trustee 
of the Young IMen's Association, the organ- 
izer and for five terms president of the Al- 
bany County Bar Association. He was re- 
gent of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of 
the Revolution. He is a trustee of the Al- 
bany Institute and Historical Society ; trustee 
of Albany Chamber of Commerce ; president 
of Homeopathic Hospital ; president of Uni- 
versity Club; vice-president of the Albany 
County Savings Bank ; vice-president of the 
Diamond Paste Company ; vestryman of St. 
Peter's Church, and a member of the Fort 
Orange, Country of Albany, Republican, Al- 
pha Delta Phi, and Transportation of New 
York clubs. He is a lawyer of high repute, 
and a citizen of the best class. He married, 
in October, 1883, Aimee Pierson Allen, of Al- 
bany, daughter of Henry A. Allen, for many 
years teller of the New York State Bank. 
They have one son, Tracy Allen Rudd, born 
September 16, 1884; a resident of New York 
City and connected in business with the Pro- 
ducers Oil Company. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



213 



This branch of the Manning 
RLA.NNING family is, no doubt, from the 
same ancestor as the Man- 
ning family of England and Massachusetts. 
The line is traced to the year 1791 in the city 
of Albany, New York, where John Manning 
resided and where his eminent son, Hon. Dan- 
iel Manning, was born. The family has risen 
to distinction in Albany, New York state, and 
the nation, having, in each generation, pro- 
duced sons who have worthily borne the name 
and gained for themselves honor, distinction 
and wealth. 

(I) John Manning was born in the year 
1791. He was a resident of Albany, New 
York, where he died in 1837, when the young- 
est son, John B., was five years old. He 
married Eleanor Oley, born in 1799, died in 
1875, daughter of Christopher and Sara (Van 
Antwerp) Oley. Children: James, born 1825, 
died 1847; ^laria Van Antwerp, born 1829, 
died 1897: Daniel, see forward; John B., born 
July 13, 1832, died 1907. 

(H) Hon. Daniel, son of John and Eleanor 
(Oley) Manning, was born in Albany, Au- 
gust 16, 1 83 1, died in his native city, Decem- 
ber 24, 1887. He was educated in the public 
schools until reaching the age of twelve years, 
when he entered the office of The Albanv 
Atlas, afterward consolidated with The Albany 
Argus, and henceforth was ever closely con- 
nected with the development and prosperity 
of his great Albany newspaper. He rose from 
office boy through all the several grades of 
progress, common in great newspaper offices, 
until he was editor and business manager. He 
conducted the paper skillfully, making it 
strong, prosperous and influential. In 1873 he 
was elected president of the Argus Company, 
continuing as such until the end of his life. 
His newspaper connection early brought him 
in contact with the active, leading members 
of the Democratic party in Albany and the 
state, with whom he later rose to terms of 
equality in political power. Backed by his 
own masterful personality and the power of 
his newspaper, he soon attracted attention to 
himself, and was quickly recognized in Albany 
as a leader, which gave him prestige in state 
conventions, where he was always a delegate 
and leader. He was not only at the head of 
the Albany but the New York state De- 
mocracy and stood first among the prominent 
men of that powerful organization. He was 
secretary of the Democratic state committee 
in 1879-80, and chairman, 1881-84, having 
been a continuous member since 1874. He 
was not only a political but a warm, personal 
friend of Grover Cleveland, to whose po- 
litical fortunes he was early attached and 



did so much to advance. In 1884 he headed 
the New York state delegation and was chair- 
man of the national convention that nominated 
Grover Cleveland for the presidency that 
year, and it was due to his masterful leader- 
ship that the nomination was effected despite 
the strong opposition of the New York City 
leaders. President Cleveland had the greatest 
respect and admiration for Mr. Manning's 
ability and when selecting his first cabinet 
chose him for secretary of the treasury, a 
position his years of business and practical 
banking experience as trustee of the National 
Savings Bank of Albany and president of the 
National Commercial Bank so amply qualified 
him to fill. He had, moreover, been a close 
student of our own and foreign banking sys- 
tems and the financial problems of all nations. 
He ably filled the secretary's chair, and was 
most influential in President Cleveland's first 
administration. In April, 1887, he was com- 
pelled to resign on account of failing health 
and overwork. His resignation was accepted 
with deepest regret by President Cleveland, 
who trusted him implicitly, leaned heavily on 
him for advice in all matters pertaining to 
the treasury department, sought his counsel 
in matters purely political, and had for him 
that honest admiration and affection that only 
such strong characters can inspire and feel. 
The leaders and press of both parties united 
in expressions of praise for his administration 
of the treasury and regret at his retirement, 
while President Cleveland's sorrow was pub- 
licly expressed. After retiring from the treas- 
ury, Mr. Manning was elected president of 
the Western National Bank of New York 
City, which was his last official connection. 
He retained the presidency of the Argus Com- 
pany until his death, a connection beginning 
as a boy of twelve years in 1843, ^^ the very 
lowest round of the ladder, ending in 1887, 
at the topmost. Mr. Manning's career as 
journalist, banker and statesman was a most 
wonderful one and is the best possible illus- 
tration of the familiar quotation, "All things 
are possible for the .American boy." It is 
hard to choose between these three leading 
activities of his eventful career, whether he 
was greatest in journalism, financiering, or in 
leadership of men; those who knew him best 
and were closest to him must decide. He was 
successful in all his undertakings, but to the 
reviewer it is what he accomplished that ex- 
cites admiration, as the daring ambition of 
this obscure boy, which constantly drove him 
forward from height to height of success, 
never knew defeat or failure. He married 
(first), in 1853, Mary Little, who died in 
1882. Children; James Hilton, see forward; 



214 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Frederick Clinton, of Albany, born May i8, 
1859; Anna, born May 16, 1861, married 
John A. Delehanty; Mary E., born May 29, 
1867, died July 20, 1906, married Jules C. 
Van der Oudermeulen. Mr. Manning married 
(second), November 19. 1884, Mary Marga- 
retta, daughter of William J. Fryer, of Al- 
bany. 

(HI) James Hilton, eldest son of Hon. 
Daniel and Mary (Little) Manning, was born 
in Albany, September 22, 1854. He passed 
through the public schools of Albany, gradu- 
ating from the high school in 1873. He then 
entered the employ of The Albany Argus as 
clerk in the counting room. After two years 
there he was attached to the reportorial staff, 
continuing until 1885, when he became manag- 
ing editor. In 1888 he succeeded his father 
as president of the Argus corporation. In 
1893 he retired from official connection with 
the Argus, and organized the Wood-Parsons 
Printing Company, of which he was chosen 
president and so continues (1910). During 
these years of active business life he has been 
connected with many of the prominent enter- 
prises and corporations of Albany. With most 
of these he has held official connection, among 
them: President of the National Savings 
Bank ; president of the Consolidated Car Heat- 
ing Company; director of the Hudson River 
Telephone Company : director of the New 
York Telephone Company ; director of the 
National Commercial Bank ; trustee of the 
Title Guarantee & Trust Company of New 
York. Few lines of activity in Albany but 
have had the benefit of his business sagacity 
and mature experience. Business alone has 
not been his sole interest. He joined the New 
York State National Guard on attaining the 
legal age, and his connection has never been 
dissolved, his term of service covering a period 
of thirty-five years. He has attained the rank 
of major, has been breveted lieutenant-colonel, 
and has always used his best efforts in be- 
half of the citizen soldiery. His public ser- 
vice to the civil government of the state cov- 
ers the years 1887-89, when under the ap- 
pointment of Governor David B. Hill he 
served on the state civil service commission. 
To the service of Albany he gave the years 
1890-94, serving two terms as mayor, and has 
always taken an active part in all municipal 
matters. His administration was wise, con- 
servative and business-like. He has been 
closely allied with the Democratic party in the 
state and identified with the leaders of that 
party in its management. He is a member 
of Saint Peter's Church, of Albany, and of the 
following clubs: Fort Orange, Country. ISurns, 
of Albany, City Club, of New York, and is a 



life member of the American Numismatic 
Society. He married, October 22, 1879, 
Emma J. Austin, daughter of Dr. John C. 
Austin. 

(The Van Antwerp Line). 

This early Dutch family in the state, noted 
in the annals of Albany county, as it origi- 
nally existed sprang from Daniel Janse Van 
Antwerpen. of Holland, born 1635 ; married 
Nana Groot and had Jan, Simon, Arndt, Pie- 
ter, Neeltje, Rebecca and Maria. 

fll) Simon, son of Daniel Janse and Anna 
(Groot) \'an Antwerpen. married Maria 
Peck, December 22, 1706. Children : Maria, 
Lysbert, Rebecca, Daniel, Sara, Daniel, Mar- 
gareta. Jacobus and Lewis. 

(III) Daniel (2), son of Simon and Ma- 
ria (Peck) Van Antwerpen, married, Octo- 
ber 21, 1730, Rebecca Van Antwerpen. Chil- 
dren : .Symon, Johannes, Augenietje and An- 
netje. 

(IV) Simon (2), son of Daniel (2) and 
Rebecca (Van Antwerpen) Van Antwerpen, 
married, November 20, 1761, Maria Dunbar, 
born 1739, died 1826. Children: Rebecca, 
Cornelia, Saartje and Sara. 

( \' ) Sara, daughter of Simon (2) and Ma- 
ria (Dunbar) \'an Antwerp, was born 1774, 
died 1803: married Christopher Olcy. born 
1773. died 1848. Children: Ann Baker, born 

1778, died 1847: Eleanor, see forward: Sarah 
Maria, born 1803, died 1861. 

(\T) Eleanor, daughter of Christopher 
and Sara (Van Antwerp) Oley, was born in 

1779, died in 1873. She married John Man- 
ning (see Manning I). 



The surname Richards is of 
RICHARDS Welsh origin, and from that 

nationality a majority of 
those who bear it in this country descend. In 
Wales, the name occurs with great frequency 
and is equally common in England. It was 
first a Christian name, and by adding "s" be- 
came a surname when such names came in 
use. The earliest families of Richards in New 
England were of Puritan stock, their ances- 
tors emigrating from England at various 
dates during the seventeenth century. The 
earliest of mention is Thomas Richards, who 
came to Dorcliester, Massachusetts, in 1630, 
ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims. 
The history of the family in l-lssex county, 
New York, begins with William Richards, 
whom family tradition asserts came from 
Wales about 1775, when a young man of 
twenty years and' settled in New Hampshire. 
He married there and later settled in Spring- 
field, Massachusetts. He married Lucretia 
, in New Hampshire. Children : Jos- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



215 



eph (see forward) ; Daniel, James, William 
(2), Lucretia and Lois. William (2) re- 
moved to Ohio, where he became wealthy, 
and in his will left a handsome bequest for 
the cause of education. 

(11) Joseph, eldest son of William and Lu- 
cretia Richards, died February 18, 1853. He 
emigrated to the Schroon Lake region of 
\\'ashington county when he was about eight- 
•een years of age, in company with seven 
joung men. They made a settlement and he 
resided there until his death. Four of these 
j-oung men were Daniel Piatt, Star Piatt, 
Benjamin Bouker and John Sisson. Joseph 
Richards engaged in mercantile life, owning 
and conducting a general store at Schroon 
Lake, New York. He was wealthy according 
to tliose times,. and transacted a large busi- 
ness. He obtained his merchandise from Troy, 
New York, making annual trips in the only 
■conveyance then in use — team and wagon. He 
was noted for his fine horses, and it is said 
that his trips were social events in the places 
•visited. His account books of business tran- 
sactions with Ticonderoga merchants of that 
day are still preserved in the family. During 
1he war of 1812, he served as private in Capt. 
Augustus Cleaveland's company of the 9th 
Regt. N. Y. State Militia, Lt. Col. Command- 
ant Martin Joiner, Sept. 2-16, 1814, siege of 
Plattsburgh. Joseph Richards married (first) 
1-ydia B. Wooster, of Pawlet, Vermont, a de- 
scendant of the Wooster family of Connecti- 
cut. Children: i. Orilla, born April 6, 1805, 
died February 25, 1827, married Alpheus 
Wade. 2. Maria, August 15, 1807, died Oc- 
tober 2^1. 1825, married Ephraim Grimes. 3. 
Orson, see forward. 4. Hoel S., born Feb- 
ruary 3, 1814, died January 22, 1878, mar- 
ried Prudy A. Bartlett. Has two children, 
Mrs. Freeman Tyrrell, of Schroon Lake and 
Mrs. Egbert Dunn of Glens Falls. 5. Hes- 
ter A., Ixirn November 18. 1816, died March 
I, 187^), married Nelson Warren. Two of 
their children, William Warren and Mrs. 
Rachel McGinn, live in Hudson Falls. 6. Caro- 
line M., born September 30. 1820, died June 
21, 1841, married Newell Westcott. 7. Lu- 
cretia, born February i, 1823, died January 
7, 1847, married Erwin Baker. The only liv- 
ing descendant of Erwin and Lucretia (Rich- 
ards) Baker is Mrs. Samuel L. Finch, a 
granddaughter, born May 6, i860, adopted by 
Orson Richards, March 21, 1865, married 
Samuel L. Finch, March 10, 1880. She lives 
in Hudson Falls, New York. Joseph Rich- 
ards married (second) Mrs. Abigail (Mills) 
Frost, a widow, bom October 22, 1805, died 
December 9, 1843. Children of second mar- 
riage: Ann, born June 7, 1834, died May 4, 



1836; Eunice, born June 25, 1838, resides in 
Hudson Falls, New York, unmarried ; Fletch- 
er, born April 23. 1840, who resided in Platts- 
burgh, New York, until his death, February 
15, 1907. 

(HI) Orson, eldest son and third child of 
Joseph and Lydia B. (Wooster) Richards, 
was born at .Schroon Lake, Washington coun- 
ty. New York, December 13, 181 1. died Sep- 
tember 4, 1879. He was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and on attaining his majority be- 
gan his long and successful career as a lum- 
berman. He started business in a small way at 
Schroon Lake, and in 1837 removed to Sandy 
Hill. With the exception of a five years' resi- 
dence in Plattsburgh, New York, 1845-50, 
Sandy Hill was his residence and principal 
place of business. From his first start until 
the panic of 1873 he did a constantly increas- 
ing business, and in the heighth of his pros- 
perity was one of the best-knowTi and highly- 
regarded business men in northern New York. 
He brought prosperity to Sandy Hill, where 
his five saw mills manufactured into lumber 
the logs cut in the -Adirondack forests, where 
he owned large tracts of timber lands. He 
was also interested in the timber forests of 
Pennsylvania, owning and operating saw mills 
at Lock Haven. .\t one time he also owned 
saw mills at Plattsburgh, New York. He 
was an official and director in the First Na- 
tional Banks of Sandy Hill and Fort Edward, 
the Glens Falls Insurance Co., and in other 
local business enterprises. He was a man of 
energy and great public spirit. He maintained 
at all times the most friendly relations with 
his employees, who numbered several thousand 
at various times. He married, September 5, 
1830, at Schroon Lake, New York, Julia Ann, 
born there June 24, 1813, died at Sandy Hill, 
New York, May 14, 1881, daughter of Eber 
Fisk, born in Danby, \'ermont, .August 10, 
1771, moved to Schr(»n Lake in 1819, where 
he died March 7. 1843. He married at Dan- 
by, Vermont, October 30. 1796, Martha Bige- 
low, born at Springfield, Vermont. May 3, 
1 78 1, died at Schroon Lake. June 25. 1861, 
daughter of Joel and Abigail (McCall) Bige- 
low. Children of Orson and Julia .\. (Fisk) 
Richards: i. Lydia, born September 11, 1831, 
died August 10, 1900; married. December 31, 
1849, John F. Howe. Children: Orson R., 
Mrs. Julia A. Ambler, Lina F., Emma L., 
and Mrs. Martha A. Gallup, all of Hud- 
son Falls. 2. Nelson, born August 2, 1833, 
died May 12. 1854; married, September 28, 
1853, Erie White. 3. Eber, see forward. 4. 
Ralph P., born January 2, 1843 ; married, De- 
cember 24, 1862, Francilia J. Harding, one 
child, Mrs. Minnie H. Roider of Hudson 



2l6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Falls. 5. Martha, born December 17, 1844, 
died May 27, 1870; married, January 9, 1867, 
Silas B. Ambler. 

(IV) Eber, son of Orson and Julia A. 
(Fisk) Richards, was born at Schroon Lake, 
Essex county. New York, May 6, 1836, died 
at Sandy Hill. New York, February 23, 1910. 
His early education was obtained in the public 
schools of Sandy Hill and Plattsburgh. In 
1850 he entered Norwich University, where 
he remained two years. About 1857 he was 
admitted to a partnership with his father un- 
der the firm name of O. Richards & Son. 
They continued together in the manufacture 
and sale of lumber until 1873, and became one 
of the leading and wealthiest concerns in their 
line of business in northern New York. From 
1873 to 1882 Eber Richards operated saw 
mills and conducted his lumbering business 
alone. In 1882 he disposed of all his lumber 
interests and entered into a partnership with 
N. W. Wait & Son, and engaged in the man- 
ufacture of paper at Bakers' Falls, New York, 
under the firm name of N. W. Wait Son & 
Company. In 1883 N. W. Wait retired, and 
from that year until 1892 Mr. Richards con- 
tinued the business with J. W. Wait, under 
the firm name of Wait and Richards. In 1892 
he disposed of his paper mills, and from 1893- 
1905 engaged in the manufacture of wood 
pulp at Ticonderoga, New York, with his son 
Frederick B., under the firm name of E. Rich- 
ards & Son. In 1905 he retired from all ac- 
tive business. He was one of the most genial 
and sociable of men, and was well known not 
only among business men but to railroad en- 
gineers, conductors, captains and employees 
of the steamboats on which he traveled. He 
was one of the few men for whom railroad 
trains would stop between stations to take on 
or let him off. From early manhood he took 
an active part in the volunteer fire department 
of Sandy Hill, and one of the old hand fire 
engines owned by the department bore the 
name "E. Richards Independent." He was 
one of the best-known summer residents of 
Lake George, where his pleasure yacht "The- 
ta" was constantly employed for the benefit 
of his many friends and acquaintances. 
Notwithstanding his large business in- 
terests he never overlooked his duties 
as a citizen. He served as supervisor of town 
of Kingsbury ; was president of the village 
corporation of Sandy Hill two years ; 
trustee of the village many years : trus- 
tee of the Union free school district 
of Sandy Hill from its establishment 
in 1867, and on his retirement in 1896 was 
the only member of the first board of trustees 
who had served continuously from the begin- 



ning. He favored all public improvements, 
and generously aided in securing better con- 
ditions in civic affairs. He was a lifelong 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
which he served many years as a trustee. His 
fraternal affiliation was with the Masonic or- 
der, Sandy Hill Lodge and Chapter, and 
Washington Commandery, Knights Templar, 
of Saratoga. His descent from the earliest 
colonial period gained for him admission to> 
the Society of Mayflower Descendants. He 
married, at Sandy Hill, September 24. 1857, 
Mary Eliza, born May 21, 1838, daughter of 
James and Kezia (Lee) Culver, of Sandy 
Hill. In 1907 they celebrated their golden 
wedding. Children: i. Caroline Berry, born 
July 23, 1858, died October 2, 1890. 2. Nel- 
son James, born December 14, -1861, died May" 
5, 1862. 3. Frederick Barnard, (see for- 
ward). 4. Orson Culver, born June 7, 1873; 
resides at Hudson Falls : superintendent high- 
ways, Washington county ; civil engineer ; 
married Mable, daughter of William and' 
Mary Caroline (Barkley) McLaren; she was. 
born August 22, 1875, married April 23. 1900; 
one child, Mac Laren, born October 2, 1901. 
(V) Frederick Barnard, son of Eber and 
Mary Eliza (Culver) Richards, was born at 
Sandy Hill, New York, August i, 1865. His 
early education was obtained in public schools 
of Sandy Hill. He entered Union College, 
where he was graduated A.B.. class of 1888. 
In 1889 he became junior member of the firm 
of E. Richards & Son, paper manufacturers, 
Sandy Hill, continuing until 1893. when the- 
firm disposed of their paper mill. In the same 
vear, under the same firm name, they engaged 
in the manufacture of wood pulp at Ticon- 
deroga, continuing until 1905. In 1908 he was 
chosen secretary of the Standard Textile Com- 
pany of Glens Falls, an office he still fills. He- 
is also a member of the firm of Hooper & 
Richards, who as the North River Garnet 
Company have been engaged in business at 
North River, New York, since 1894. He is a 
director of the Glens Falls Saving & Loan 
Association, and has other and varied busi- 
ness interests. He is a Republican in poli- 
tics, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
church, serving as vestryman of the- 
Church of the Messiah. He is secretary and 
trustee of the New York State Historical As- 
sociation, a member of the American. Ver- 
mont and Ticonderoga Historical societies, the 
American Buttonists Society, National Geo- 
graphic Society, Sons of the Revolution, and 
Society of Colonial Wars. His college fra- 
ternity is Psi Upsilon, his social club the 
Glens Falls. He is a master mason of Mt. 
Defiance Lodge, No. 794. He married im 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



217 



Granville, New York, June 12, 1895. Con- 
stance Emily, born in Jamaica, West Indies, 
April I, 1873, daughter of Rev. Joseph The- 
ophilus and Anna Rosina (Leibfried) Zorn, 
granddaughter of Jacob, and great-grand- 
daughter of George Zorn, three generations 
of Moravian missionaries to the West Indies. 
Children, all born in Ticonderoga : Dorothy, 
August 14, i8g6; Constance, August 12, 
1899; William Lee, February 15, 1901. 



The Battershall family 
BATTERSHALL (the name also being 
spelled Battishall and 
Battishill) came from Devonshire, the name 
being common both in that county and in the 
county of Cornwall. The coat-of-arms will 
be found under the name Battishill or Battis- 
hall, Burke's Heraldy. The first members of 
the family who came to this country were sea- 
men, one of them captain of a merchant ves- 
sel. The other brother served as a privateer 
during the war of 1812. From Cape Cod the 
family moved to Canaan, Columbia county. 

Rev. Dr. Walton Wesley Battershall, son of 
Ludlow A. and Eustatia (Ward) Battershall, 
was born in Troy, New York, January 8, 1840. 
His early education was received at the Kim- 
ball Union Academy in that city, where he 
completed the prescribed course in 1858, and 
then entered Yale College, graduating in the 
class of 1864. He was class poet and member 
of Scroll and Key Society. It was at this 
time that he developed a growing inclination 
to enter the ministry, so that shortly after his 
graduation he commenced his religious train- 
ing under the auspices of the Rev. Henry 
Codman Potter, who later became the Episco- 
pal bishop of New York diocese. He was or- 
dained a deacon at Troy, June 16, 1865, and 
then entered the General Theological Semin- 
ary in New York City, from which he was 
graduated in 1866. He was ordained a priest 
by Bishop Potter, November 30, 1866. and 
through the next two years he was the assist- 
ant rector of Zion Church, in New York. In 
1868 he was chosen rector of St. Thomas' 
Church, in Ravenswood, Long Island, which 
post he filled one year, when he accepted a 
call to the rectorship of Christ Church in 
Rochester. Here he remained for following 
five years, making a number of enduring 
friendships, and entering heartily into the 
work of a growing parish. He was at this 
time a member of the standing committee of 
the Diocese of Western New York. 

By the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Ben- 
jamin H. Paddock as the Bishop of Mas- 
sachusetts, on September 17, 1873, the im- 
portant and influential parish of Grace Church 



in Brooklyn was left vacant. It was decided 
to secure the Rev. William .\ndrew Snively, 
rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, and he 
presented his resignation on May 3, 1874, hav- 
ing officiated since May 24, 1870. with great 
and general satisfaction. For a time the par- 
ish then came under the care of Rev. Tliad- 
deus A. Snively as minister-in-charge, by ap- 
pointment as such on April 13, 1874. A com- 
mittee of three vestrj'men was named June 10,. 

1874, to select a new rector, and Christ Church 
in Rochester was visited, whereupon they 
were satisfied by the selection of the Rev. 
Walton W. Battershall, and having received 
official word from the vestry of St. Peter's 
Church, he wrote in August that he had ac- 
cepted their invitation and would be ready 
shortly to enter upon his duties in the new 
field. He was instituted in that church on the 
Feast of St. Michael and All .'Vngels, Sep- 
tember 29, 1874, Bishop William Croswell 
Doane acting as institutor and preaching the 
memorable sermon in the presence of eight- 
een clergy seated in the chancel and a large- 
congregation. 

It was not long after this event before St. 
Peter's Church began to show marked ad- 
vancement in several ways. This was partly 
through natural incidents, but mostly to be 
attributed to the eflforts of the new rector. 
It can be stated without fear of exaggeration 
or of denial that at no time during the suc- 
ceeding thirty-five years of his pastorate did 
this spirit, so highly commendable, lessen. 
The first improvement to be noted was the 
erection of a parish house for the Sunday 
school and allied purposes, meetings, fairs and 
the like, for the conduct of the church's work. 
It was built at a cost of more than $25,000 on 
the east side of Lodge street, and its corner- 
stone was laid by Bishop Doane on June 9, 

1875. O" March 9, 1875, the senior warden, 
Mr. John Tweddle, died. By his will he had 
bequeathed the sum of $5,000 to be used 
towards the completion of the tower. It was 
found that to erect it to the parapet would 
cost $27,000. Mr. Tweddle's widow and fam- 
ily thereupon made it possible to complete it, 
and the handsome tower, designed by Up- 
john, was dedicated by Bishop Doane on Sep- 
tember 29. 1876, and the dedication of the 
chime of eleven bells, made by Meneely. of 
West Troy, took place on December 25, 1876, 
and on the 28th the completed Parish House 
was dedicated. 

So active was Dr. Battershall in a diversity 
of church work for the parish in which he 
took so great a pride that his report, made 
September 28, 1879, preached as a fifth anni- 
versary sermon, may be read as a praise- 



!l8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



worthy reflection on what he had accom- 
plished, although his true intention was to be- 
stow congratulation and praise upon his con- 
gregation, and it shows what he had achieved 
in his way as would read the record of a mili- 
tary officer or judge in his court. "You have 
contributed during the last five years for 
parochial purposes, including the income from 
the pews and gifts for the building of the 
Parish House, and the memorial tower and 
chimes, $143,874.15: for diocesan purposes 
(including $3,567.21 for diocesan missions) 
$5,927.33 ; for general objects, including for- 
eign and domestic missions, $4,983.17, making 
a total of $154,684.66. During the last five 
years there have been 145 baptisms and 140 
have been presented to the Bishop for con- 
firmation. I have solemnized 25 marriages 
and 109 burials. The last annual report to the 
Diocesan Convention gave 434 communicants, 
38 Sunday school officers and teachers, and 
282 pupils. * * * A venerable history has 
been granted to this parish. Illustrious names 
are found upon its records. Holy men have 
stood in this place, upon whose foundations 
what little I can rear will seem a meagre and 
an unworthy structure ; but it is idle to say 
that the parish has discharged, in the sight 
of God, the full measure of its duty to this 
community. I love this church. Its very 
stones, with their sculptured beauty, have be- 
come dear to me. Year by year I have been 
drawn to you more closely by the ties which 
are woven in brotherly intercourse, and in the 
performance of my sacred offices ; but I can 
do little, except you make me strong with 
your prayers and your sympathies, and stand 
■beside me in my work." 

Another important step was the erection of 
the rectory. When Dr. Battershall first came 
ito Albany he occupied the old rectory on the 
northwest corner of Maiden Lane and Lodge 
street, on ground leased by the Masons; but 
this land was desired by them as a site for 
the projiosed Temple. The property adjoin- 
ing the church on the west was offered for sale 
for $19,000, and it was decided to build there- 
.on. The land was acquired by transfer of the 
•deed on December 31, 1894. Througli the un- 
expected and most generous offer of Mr. Jesse 
W. Potts and his sister, Miss Sarah P>. Potts, 
the building of a new rectory was provided, 
and on February 12, 1896, it was opened by 
a service of benediction. Its cost was $20,- 
000, and was given in memory of Jesse 
-Charles and Eunice Walker Potts, the parents 
of the donors. The residence of the late Jus- 
tice Rufus W'. Peckham of the United .States 
supreme court, next to the west of the rec- 
tory, was acquired a little later and converted 



to the needs of the parish, and besides all this 
spreading out. considerable land was pur- 
chased along Maiden Lane on which to build 
a choir room. A costly new organ was in- 
tailed in the chancel end, instead of in the 
gallery over the main entrance : choir stalls 
were built in the chancel, a beautiful memo- 
rial altar and its reredos were given by Mr. 
Charles L. Pruyn, a carved stone pulpit was 
presented in 1886 as a Tibbits memorial, an 
artistic lectern and marble font were added, 
and under the further solicitation of Dr. Bat- 
tershall practically every window throughout 
the handsome edifice was transformed into an 
example of most skilled workmanship, and it 
was in these manifold ways that the inde- 
fatigable parochial labors of Dr. Battershall 
will endure in visual form as a memorial of 
his earnestness in his work. On Sunday, No- 
vember 5, 1899, the vestry honored its pastor 
with a special service of song and praise in 
recognition of the completion of his rector- 
ship of a quarter-century, and in the fall of 
1909 his thirty-fifth anniversary was fittingly 
celebrated. 

Union University conferred on him the de- 
gree of D.D. in June, 1877, and he was made 
archdeacon of the Episcopal diocese of Al- 
bany. He is the author of a number of pub- 
lished works, notably "Interpretation of Life 
and Religion," issued in 1897 by .A. S. Barnes, 
and a leading section of "Historic Towns of 
the Middle States," G. P. Putnam's Sons, 
1899. The casual listener to his preaching 
soon discovers that he is a clergyman of deep 
erudition, whose delivery is forceful, con- 
vincing in its trend of philosophic argument, 
and displaying, as by the sense of instinct, a 
most familiar acquaintance with the great 
writers of the ages by reason of the charm 
of his diction and poetic phrasing. His pres- 
ence as a speaker has been requested upon 
many important occasions in his own and 
other cities, at the dedication of buildings and 
notable anniversaries. 

Rev. Dr. Walton W. Battershall married, 
October 13. 1864, at St. Mark's Church, in 
Newark, Wayne county, New York, Anna 
Davidson, daughter of I'letcher Williams and 
his second wife, .Ann Eliza (Ford) Williams. 
She was born in Newark, New York, March 
27, 1843, died at Christ Church Rectory, in 
Rochester, September 25. 1872. Children: 
I. Walton Ford, born in Troy, New York, 
July 12, 1865. died at Troy, September 27, 
1865. 2. Fletcher Williams, born at Ravens- 
wood. Long Island. September 29. i8f)6, see 
forward. 3. Cornelia Smith, born in l-ioches- 
ter. New York, July 21. i8('k;; married, in St, 
Peter's Church, Albany, June 10, 1896, Dr. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



219 



Harry Seymour Pearse, of Elniira, New 
York, son of Charles Pearse ; children : Lud- 
low Pearse, born Albany, June i, 1898, died 
same day ; Anna Williams Pearse, born Al- 
bany, April 26, 1900 : Walton Battershall 
Pearse, born Albany, November 4, 1905. 4. 
Anna Davidson, born in Rochester, New York, 
September 20, 1872: married, in Albany, April 
27. 1900, [Russell Agnew Griffin, of Orange, 
New Jersey, son of Charles Russell and Lucy 
(Agnew) Griffin: children: Anne Griffin, 
born July 15, 1903: Charles Russell Griffin, 
born at Orange. December 29, igo8. 

Fletcher Williams, son of the Rev. Dr. Wal- 
ton Wesley and Anna Davidson (Williams) 
Battershall, was born in Ravenswood, Long 
Island, the home of his maternal grandparents. 
September 29, 1866. and when seven years of 
age was taken to Albany by his father upon 
his acceptance of the rectorship of St. Peter's 
Church. When not many years older, he en- 
tered the .Mbany Academy, where he was one 
of the charter members of the Gates Literary 
Society and one of the first board of editors 
of the school publication, "The Cue." He was 
graduated from there in the class of 1884, and 
the next fall entered Cornell University. He 
affiliated tiiere with the Kappa Alpha frater- 
nity. He remained at Cornell two years, sub- 
sequently serving in the State Engineer's of- 
fice. He then entered the Albany Law School, 
was a member of the class of 1896, and was 
admitted to the bar the same year. He opened 
a law office at No. 100 State street, and was 
associated with Hon. J. Newton Fiero. He 
was appointed a lecturer at the Albany Law 
School of Union University, where he still 
lectures, and later was made deputy supreme 
court rejwrter. He is the author of "A 
Daughter of this World," published in 1893 
by Dodd, Mead & Company, and by Hememan 
in England : "Mists," published by Dodd, 
Mead & Company in 1894, and of "Bookbind- 
ing for Bibliophiles." In 1909 he wrote a 
memoir of his friends, Henry Arnold I'eck- 
ham and Rufus W. Peckham, Jr. In 1910 he 
issued a book on "Domestic Relations," pul> 
lished by Bender & Company. In his youth 
he had leaned strongly towards the sciences 
and displayed decided aptitude, but this gave 
way to some e.xtent for the delights of read- 
ing, which developed his literary bent, and 
his works have met with considerable criticism 
strongly in their favor. His love for books 
created a deep fondness for the rare and beau- 
tifully bound, developing in him a pronounced 
interest which led him to devote much of his 
leisure to binding certain books for his library 
in an artistic manner. He takes pleasure in 
automobiling, and is a lover of dogs. His 



close friends are those of intellectual attain- 
ments. He is fond of travel, and has made 
several trips abroad, visiting art centers es- 
pecially. 

He married, in St. Peter's Church, Albany, 
November 9, 1897, his father officiating, 
Maude Goodrich, daughter of Hon. James 
Newton Fiero, dean of the Albany Law 
School since 1895, author of "Special Ac- 
tions," "Torts.'' and "Special Proceedings" ; 
president of the New York State Bar Asso- 
ciation, 1892-93: vice-president of the Amer- 
ican Bar Association, 1895-1902. James N. 
Fiero was born in Saugerties, New York, May 
23, 1847, son of Christopher and Janet Sands 
(McCall) Fiero. of Delhi, New York. 



Thomas Geer, born 1623, was son 
GEER of Jonathan Geere, of Heavitree, 

county Devon, England. Jonathan 
Geere was a descendant in the fifth gener- 
ation from Walter Geere, of Heavitree, Dev- 
onshire, living about 1450, who married Alice 
Somaster. The parents of Thomas died when 
he was young, and he and his brother George 
were left in charge of an uncle, who in order 
to obtain possession of tJieir property, which 
was considerable, shipped them to Boston, 
where they landed in 1635 w'ithout money and 
without friends. George became an early 
settler of New London, Connecticut, about 
1651, and from him the elder branch of the 
family (the Connecticut Geers) are descended. 
Thomas had land granted him at Enfield. Con- 
necticut, July 24, 1682. He married Deborah 

; had two children, Shubael, born about 

1683, and Elizabeth, who died in infancy. 
Thomas Geer died January 14, 1722, aged 
ninety-nine years. 

(II) Shubael, son of Thomas Geer, born 
about 1683, married Sarah, daughter of Thom- 
as Abbe. January 27, 1702-03. He had land 
granted him March 5, 1700. Children (born 
Enfield, see Stile's Windsor, Conn., II. 285): 
Shubael, Jr., and Thomas, born July i. 1722. 

(III) Shubael (2), son of Shubael (i) Geer, 
was bom 1717. He married and had children: 
Hannah, borti 1738: Sarah, 1740; Shubael, 
1743: Ebenezer. 1745; Ebenezer, 1747: Eben- 
ezer. 1750: Hannah, 1753: Mindwell. 1756; 
Walter, 1759; George. 1761 ; Charles, twin 
of George. 

(IV) Walter, son of Shubael (2) Geer, was 
born 1759. At age of nineteen (May, 1778) 
he enlisted with his brother Charles, aged 
sixteen, in Captain Jason Wait's company, 
Colonel John Stark's regiment, as from Mar- 
low, Cheshire county, New Hampshire (Mar- 
low adjoins Keene). (See State Papers N. 
H. XIV, Rev. War Rolls I, p. 598.) The 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



History of Charlestovvn, New Hampshire, 
states that Walter Geer married Lucy, born 
March 28, 1758, daughter of Benjamin and 
Peggy (Spafford) Allen. Children: Har- 
mony, born Lebanon, New Hampshire, June 
27, 1784 ; Dan, Windsor, \'ermont, November 
7, 1786; Lucy, January 29, 1789; Walter, Jr., 
see forward. The History of Charlestown 
also states that Benjamin Allen married, No- 
vember 6, 1 75 1, Peggy Spafford, daughter of 
Captain John and Hannah 'Spafford, born 
June 30, 1735, children: Eunice, Oliver, Lucy, 
married Walter Geer. 

(V) Walter (2), son of Walter (i) Geer, 
was born at Charlestown, New Hampshire. 
January 9, 1792. His boyhood and early 
youth were passed with his parents in Salem, 
Washington county, New^ York. About the 
time he reached his majority he removed to 
Union \'illage, where he was drafted and went 
with the militia of our eastern border to repel 
the British advance at Plattsburg during the 
war of 1812. He removed in February, 1816, 
to Schaghticoke, where he commenced busi- 
ness as a tanner and currier. At this time he 
appears to have been the associate and peer 
of such men as William L. Alarcy. Jonas C. 
Heartt, Job Pierson. Moses Warren, James 
Livingston and B. P. Staats ; men that for a 
generation exercised a controlling influence 
over the politics of eastern New York, and 
all of whom left their mark upon the dial 
plate of the world's progress. In March, 
1820, he came to Glens Falls, New York, and 
resumed the business pursued at Schaghticoke. 
He soon afterwards embarked in trade with 
Abraham Wing and L. L. Pixley. Was after- 
wards a partner with George Sanford in the 
mercantile business. At the time of the en- 
largement of the Glens Falls Feeder (branch 
of the Delaware and Hudson canal), of which 
he was an active promoter, he had a contract 
with the state for some portion of the ex- 
cavation, and also built the locks at Fort Ed- 
ward. Not far from this time he went into 
the lumbering business with the late James 
D. Weston and John J. Harris. Their invest- 
ments and ventures were so judkiously made. 
and the business so ably looked after and 
managed, that all these acquired a handsome 
competency. He was a magistrate in Queens- 
bury, New York, from 1821 to 1826, and 
member of assembly in 1837, a year memor- 
able in politics for its financial crisis, and the 
secession of the Conservatives from the domi- 
nant party. He was one of the principal 
originators and founders of the Glens Falls 
Academy : was instrumental in forwarding the 
erection of the Second Presbyterian Church 
building, which was destroyed in the great 



fire of 1864. He was a promoter of educa- 
tional and religious enterprises, an active and 
influential politician, a man of indomitable 
will and inflexible purpose. He died July 16, 
1855, and was among the first whose remains 
were deposited in the new cemeter}', where 
a handsome and conspicuous monument has 
since been erected to his memory. (History 
of Queensbury, N. Y., p. 51.) 

He married, in Northumberland, November 
2, 1815, Henrietta Van Buren, born Septem- 
ber 20, 1792, at Easton, New York, daughter 
of Elizabeth Newell and Martin \'an Buren, 
cousin of President Van Buren and Elizabeth 
(Newell) Van Buren. Children: Elizabeth 
\'an Buren. born January 29. 1817, died 1886, 
married John Younglove, February 3, 1847 ; 
Susan Cornell. January 16, 1819, died April 
4. 1889, married James Rogers, September 12, 
1850; Henrietta Van Buren, January 21. 
1821, died August 31, 1898: Asahel Clarke, 
see forward: \\'alter, March 15, 1825, died 
October 28, 1848: Abigail, April 14, 1827, died 
1894: Arabelle, April 14, 1829, died May 15, 
1853, married L. H. Baldwin, November 13, 
1849. 

(VI) Asahel Clarke, son of Walter (2) 
Geer, was born January 6, 1823, at Glens 
Falls, New York. 

The Nezv York Tribune of July 23, 1902, 
states: "A. C. Geer, of Washington, who was 
stricken with apoplexy at his summer home 
at W'illiamstown. Mass., on Thursday, July 
17th, died there on Monday night. Mr. Geer 
was born at Glens Falls, N. Y., on Jan. 6th, 
1823, and was the oldest son of Henrietta Van 
Buren an9 ^^'alter Geer, Jr. He was prepared 
for college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt., 
and entered Union College, at Schenectady, 
N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1843 
with the highest honors. He received from 
his alma mater, three vears later, the degree 
of A.M. 

"After leaving college he entered the law 
office of E. H. Rosekrans, at Glens Falls, with 
whom he remained one year. He then com- 
pleted his legal studies with Geo. A. Simmons, 
at Keeseville, N. Y., and was admitted to the 
bar at the General Term of the Supreme 
Court held at Rochester, in October. 1846. He 
practised for two years with H. Z. Hayner, at 
Troy, and in 1848 formed a partnership with 
Abram B. Olin, afterward member of Con- 
gress from Rensselaer county, and later Judge 
of the Supreme Court of the District of Col- 
umbia. The firm name at first was Olin, 
White & Geer, and later Olin, Geer & Colby. 
His practice was a large one, the firm being 
counsel for the Troy and Boston R. R. Co. 
and other large corporations of Northern New 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



York. From 1862 to 1868 Mr. Geer was Col- 
lector of Internal Revenue for the Fifteenth 
District of New York. On June ist, 1868, he 
accepted the position of secretary and general 
manas'er of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and 
Reaping Machine Co., at Hoosick Falls, N. Y., 
with which he remained for eighteen years, 
until his retirement from active business in 
1886. In January, 1886, in conjunction with 
the late Orlando B. Potter, of New York, he 
organized the N. Y. Architectural Terra- 
Cotta Company, of which he was vice-presi- 
dent up to the time of his death." 

After Mr. Geer's retirement from active 
business in 1886, he purchased the residence 
at Washington of the late Judge A. B. Olin, 
where he and Mrs. Geer have since passed 
their winters, spending their summers at Hoo- 
sick Falls, New York, and at Williamstown, 
Massachusetts. He married, in Providence, 
January 24, 1856, Helen Augusta Danforth 
(see Danforth VII). 

(The Danforth Line). 
The maternal ancestor of the Geer family 

■of Hoosick Falls. New York, was Nicholas 
Danforth. born in Frameingham, England, 
baptized IMarch i, 1589, died in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, 1638. His descent is traced to 
William, died 1512. and Isabel Danforth, 
through their son Paul, died 1538, and his 
wife, Katteryne Danforth, through their son 
Nicholas, died 1585, and his wife, Alice Dan- 
forth, through their son Thomas, married, 
January 24, 1585, Jane, daughter of Thomas 
Sudbury. Thomas and Jane (Sudbury) Dan- 
forth were the parents of Nicholas, "the emi- 
grant," who is thus described by Rev. Cotton 
Mather in "Magnalia," vol. II, p. 59: "Mr. 

'N. Danforth : A gentleman of such estate and 
repute in the world that it cost him a con- 
siderable sum to escape the knighthood which 
King Charles I. imposed on all at so much 
per annum; and of such figure and esteem in 
the church that he procured that famous lec- 
ture at Frameingham in Suffolk, where he 
had a fine mansion ; * * * This person had 
three sons whereof the second was our Sam- 
uel, born in September, 1626, and by the de- 
sire of his mother, who died three years after 
his birth, earnestly dedicated unto the 'Schools 
of the prophets.' His father brought him to 
New England in the year 1634, and at his 
death about four years after his arrival here, 
he committed this hopeful son of many prayers 
unto the paternal oversight of Mr. Shepherd 
who proved a kind patron unto him." 

Nicholas Danforth is mentioned in the town 

•records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1635, 
and in that year was chosen deputy to the 



general court. He died in April, 1638. He 
married Elizabeth , who died in Frame- 
ingham, England, where she was buried Feb- 
ruary 22, 1628. Children, all born in Eng- 
land: I. Elizabeth, married, October i, 1639, 
Andrew Belcher, mariner, trader, vintner and 
•painter; nine children. 2. Mary, baptized ]\Iay 
3, 1621. 3. Anna, baptized September 3, 
1622 ; married Matthew Bridge, of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 4. Thomas, baptized Novem- 
ber 20, 1623 : recorder of deeds of Middle- 
sex county, 1652 ; treasurer of Harvard Col- 
lege, 1650-69, and steward of same 1669-82 ; 
deputy to general court 1657; assistant or 
magistrate 1659 until he became deputy-gov- 
ernor in 1679, and again in 1689 until 1692. 
He married May Withington, of Dorchester; 
had twelve children. 5. Lydia, baptized May 
24, 1625 ; married William Beamon ; seven 
children. 6. Rev. Samuel, baptized October 
17, 1626 ; member of the second class grad- 
uated from Harvard College (1643) ; "dis- 
tinguished for the fervor of his piety and 
the purity of his life" ; ordained assistant to 
Rev. John Eliot. September 24, 1650, and con- 
tinued in ofiice until his death, November 19, 
1674; he was an astronomer and made al- 
manacs, some of which "the historian" says he 
has seen. He married, November 5, 165 1, 
Mary, daughter of Rev. John Wilson. They 
had twelve children. 7. Captain Jonathan, see 
forward. 

(II) Captain Jonathan, son of Nicholas and 
Elizabeth Danforth, was born in Frameing- 
ham, England, baptized March 2, 1627-28, 
died in Billerica, Massachusetts. 1712. His 
house in Billerica was made a garrison house 
"8th day 8th mo. 1675," and he was made 
master of the garrison. He was commissioned 
lieutenant for Billerica, October 13, 1675, and 
captain, 1683. He was one of a committee of 
three to consult the towns of Middlesex 
county as to fortifications and defence, "28th 
day ist mo. 1673" (see History of Billerica). 
He was selectman, town clerk, deputy and 
captain of the militia company. He was a 
land surveyor and "transacted a large amount 
of business in town and state." He was one 
of the earliest settlers of Billerica, and the 
house he built and occupied was standing in 
1878. He married (first) in Boston, Septem- 
ber 22, 1654, Elizabeth Pawter-(ar Poulter), 
born in Rayleigh. Massachusetts, September 
I, 1633, died in Billerica, Massachusetts, Octo- 
ber 7, 1689. He married (second) November 
17, 1690, Esther, daughter of Richard Champ- 
ney (i) and widow of Josiah Converse, of 
Woburn. His gravestone in the old Billerica 
cemetery was in 1901 in a fair and legible state 
of preservation. Children: i. Mary, bom 



HUDSON AND AIOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



January 29, 1656; married John Parker. 2. 
Elizabeth, born May 27, 1657; married Sam- 
uel Hayward. 3. Jonathan, see forward. 4. 
John, died in infancy. 5. John, died in in- 
fancy. 6. Lydia, born June i, 1664: married 
Edward Wright. 7. Samuel, born February 
5, i66=;-66: married Hannah Crosby. 8. .Anna, 
born March 8, 1667; married Ensign Oliver 
Whiting. 9. Thomas, died in infancy. 10. 
Nicholas, died at age of twenty-three years. 
II. Sarah, born December 23, 1673; married 
(first) William French, by whom she had 
twelve children; (second) Ebenezer Davis, of 
Concord. 

fHI) Jonathan (2). son of Jonathan (i) 
and Elizabeth (Pawter) Danforth, was born 
in Billerica, Massachusetts. February 18, 1658- 
59, died June 17, 1710. He married, January 
27, 1682, Rebecca, born May 27, 1661, died 
March 25, 1754, daughter of Jacob Parker, of 
Chelmsford, Massachusetts. She survived her 
husband and became the third wife of Joseph 
Foster. Children, all born in Billerica: i. 
Rebecca, married Thomas Parker. 2. Thom- 
as, married Rebecca Simonds. 3. Lieutenant 
Jonathan, born March 22, 1688; married 
Elizabeth ^Manning. 4. Elizabeth, born Au- 
gust 31, 1690: married Christopher Osgood. 
5. Samuel, see forward. 6. Nicholas, born 
August 17, 1695, died 1748. 7. Captain Jacob, 
born February 6, 1697-98; married Rebecca, 
daughter of Deacon WilHam Patten. 8. Sarah, 
born August 18, 1700; married Solomon 
Keyes, who was killed in the battle of Lake 
George in 1755. 9. John, born June 3, 1703; 
married Tabitha Johnson. 

(IV) Samuel, son of Jonathan (2) and 
Rebecca (Parker) Danforth, was born in Bil- 
lerica, Massachusetts, September 16, 1692, 
died in the same town about 1749. The in- 
ventory of his estate included "one right in 
a township granted to the soldiers that weare 
in the Naragansett wars." He married, Au- 
gust 5, 1714, Dorothy, daughter of John and 
Sarah (Chamberlain) Shed. Children, all 
born in Billerica: i. Dorothy, married Walter 
Pollard. 2. Rebecca, married Ephraim Davis. 
3. Samuel, died in infancy. 4. Lieutenant Jo- 
seph, born June 30, 1720: married Mary A. 
Richardson. 5. Samuel, born June 24, 1722 ; 
married Mary, daughter of Seth Ross. 6. 
Thomas, born May 11, 1724: a revolutionary 
soldier ; married Sarah Butterfield. 7. Ben- 
jamin, living in 1749. 8. Sarah, married her 
cousin, David Osgood. 9. John, born Febru- 
ary 14, 1730; married Elizabeth Wilson. 10. 
Joshua, born February 24, 1732; married 
Kezia Reed. 11. Lucy, married Joseph, son 
of Seth and Mary Ross. 12. Jonathan, see 
forward. 



(V) Captain Jonathan (3), son of Samuel 
and Dorothy (Shed) Danforth, was born in 
Billerica, Massachusetts, June 14, 1736, died 
in Williamstown, Massachusetts, February, 
1802. He removed to Western (now \\'arren) 
and thence to Williamstown. He was ser- 
geant in Captain Reuben Reed"s company of 
minute-men which marched April 20, 1775, in 
response to the alarm of April 19, 1775, to 
Roxbury ; service seventeen days ; also cap- 
tain. Colonel David Brewer's regiment ; list of 
officers in camp at Roxbury, recommended in 
committee of safety, June 12 and June 17, 
1775 ; that said officers be commissioned by 
congress ; also, captain in Colonel Brewster's 
(Ninth) regiment, muster roll dated August 
I, 1775, engaged April 24, 1776, service three 
months fifteen days; also, company return 
dated October 7. 1773; also, captain Eighth 
Company, Colonel Whitcomb's regiment, mus- 
ter roll dated Camp at Ticonderoga ; Novem- 
ber 27, 1776; appointed January i, 17/5; re- 
ported re-engaged November 14, 1776, as cap- 
tain in Colonel Wigglesworth's regiment ; also 
list of captains Colonel Whitcomb's regiment 
from whose companies articles were stolen on 
evening of December 25, 1776. He married 
(first) at Warren, Massachusetts, April 22, 
1759, Lydia Reed, died August 9, 1769. Mar- 
ried (second) September 13, 1770, Miriam 
Coowie, of Western (Warren). Children of 
first marriage: i. Joshua, born November 26, 
1759, died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Jan- 
uary' 30, 1837; enlisted in his father's camp 
at age of fifteen ; was corporal and surgeon's 
mate; ensign lieutenant 1778; paymaster and 
captain 1781 ; was at Bunker Hill, Ticonder- 
oga, Saratoga, Valley Forge, Monmouth and 
Tappan Bay. In 1787 was appointed aide-de- 
camp to Major-General Patterson; 1794 ap- 
pointed postmaster of Pittsfield by President 
Washington and lived to be the oldest post- 
master in the country. Was town clerk, treas- 
urer, selectman, assessor, representative to the 
legislature five years, 1807 associate judge, 
1808 chief justice of court of sessions, ap- 
pointed by IVesident Madison United States 
marshal, also principal assessor and collector 
of revenue for eighteenth Massachusetts dis- 
trict, 1827 member of governor's council, 
where he ranked as colonel. He married Sa- 
lome Noble and had nine children. 2. Colonel 
Jonathan, born March 2, 1761 ; soldier of the 
revolution and pensioner ; married Abigail 
Johnson and had ten children. 3. Lydia, mar- 
ried William Woodward. 4. Dolly, married 
Ebenezer Billings : removed to Cambridge, 
New York. 5. Phebe, married Barnabas 
Carey (2). 6. Hannah, died about 1786. 7. 
Coowie, died in infancy. 8. Coowie, married 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Clarissa Tyler. 9. Keyes, see forward. 10. 
Clarissa, married John Hickox. 11. William 
Woodward, married Cynthia Noble ; was a 
farmer of Sodus, New York, where he died. 

(VI) Keyes, son of Jonathan (3) and 
Miriam (Coowie) Danforth, was born in Wil- 
liamstown, Massachusetts, June 6, 1778, died 
in the same town, October 6, 185 1. He was 
for three years county commissioner, repre- 
sented his district in the legislature several 
years, was widely known and esteemed for his 
sound judgment and firmness of purpose. For 
years he was leader of the Democratic party 
of Berkshire county. Three of his sons were 
lawyers, and his daughters were women of un- 
common beauty, intelligence and education, all 
of them marrying professional men. He mar- 
ried, in 1800, Mary Bushnell, born in Say- 
brook, Connecticut, September 28, 1784, died 
in Williamstown, January 27, 1867, daughter 
of Ephraim Bushnell, of Saybrook. Qiil- 
dren, all born in Williamstown, Massachu- 
setts: I. Charles, born February 5, 1804, died 
at Washington D. C, December 14, 1885 ; 
graduated at Williams College ; settled in 
Leroy, New York, in the practice of law ; 
county judge ; removed to Washington, D. 
C. ; married (first) Charity Foster, of Leroy; 
(second) Diana E. Jones, of noted ancestry, 
who survived him, a resident of Forest Glen, 
Maryland. 2. Ephraim lUishnell, born June 
II, 1806; married Elizabeth Pingry Foster. 

3. George, born July 24, 1808; graduate of 
Williams College ; studied law ; settled at Ann 
Harbor, Michigan; state senator; postmaster; 
eminent in the law ; married Mary R. Foster. 

4. Mary Bushnell, born August 31, 181 1 ; mar- 
ried Judge .'\braham B. Olin, graduate of Wil- 
liams College, member of congress four terms 
from Troy, New York, judge of the supreme 
court of the District of Columbia until he was 
seventy years of age ; no children. 5. Han- 
nah Alaria, born October 20, 1815 ; married 
Hon. Joseph White, graduate of Williams 
College, studied law in Troy, New York, 
partner of Judge Olin until 1848 ; superin- 
tendent of Massachusetts Mills ; state senator, 
bank commissioner, secretary board of educa- 
tion, trustee treasurer and secretary' of Wil- 
liams College many years. 6. Harriet Newell, 
born .\pril 14, 1818; married Colonel George 
Huntington Browne, of Providence, Rhode 
Island ; graduate Brown L'uiversity ; lawyer ; 
member of state assembly, congressman. 
United States district attorney, delegate 
Democratic convention at Charleston, South 
Carolina; i860, colonel Twelfth Regiment, 
Rhode Island \'olunteer Infantry; state sen- 
ator, elected chief justice supreme court of 
Rhode Island, but ill health forbade his ac- 



ceptance ; three children. 7. Keyes, born Jan- 
uary II, 1822; graduate of Williams College; 
studied law with Colonel I'rowne; practiced in 
Williamstown; judge of local court; assistant 
treasurer Williams College ; town treasurer 
twenty years, selectman, assessor, member of 
legislature, and an original member of Sons 
of the American Revolution. Married (first) 
Anna L. Lyon; (second) Caroline M. Smith, 
of Albany, New York. 8. Helen Augusta, see 
forward. 

(\TI) Helen Augusta, youngest daughter 
of Keyes and Mary (Bushnell) Danforth, was 
born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, January 
31, 1828. She is a highly educated, intellectual 
woman, especially accomplished in the lan- 
guages, one of the "finest types of the old 
New England woman." Lived the first ten 
years of her married life in Troy, where her 
pastor. Rev. Dr. Coit, rector of St. Paul's 
Episcopal Church, pronounced her the "most 
accomplished woman of his congregation." 
Dr. John Lord said she was the "most re- 
markable woman he had ever known ; her 
beauty and grace won all hearts." She was 
one of the earliest members of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution, and in 1893 ^^'^^ 
vice-president general of the National Society. 
She married, in Providence, Rhode Island, 
January 24, 1856, Asahel Clarke Geer (see 
Geer \T), born in Glens Falls, New York, 
January 6, 1823, died in Williamstown. Massa- 
chusetts, July 21, 1902. Children, all born 
in \\'illiamstown, Massachusetts: i. Walter, 
born August 19, 1857; graduate of Williams 
College, 1878; studied law in Washington, 
D. C. ; was assistant manager of Walter A. 
Wood Company, Chicago ofifice, now presi- 
dent of New York Architectural Terra Cotta 
Company of New York City and Ravenswood, 
Long Island. Married Mary, daughter of Or- 
lando B. Potter. 2. Danforth, see forward. 
3. Olin White, born June 25, 1866, died May 
19, 1884, at Hoosick Falls, New York. 

(\'III) Danforth. son of Asahel Clarke and 
Helen .Augusta (Danforth) Geer, was born in 
Williamstown, Massachusetts, May 25, 1859. 
He entered Williams College, where he was 
graduated B.A., class of 1879. .\fter leaving 
college he entered tlie employ of the Walter 
A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine 
Company as office boy. He rose through suc- 
cessive promotions to the offices of assistant 
secretary, secretary and treasurer, vice-presi- 
dent and finally president, which important 
office he now (1910) most worthily fills. Since 
1893 'is li3s been a director of the company. 
The record from office boy to president of so 
large and important a corporation is one sel- 
dom equalled and should prove an inspiration 



224 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



to young men. He is a director of the Se- 
curity Trust Company of Troy, and has other 
varied business interests. He is an active Re- 
pubhcan and is solicitous for the welfare of 
the village of Hoosick, which he has served as 
trustee. He is also a member of the Public 
Improvement Commission, created by special 
act of the legislature, on the sewer commis- 
sion, and president of Hoosick Falls board of 
trade. He is public-spirited, progressive, and 
a natural leader. He is a member of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His 
college fraternity is the Delta Psi. His clubs 
are the Hoosac of Hoosick Falls, of which he 
has been president since its organization, the 
Troy, of Troy, the University and St. An- 
thony of New York City. He belongs to the 
Sons of the Revolution, Society of Colonial 
Wars, Society of Founders and Patriots. He 
married, June 6, 1888, Amy, daughter of Wil- 
lard Gay, born in Albany, died in Troy, April 
I, 1891, treasurer of the Walter A. Wood 
Company from its incorporation until his 
death, cashier and then president of the 
National State Bank of Troy, New York. He 
married Ann Bishop, daughter of William and 

(Suydam) Bishop. Children of Dan- 

forth and Amy (Gay) Geer: i. Danforth, 
born April 12, 1889; educated in public and 
private schools ; entered Williams College, 
1907, now (1910) in his senior year. 2. Mary 
Ellis, born February 28, 1891 ; educated at the 
Misses Master's private school, Dobbs Ferry, 
New York. 3. Augusta Danforth, born De- 
cember 5, 1892; educated at Misses Master's 
school, class of 1910. 



Major John Jermain, of Long 
JERMAIN Island. New York, was a 
grandson of Ozce Jourdain, 
who was born in La Rochelle, France. He 
married Elizabeth Coudres, born in the same 
city. They were Protestant in religion, and 
after the death of his wife Ozce Jourdain fled 
with his son, Jean, to Scotland, about the 
time of the massacre of the Huguenots on St. 
Bartholomew's day, 1685. Jean Jourdain, his 
son, was born in La Rochelle, France, and 
fled with his father to Scotland ; married and 
lived in Edinburgh. The American history 
begins with John, son of Jean, and grandson 
of Ozce and Elizabeth (Coudres) Jourdain. 
The name became in the second generation 
in America, Jermain. 

(I) John Jordan was born in Edinburgh, 
Scotland, in 1729. In 1755 he came to .Amer- 
ica where he settled at White Plains, West- 
chester county, New York. In 1757 be mar- 
ried Mary Ann Daniels, of Dutch ancestors, 
who settled in England, later coming to New 



York, where Mary Ann was born in 1725, 
In 1776, at the outbreak of the war of the 
revolution, John Jordan with his family, ex- 
cepting his soil John, later known as Major 
John Jermain, removed to Saint John, Nova 
Scotia (now New Brunswick), where he cHed 
in 1799. The graves of John and Mary Ann 
(Daniels) Jordan are now covered by the 
cathedral in that city. 

(II) Major John (2), son of John (r) 
and Mary Ann (Daniels) Jordan, was born 
in Westchester county, New York, May 20, 
1758. After the removal of his parents to 
Nova Scotia, he took the name of Jermain 
and therefore may be considered the founder 
of his family in this country. He was a well- 
educated man, located in Sag Harbor, where 
he had a successful business career. He re- 
moved to Sag Harbor about the time of the 
family removal to Nova Scotia. He is be- 
lieved to have served in the Westchester coun- 
ty militia during the war for independence. 
During the second war with Great Britain, 
1812-14, he was in command of the fort at 
Sag Harbor, one of the most exposed points 
on Long Island. His title of major was not 
ornamental, but earned by actual military ser- 
vice. He accumulated a substantial estate at 
Sag Harbor and gave hearty support to every 
enterprise that tended to the betterment of 
his adopted town. He was public-spirited and 
progressive, and had an extensive acquaint- 
ance throughout Suft'olk county, where he was 
held in highest esteem. He died at Sag Har- 
bor, February 17, 1819, leaving a will equita- 
bly distributing his property. His "beloved 
wife," Margaret, and three sons, were named 
as executors of his estate. He married, Au- 
gust 27, 1 78 1, Margaret, daughter of Syl- 
vanus and Rebecca (Lupton) Pierson, of 
Bridgehampton, Long Island (see Pierson 
VI). Children: i. Mary, born May 7, 1782, 
died at Sag Harbor. Long Island. January 28, 
181 1. Slie married, at Sag Harbor, Febru- 
ary 19, 1800, Daniel Latham, who died at 
Sag Harbor, November 15, 1830. 2. Sylvanus 
Pierson, of whom further. 3. Rebecca, born 
October 2, 1787, died at Brooklyn, New York, 
November 15. 1824. She married. February 
24, 1807, Colonel Alden Spooner, died in 
Brooklyn, November 24, 1848. 4. Julia Ann, 
born January 31, 1789, died at White Plains, 
New York, August 24, 1874. She married, 
at Sag Harbor. July 8, 1808, Rev. Nathaniel 
Scudder Prime, D.D., died at White Plains, 
New York, March 27, 1855. 5. Alanson, 
born February 10, 1781, died November 5, 
1885. He married, at Albany. New York, Jan- 
uary 12, 1820, .Sabra Rice, died in New York 
City, May 13, 1841. 6. Caroline, born Jan- 




j2(r^^^-^^e^ 




<^^<^^^>^^<^w 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



225 



uary 25, 1794, died at Geneva, New York, 
June 18, 1877. She married, at Sag Harbor, 
June 9, 1812, Rev. Stephen Porter. 7. John, 
born Alarch 22, 1796, died at Detroit, Mich- 
igan, March 15, 1881. He married, at Ovid, 
New York, April 13, 1820, Sarah Delevan, 
died January 14, 1890. 8, George Washing- 
ton, born September 29, 1798, died at Gen- 
eva, New York, September 21, 1879. He 
married (first) January 13, 1820, Cornelia 
^^'endell, died at Lockport, Xevv York, Sep- 
tember 6, 1857. He married (second) Janu- 
ary 9, 1859, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Abi- 
gail P. \\'arner. 9. Margaret Pierson, mar- 
ried Joseph Slocum, of Syracuse, New York. 
Their daugliter, Margaret Olivia Sage 
(widow of Russell Sage, of New York) in 
addition to her man\' generous gifts for phil- 
anthropic and educational purposes has not 
forgotten to pay tribute to the memory of her 
grandparents in the erection of the Henry 
Pierson high school and the John Jermain 
Memorial Library at Sag Harbor, Long 
Island. 

(HI) Sylvanus Pierson, eldest son of Ma- 
jor John (2) and Margaret (Pierson) Jer- 
main, was born January 31, 1784, died at 
Albany, New York, August 20, 1869. He set- 
tled in Albany about 1806. He was a man 
of the highest integrity and of untiring de- 
votion to business, the produce and commis- 
sion business, at that time so important a 
feature of Albany's commercial life, and he 
abundantly prospered. He was one of the first 
managers of the Albany Savings Bank, or- 
ganized in 1820, and was its first secretary. 
With the Mechanics and Farmers Bank he 
was closely connected, entering its directorate 
early in the centur3\ He married, at Albany, 
August I, 1807, Catherine, daughter of James 
Barclay and Janet Barker, his wife, natives 
of Scotland. She died January 24. 1816. 
Children: i. Janet Elizabeth, born May 11, 
1808, died July 3, 1808. 2. James Barclay, 
August 13, 1809, of whom further. 3. 
John Pierson, January 25, 1812, died 
March 10, 1835, married Frances Mallory at 
Troy, New York, May 14, 1832: they 
had one son, Sylvanus P. Jermain, born Au- 
gust 29, 1833 ; married Emily E. Franklin, of 
Brooklyn, New York, September 6, 1856 ; Syl- 
vanus P. Jermain, died January 2, 1857. 4. 
William, April 20. 1814. died November 29, 
1814. 5. Infant daughter, October 21, 181 5, 
died three days later. 

(IV) James Barclay, son of Sylvanus Pier- 
son and Catherine (Barclay) Jermain, was 
born in Albany, New York, August 13, 1809. 
He was deprived of a mother's care when he 
was but seven years of age and became an 



inmate of the home of his uncle. Rev. Nathan- 
iel S. Prime, by whom he was prepared for 
college. He entered I\liddlebury College in 
1824 and later was a student at Yale. Ill 
health interru]5ted his studies which were later 
resumed at Amherst College, whence he was 
graduated in 1831. He chose the profession 
of law and was admitted to the New York bar 
in 1836. He was engaged in the practice of 
law, especially in connection with his father's 
estate. In 1869, on the death of his father 
he inherited his property, and henceforth his 
life was marked by an unostentatious philan- 
thropy and by the promotion of practical 
Christianity. His private benefactions were 
many and only known to a few. He was 
chief founder and patron of the "Home for 
.\ged ]\Ien," and gave the Young Men's 
Christian Association building, erected on a 
lot provided by the citizens of Albany. The 
Fairview Home for Friendless Children near 
Watervliet owes its existence to his generos- 
ity. As a memorial to his only son, he en- 
dowed the Barclay Jermain professorship in 
Williams College. Himself a devoted Chris- 
tian, he erected for the cause he loved and 
as an enduring family monument the Jer- 
main Memorial Church at Watervliet, New 
York, a structure of grace and beauty. His 
memory is lovingly cherished. Mr. Jermain's 
interest in these benefactions continued until 
his death and by will he carefully provided 
for their continuance. His wisdom and prac- 
tical humanity were everywhere acknowl- 
edged. In 1892 Williams College conferred 
upon him the degree of LL.D. 

He married, in 1842, Catherine Ann Rice, 
of Cambridge, New York, born February 27, 
1823, died April 21, 1873, daughter of Col- 
onel Clark and Ann (Hilton) Rice, both of 
\\'ashington county. New York. Children 
of James Barclay and Catherine Ann (Rice) 
Jermain: i. Catherine Barclay, married Wil- 
liam H. McClure, of .Mbany : children : i. Julia 
Jermain, died November 3, 1889, at the age 
of nineteen years ; ii. Archibald Jermain, mar- 
ried Anna Cassin, of Rensselaer, New York, 
and has one son, Barclay Jermain McClure, 
born August 30. 1900. 2. .Ann Rice, married 
Rev. Frederick B. Savage, of Newburg, who 
died in 1873. Child, Katharine Jermain, mar- 
ried Frederick de Peyster Townsend and had 
children : i. Marie Jermain, born June 4, 1896; 
ii. Elizabeth K., .August 20. 1897, died No- 
vember 7, 1909: iii. Edith, January 17, 1899; 
iv. Frederick de Peyster, April 23, 1900; v. 
Katherine Savage, December 9, 1902 ; vi. Ma- 
rianne, September 24, 1906; vii. James Bar- 
clay, June 12, 1910. 3. Maria Cumings, un- 
married. 4. Julia Prime, married Robert 



226 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



MacCartee, of New York. 5. Barclay, the 
only son, married Katharine Sophia Thayer, 
of Troy, New York. He died in 1882, at the 
early age of twenty-nine. He was a young 
man of fine promise and had already won the 
respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. 
He was a charter member of the Committee 
of Thirteen, one of the commissioners for the 
new building of the City Hall, and in the 
town of Watervliet was chairman of the com- 
mittee of the Taxpayers' Association which 
carried on a vigorous and successful fight 
against corrupt administration of the town 
finances. He was at one time director in the 
Young Men's Christian Association. While 
interested in whatever related to Albany's im- 
provement, Mr. Jermain dearly loved his 
home in the country, the house on the Troy 
and Albany road, where his father and mother 
took up their residence in the first year of 
their marriage and where all their children 
were born. The original house was built by 
General Worth. 

(TTie Pierson Line). 
Henry Pierson, of Southampton, Long Isl- 
and, and Rev. Abraham Pierson were 
brothers, sons of Abraham and Christian 
(Johnson) Pierson, of Shadwell, parish of 
Stepney, Middlesex, England. The family 
were of considerable distinction and had been 
honored by their sovereign, as shown by their 
armorial bearings: Arms: Three suns in 
pale, or, between two palets erminois. Crest: 
A demi lion proper, holding in the dexter paw 
a sun, or. J\Iotto: "Mea spes est in Deo." 
(My hope is in God.) 

(I) Abraham Pierson. of Middlesex, Eng- 
land, born 1590, married, July 31, 161 5, 
Christian Johnson, widow, and had children: 
I. Abraham, born 1616. graduate of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, England, 1632, A.M. ; 
came to New England in 1639 ; settled first 
in Lynn, Massachusetts ; resident of South- 
ampton, Long Island, 1640-47, Brandford, 
Connecticut, 1647-66; Newark, New Jersey, 
1666. A strong, useful character and a leader 
among men, of whom mucli is written. 2. 
Henry, of whom further. 

(II) Henry, son of Abraham and Christian 
(Johnson) Pierson, was born in England, in 
1618, came to New England with Rev. Abra- 
ham Pierson in 1639, settled with him at 
Lynn, and at Southampton in 1640. He was 
clerk of Suffolk county. Long Island, 1669, 
holding the office until 1681. He was, like 
his brother, a man of deep piety, strong re- 
ligious convictions and scholarly attainments. 
They labored together for temporal and spirit- 
ual betterment until Rev. Abraham Pierson 



removed to Brandford in 1647. From that 
time Henry was the leader in his town and 
shares the honor of being a founder of the 
public school system of America. He married 
Mary, daughter of John Cooper, of Lynn,. 
Massachusetts, John Cooper came from Eng- 
land in the "Hopewell," in 1635, aged forty- 
one, with his wife, Wibroe, and four children r 
Mary, aged thirteen; John, ten; Thomas,, 
seven ; ]\Iartha, five years of age. Children: 
of Henry and Mary (Cooper) Pierson: Abi- 
gail, born 1649; Henry, of whom further; 
Joseph, 1656; Benjamin, removed to New Jer- 
sey; Theodore, born 1669; Sarah. 

(HI) Colonel Henry (2), son of Henry 
(i) and Mary (Cooper) Pierson, was born 
at Southampton, Long Island, 1652. He was 
well educated and rose to great prominence- 
in the colony of New York. He was elected 
to the general assembly of the province of 
New York, and was successively re-elected' 
for several terms. He served on important 
committees and did much in shaping legisla- 
tion and laying the foundations of the colonial 
and state laws. He was speaker of the- 
house from 1690 to 1695, and the peer of the-, 
great public men of his period. He married' 
Susannah, daughter of Major John Howell, 
and granddaughter of Edward Howell, vvho> 
came with his family to Boston in 1639, 
settled on Long Island, 1640. where he was- 
a magistrate and member of the Connecticut: 
general court (Southampton then being un-- 
der Connecticut jurisdiction). Major John,, 
son of Edward and his wife Frances, was. 
baptized November 22, 1624. He was a man- 
of distinction and was entrusted with the man- 
agement of much public business. By his wife- 
Susannah he had eleven children, of whom 
Susannah was the si.xth. The Howells were- 
a knightly family of North Wales ancestry. 
Their coat-of-arms was: "Three towers triple- 
towered, argent." Crest : Out of a ducal cor- 
onet or, a rose argent, stalked and leaved vert, . 
between wings endorsed of the last." Chil- 
dren of Colonel Henry (2) and Susannah' 
(Howell) Pierson: John, born November 30» 
1683; David, 1688: Hannah; Theophilus, 
1690; Sarah; Abraham, 1693; Josiah, of" 
whom further ; Mary. 

(I\') Josiah. son of Colonel Henry (2) 
and Susannah (Howell) Pierson, was bom' 
1695. He was a farmer with no ambition 
for public or military life. He had four wives ■ 
and eleven children: Silas. Matthew. Sylvanus, ■ 
of whom further, Paul, Timothy, Josiah, Jos-- 
eph, Benjamin, John, Martha, married Ste- 
phen Jagger ; Susannah, married David' 
Hodges. 

(V) Sylvanus, son of Josiah Pierson, was- 








^f^'.j^^i>^wff^srm. ,^^ r,^^.^ . r 'f^^ ^ nW i 



/^ 



h'>&^^^2^;0^ 



I 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



227 



born March 2, 1725, died at Bridgehampton, 
Long Island, August 23, 1795. He married 
Rebecca, daughter of David Lupton, of Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts. Children: Rebecca, Mar- 
garet, Sally, Margaret. 

(VI) Margaret, daughter of Sylvanus and 
Rebecca (Lupton) Pierson, married, August 
27, 1781, Major John (2) Jermain (see Jer- 
main II). 



(IX) Robert Clarence Pruvn, son 
PRUYN of Hon. Robert Hewson (q. v.) 

and Jane Ann ( Lansing) Pruyn, 
was born in Albany, New York, October 23, 
1847. His early education was received at 
the Albany Boys' Academy, following which 
careful preparation he entered Rutgers Col- 
lege, graduating in the class of 1869. For a 
time he was an attache to the American lega- 
tion at Tokio, while his father was the United 
States minister to Japan. Governor John A. 
Dix appointed him upon his stafif. On Feb- 
ruary 13, igoi, the legislature elected him a 
regent of the University of the State of New 
York, on which prominent board he served 
until its reorganization in 1903, along the lines 
of new legislative enactment. Mr. Pruyn was 
for a long time president of the board of com- 
missioners of Washington Park of Albany, 
until the park system became a bureau in the 
department of public works. He was one of 
the commissioners appointed to erect the new 
City Hall, whose corner-stone was laid in 
188 1. He is a member of St. Peter's Episco- 
jal Church, and for many years has been a 
vestryman, participating most actively in all 
affairs concerning the good of the church, and 
has served a number of times as delegate to 
national conventions of the Episcopal church 
in America. Mr. Pruyn was chosen president 
of the National Commercial Bank of Albany, 
May 23, 1885, to succeed Hon. Daniel Man- 
ning, appointed by President Cleveland that 
spring on his cabinet as secretary of the treas- 
ury, and who had in turn succeeded Mr. 
Pruyn's father as president of the bank. It 
was during the officiate of Mr. Pruyn that this 
bank erected its own building, at Nos. 38-40 
State street, on the line of plans executed by 
Architect Robert W. Gibson ; but the remark- 
able expansion of its affairs soon necessitated 
the consideration of acquiring much larger 
quarters, and on May 2, 1904, this bank re- 
moved to its new, handsome granite and mar- 
ble building at No. 60 State street. The ex- 
terior of this building is a chief ornament of 
Albany's principal business street, and the in- 
terior, commodious and replete with all mod- 
ern methods for convenience of customers and 
ofificials, is a subject of unstinted admiration 



because of its refined beauty combined with a 
certain amount of ornateness. Equally as good 
a barometer of its success and progressiveness 
under the executive guidance of Mr. Pruyn is 
the fact that the stock of this bank has en- 
hanced in value. For several years Mr. I'ruvn 
was vice-president of the Municipal Gas Com- 
pany, of Albany, and the president of the Al- 
bany Railway Company, the two largest cor- 
porations operated in the city. He is a direc- 
tor of the L'nion Trust Company, and was one 
of its organizers ; member of the board of 
governors of the Albany Hospital ; a director 
of the Albany Institute and Historical and 
Art Society; member of Philip Livingston 
Chapter, Sons of the Revolution ; of the Hol- 
land Society ; Albany Chamber of Commerce ; 
Century Association ; of the University and 
Metropolitan clybs of New York City ; the 
Fort Orange, the Albany, the University and 
Country clubs of Albany. 

Mr. Pruyn's residence is at No. 7 Engle- 
wood place, fronting on the most beautiful 
portion of Washington Park. The interior 
exhibits a peculiar charm of refinement in its 
furnishing, and one of its most admired fea- 
tures is the collection of ivories brought to 
this country from Japan by his father, which 
is ranked as one of the finest in this country. 
Mr. Pruyn spends his summers on his Adiron- 
dack preserve, known as Camp Santanoni, 
attractively located on Newcomb Lake, 
reached by a drive of about thirty miles north- 
ward from North Creek. It is here that Mr. 
and Mrs. Pruyn surround themselves with 
their family and from ten to twenty guests. 
They delight in the pleasure of entertaining 
and are true to the dictum of the old Dutch 
hospitality. In the winter it has been his cus- 
tom to spend several weeks at Jekyl Island, 
as a member of that club. He is especially 
concerned in everything pertaining to art in 
its best form : enjoys riding, books and travel. 

Robert C. Pruyn married, at Albany, Oc- 
tober 22. 1873, Anna Martha, born in Albany, 
May 7, 1853. daughter of Chauncey Pratt 
Williams, late president of the National Ex- 
change Bank, and Martha Andrews (Hough) 
Williams (see Williams VI). Children, born 
in Albany : 

I. Edward Lansing, November 23, 1874. 2. 
Ruth Williams, October 3, 1877; married, Al- 
bany, June 3, 1903, David Marvin Goodrich, 
born at Akron, Ohio, June 22, 1876, son of 
Benjamin F. Goodrich and his wife (nee) 
Mary Marvin ; child, Anne, born Boston. April 
II, 1904. 3. Robert Dunbar. October 11, 
1879: married in Church of the Ascension, 
New York, December 15, 1903, Betty Met- 
calf, born at Erie, Pennsylvania, September 



22ii 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \.\LLEYS 



30. 1880. daug^hter of Frederic Wilder Met- 
calf and his wife (^neej Ruth Moorhead; 
children : Robert Lansing, bom. New York 
Cit\-, November 5, 1904: Ruth. New York 
City, May 5, 1907. 4. Frederic, July 5, 1881 : 
married in St. George's Church. New York 
CitA'. February 5, 1907. Beatrice Morgan, 
born in New York City, June 26. 1886. daugh- 
ter of William Fellowes and Emma ( Leavitt ) 
Morgan: children: Frederic, bom in Short 
Hills, New Jersey, Februarys 25, 1908: Fel- 
lowes Morgan, Short Hills, New Jersey, De- 
cember 2, 1909. 



The Wheeler family is of 
\\'HEELER English origin. It is re- 
corded that during the reign 
of Charles II. C 1649-1685^ Sir Charles 
Wheeler was appointed "Captain General of 
the Caribee Islands." and that in 1693 the 
English fleet under command of Sir Francis 
\\'heeler put into Boston to recruit. Orcutt, 
the historian of .Stratford, Connecticut, says 
"Wheelers were in and around London four 
hundred years." 

Between 1620 and 1650 many families of the 
name came from England and settled in Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut and \'irginia. In Hot- 
ten's "Lists of Emigrants to .America," 1600- 
1700, it is stated that Henrie \\'heeler em- 
barked at London, May 16, 1635, in the 
"Plaine Joane.' for X'irginia ; that July 24, 
1635, John Wheeler embarked in the "Assur- 
ance" from London for \'irginia ; that August 
I, 1679. John XN'heeler. junior, sailed on the 
ship "Retume" from New England. There 
was a John Wheeler in Newbury, Massachu- 
setts, whf/m. .Savage says, "came in the '.Mary 
and John' in 1634." His will (i66Si) men- 
ticms children and grandchildren here, and 
sons .Adam, Edward and William in .Salisbury. 
Wiltshire, England. George Joseph and Oba- 
diah \\'heeler were among the early settlers 
of Concf^rd, Massachusetts, and may have 
been meml>ers of the first party that settled 
there in 1O35. There was a Thomas Wheeler 
in Boston in 1636; an Isaac in Charlestown 
in 1O43; ^ Joseph in Newbury, who died in 
1659; a Thomas in Lynn in 1642; a Moses in 
Stratford, Connecticut, whom Orcutt says was 
Ujtti in Kent. England, in 1598. Shallick says 
that between 1650 and 1680 there were in 
O>ncord alone thirty distinct families of the 
name. I'armee reo^rds as an interesting fact 
that twenty-six of the name graduated from 
New England colleges in 1826. The name is 
y.iarticularly distinguished in medicine, and is 
a noted one in military history. 

(I) The line of Dr. John Thome Wheeler 
begins with fjeorge Wheeler, who came from 



England to Concord, Massachusetts, about 
id^. and died before June 2, 1687. He mar- 
ried Katherine, who died at Ccmcord, Jan- 
uar\- 2, 1684. 

ni ) Thomas, son of George and Katherine 
Wheeler, was bom in England, died before 
September 21, 1687. He married, October 10, 
1657. Hannah Harrod. 

(III) Thomas (2). son of Thomas (i) and 
Hannah ( Harrod > Wheeler, was born at Con- 
cord, Massachusetts, January' i, 1659, died 
there October 21, 1734; married, November 
13, 1695, Sarah Davis, bom March 11, 1555-6, 
died .August 5, 1728. 

(IV ) Thomas C3), son of Thomas (2) and 
Sarah C Davis) \N'heeler, was born at Con- 
cord, August 14, 1696, died Januan,- 21, 1769; 

married (first) Mar}- , died March 18, 

1740. 

(V) Henr>-, son of Thomas (3) and Mary 
Wheeler, was bom September 11, 1717. He 
married Deborah Underbill, born August 6, 
1723. and settled in Dutchess countj'. New 
York. 

(VI) Thomas (4), son of Henry and De- 
borah (Underbill) Wheeler, was born Octo- 
ber 23, 1752, died November 23, 1820. He 
married Elizabeth Connor. lx>m March 19, 
1750, died May 4, 1826. Children : Deborah, 
born December 21, 1774. died September 2, 
1784 : Rebecca, born January 20, 1777, died 
September 6, 1798 ; William, of whom fur- 
ther; Phoebe, born October 16, 1782; Henry, 
October 31. 1784: Thomas, February 25, 
1787; Elizabeth. June 25. 1789, died at Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, December 27, 1836, mar- 
ried Calvin Philleo. 

(\TI) William, son of Thomas (4) and 
EHzabeth (Connor) Wheeler, was born in 
Oyster Bay, Long Island, June i, 1780, died 
December 17, 185 1. He was a wheelwright 
and farmer of the town of Westerlo, .Albany 
county. New York. He married Martha 
Thorne, born March 3, 1776, died July 21, 
1833. Children: i. Samuel Smith, lx>rn July 
16, 1801, died March 22, 1835; married Maria 
Boardman, died June 17, 183O; children: i. 
William Boardman, died December 19, 1841, 
aged fifteen years ; ii. Samuel Edwin, died 
March 21, 1855, in his twenty-first year. 2. 
Phoel^ Ann, born April 28, 1803, died at 
Hempstead (now Mineola), I»ng Island, 
.May, 1862; married, October 5, 1826, George 
Jerome, manufacturer of agricultural imfJe- 
ments, deceased. 3. .Alonzo Wheeler, born 
January 12, 1805, died in .Albany, New York, 
January 21, 1867. 4. Romclia, Ixjrn April 10, 
1807 ; married, OctolK-r 22, 1833, KolK-rt W. 
.Murphy. 5. .Mary Eliza, l>orn .May 8, 1809; 
married, December 20, 1832, Solomon CraO' 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



229 



dall, a merchant, now deceased. 6. William 
Connor, born June 21, 181 1: married, Octo- 
ber 21, 1852, Frances Wright Allen. 7. Alex- 
ander Frazier, born July iS, 1813; a lawyer: 
died in Poughkeepsie. Xew York, .August 16, 
1863: married. ^larch, 1841, Anna Elizabeth 
Barnes. 8. Stephen Titus, born May 9, 1815; 
enlisted in the civil war and is believed to 
have been killed at the battle of Chancellors- 
ville. g. Joseph Thorne. of whom further. 
10. Thomas Barnes, born April 11, 1820, died 
in Albany. New York, June 18, 1862 : mar- 
ried, December 30, 185 1. Rebecca C. Markle. 
The above sons were all members of the agri- 
cultural implement firm of Wheeler. Melick & 
Co., the endless chain inventors and patentees. 
(\Tn) Joseph Thorne. son of William and 
Martha (Thorne) \\heeler, was bom at 
Westerlo, .\lbany county. New York, Septem- 
ber 2^. 1817, died at Chatham, New York, 
June I, 1856. He resided in Co.xsackie and 
Chatham, and later, from 1849 to April 15, 
1856, at Albany, New York, where he was 
the partner of Wheeler, Melick & Company, 
manufacturers of agricultural implements, 
comer of Hamilton and Liberty streets. 
Later the family removed to Chatham, New 
York, where he died June i. 1856. He mar- 
ried. September 29, 1842, Mary Ann Backus, 
born in Chatham (one mile east of the vil- 
lage) December i, 1821, died August 13, 1884. 
Children: i. Harriet, born at Chatham, New 
York, at the Backus homestead, Aug:ust 15, 
1847, and now lives at the old Wheeler home- 
stead in Chatham. 2. Dr. John Thorne; of 
whom further. 3. Mary Crandall, born in Al- 
bany, New York, January 29, 1853, died at 
Chatham, May 14, 18S3. 

(IX) Dr. Jc>hn Thorne Wheeler, only son 
of Joseph Thorne and Mary (Backus) ^\'heel- 
er, was bom at Albany, New York, Decem- 
ber 30, 1850, died at Chatham, New York, 
December 3, 1908. His father's failing health 
necessitated his retirement from business, and 
a few months before his death he purchased 
a home in Chatham, where he died at the early 
age of thirty-nine years. Chatham was ever 
after the family home. John Thorne attended 
private schools in the village, and for one 
year was a clerk in the Columbia Bank. He 
prepared for college at schools in Claverack 
and Amenia, New York, entering Yale Uni- 
versity, class of 1873. His health not being 
equal to the rigorous New Haven climate, he 
left Yale in his sophomore year and entered 
Cornell University, where he took special 
courses, and later prepared for the practice 
of medicine with Dr. Edward R. Hun. of .W- 
bany. and there had some hospital experience. 
He thou entered Bellevue Medical College, 



Xew York. Ill health continued seriously to 
interfere with his plans. His letters home 
, written during his school and college years 
give pathetic evidence of his constant struggle 
to keep the frail body in condition to serve the 
active mind. In January, 1875, he was de- 
clared by a high medical authority in New 
York City as suffering incurably from tuber- 
culosis. He returned to Chatham to die. but 
at once began to improve under the open air 
treatment he had prescribed for himself. He 
resumed his medical studies, was graduated 
M.D., and was a successful practitioner in 
Chatham the remainder of his life. After his 
graduation in 1875 there were few interrup- 
tions to his practice. Two seasons were spent 
in stud\- in New York City and a few months 
in Europe for rest. In 1S95 a serious bicycle 
accident, resulting in a long and critical ill- 
ness, withlield him for several months from 
his usual activities ; a few years later a re- 
currence of pulmonary trouble sent him by 
advice of physicians to the Adirondacks anil 
thence to Asheville. North Carolina, and led 
to serious consideration of a change of resi- 
dence to the western mountain region. At 
the end of three months, improved in health 
and convinced anew that his manner of life 
in Chatham had been on the whole beneficial, 
he came back to resume with indomitable 
courage his ministrations to his people. 

Dr. Wheeler was greatly interested in edu- 
cation, and was the most potent influence in 
establishing the exceptionally fine school in 
which Chatham takes just pride, and hail en- 
tered upon his tenth temi of three years as 
a member of the village board of education. 
The securing of a good schtx->l library, the 
enlargement of its scope by the gift of Mr. 
.Andrew Carnegie of $15,000 for tlie erection 
of a fine library building, were ends attained 
largely through his interest and energy. His 
ability in his profession was recognized far 
beyond the limits of iiis home town. He was 
a helpful member of the County Medical So- 
ciety, and for some time its presiilent : was 
vice-president of the State Medical Society, 
and a director of the Division of Communi- 
cable Diseases in the State Department of 
1 lealth. He was also vice-president of the 
State Bank of Chatham, and a trustee of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Although pre- 
vented from finishing the course at Yale, he 
was an intensely loyal Yale man, as evinced 
by his devotion to tlie University bv sending 
his two sons there, and in attending when- 
ever possible his class reunions, occasions 
which he greatly enjoyed and to which he 
was always heartily welcomed. He was a 
member oi the .Mpha Delta Phi fraternity, 



230 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



and prominent in the Masonic order, having 
been made a Mason in 1877. Of the pro- 
found sorrow and sense of loss which Dr. 
Wheeler's death occasioned, many testimonials 
are borne in the local papers of Chatham and 
Albany, in the Bulletin of the State Depart- 
ment of Health, and in heartfelt tributes from 
his associates in the profession and from num- 
berless friends. A fitting tribute was in the 
resting of the remains for a brief period in 
the beautiful library building which stands 
as an especial monument to his untiring and 
persistent energy. He was given a Masonic 
buriel service by his brethren of Columbia 
Lodge, No. 98, Free and Accepted Masons, 
conducted by Senator Smith of Albany, past 
district deputy grand master, after which his 
remains were returned to the family for pri- 
vate interment. Many noted physicians from 
Albany and New York City were present to 
pay their last respects to their honored broth- 
er. All business was suspended in Chatham 
between the hours of two and four p. m. 

Dr. Wheeler married, in 1881, Gertrude 
Lake, of Chatham, born at Shokan, Ulster 
county. New York, June 20, 1858. They 
had one son, Thorne Lake, born June 8. 1888, 
prepared for college at the Chatham School 
and .Albany Boys Academy, and entered Yale 
University, whence he was graduated in the 
class of 1909. 

On the death of a dear friend. Dr. Wil- 
liam Duncan, of New York City, his son, Wil- 
liam Wheeler Duncan, became the adopted 
son of Dr. and Mrs. Wheeler. He attended 
the Chatham School, completed his college 
preparation at Hotchkiss school, Lakeville, 
Connecticut, and was graduated at Yale Uni- 
versity in the class of 1902. 

Gertrude (Lake) Wheeler survives her hus- 
band, a resident of Chatham, as does his sister 
Harriet Wheeler. 

(Colonial ancestry of Dr. John Thome 
Wheeler). 

Robert I'eke came to Massachusetts Bay in 
the fleet with (iovernor Winthrojj in 1630. He 
married Elizabeth, widow of Henry Win- 
throp, son of (iovernor Winthrop, daughter 
of Thomas and Anne (Winthrop) Pones, of 
London. She was also a niece of Gov- 
ernor John and first cousin of Henry 
Winthrop, her first husband. .Among 
the children of Robert and Elizabeth Feke 
was a daughter Hannah, who married May 
7, 1656, John Bowne, from Matlock. Eng- 
land, son of Thomas I'owne, born 1595, at 
Matlock, Derbyshire, England. 

(H) John, son of Thomas Bowne, was 
born 1627, at Matlock, England, died i(X)5. 
He married (first) Hannah Feke. They were 



residents of Southold, Long Island. Han- 
nah was a zealous member of the Society of 
Friends, and had "received a gift in the min- 
istry." Her husband embraced that faith, and 
they together visited England in 1675-76, 
holding service in Ireland, England and Hol- 
land. She died January 31, 1677-8, at the 
residence of John and Mary Elson, at the 
Peele meeting place in St. John street, Lon- 
don. She was buried in the Friend's burial 
place in Cheque Alley, Bunhill Fields, but her 
grave is unmarked. Among their eight chil- 
dren was Samuel. 

(III) Samuel, son of John and Hannah 
(Feke) Bowne, was born 1667; married 
Mary Becket. 

(IV) Mary, daughter of Samuel and Mary 
(Becket) Bowne, married, 1698, John Keese. 

(V) John (2), son of John (i) and Mary 
(Bowne) Keese, was born 1729; married, 
1750, Elizabeth Titus. 

(VI) Sarah, daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Titus) Keese, born 1750, died 1845; 
married Joseph Thorne, born 1745, died 1819. 

(VII) Martha, daughter of Joseph and 
Sarah (Keese) Thorne, married William 
Wheeler. 

(VIII) Joseph Thorne, son of William and 
Martha ( 'Thorne) Wheeler, was born Sep- 
tember 23, 1817, died June i, 1856; mar- 
ried, September 29, 1842, Mary Ann Backus. 

( IX ) Dr. John Thorne, son of Joseph and 
Mary Ann (Backus) Wheeler, married Ger- 
trude Lake. 

(X) Thorne Lake, son of Dr. John Thorne 
and Gertrude (Lake) Wheeler, born at Chat- 
ham, New York, June 8, 1888. 

(The Titus Line). 
Elizabeth Titus, wife of John Keese 
(2-q. v.), was a descendant of Robert Titus, 
first of the name in America, who was born 
in England in 1600, probably in St. Catherine's 
parish, near Standard Abbey, thirty miles 
north of London. He embarked for Amer- 
ica, April 3, 1635, with wife Hannah and 
two children. He first settled in Boston 
(Brookline) then in Weymouth. In 1644 he 
removed to Rehoboth, where he was court 
commissioner. He got in trouble with the 
authorities for harboring a Quaker, and in 
1654 removed to Long Island. His son Ed- 
numd settled in Old Westbury. He became 
a member of the Society of Friends, for which 
he sufTered much persecution. He married 
Martha Washburn. Their eldest son, Sam- 
uel, was born June, 1658. married (second) 
Elizabeth, daughter of John Bowne and wid- 
ow of John Prior. Their son, Samuel Titus 
(2), married Mary Jackson, a descendant of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



231 



Richard Jackson, who had a grant of land 
in Southold, Long Island in 1640. 

Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Mary 
'(Jackson) Titus, married John Keese (2), 
son of John and Mary (Bowne) Keese. Sa- 
rah, daughter of John and Elizabeth Keese, 
married Joseph Thorne, and they were the 
parents of Martha Thorne, wife of William 
Wheeler, the grandparents of Dr. John 
Thorne Wheeler. 

(The Underliill Line). 
Deborah Underbill, wife of Henry Wheeler 
(V). was a descendant of Captain John Un- 
derbill, born in Harwichsbire, England, came 
with Governor Winthrop to America in 1630. 
He married (second) Elizabeth Winthrop, 
daughter of Henry, son of Governor Win- 
throp and Elizabeth (Pones) Winthrop. Eliz- 
abeth (Pones) Winthrop later became the 
wife of Robert Feke (or Feake), through 
whom Dr. Wheeler traced another line of co- 
lonial descent. Captain Underbill took a 
prominent part in all the Indian wars of his 
time, freely exposing himself in hand-to-hand 
encounters with the savage foe. He had seen 
service in the Netherlands during the war of 
that country before he was selected in 1630 
to drill and command the Boston militia. Not- 
withstanding his life of warfare and hard 
fighting. Captain Underbill became in his lat- 
ter days a respected and sincere member of 
the peace-loving Society of Friends. He was 
a freeman of Boston, 1630, and subsequently 
of New Haven, Connecticut, Southold. Long 
Island, Greenwich, Connecticut, and in 1667 
purchased one hundred fifty acres of land 
from the Indians at Killingworth, Connecticut. 
One line of descent from Captain Underbill 
is through his son, Nathaniel. 

(II) Nathaniel, son of Captain John and 
Elizabeth (Winthrop) Underbill, born 1663, 
married, 1685, Mary Ferris. 

(III) Thomas, son of Nathaniel and Mary 
(Ferris) Underbill, married Phoebe Daven- 
port. 

(IV) Charity, daughter of Thomas and 
Phoebe (Davenport) Underbill, was born 
about 1752. She had three husbands, of whom 
the first was Joseph Thorne. 

(V) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (i) and 
Charity (Underbill) Thorne, married Sarah 
Keese. 

(VI) Martha, daughter of Joseph and Sa- 
rah (Keese) Thorne, married William Wheel- 
er, and they were the grandparents of Dr. 
John Thorne WTieeler. 

_^__^_ (The Montagne Line). 

Gertrude Lake, wife of Dr. John Wheeler, 
is a lineal descendant of Dr. Johannes de la 



Montagne, born at Saintas, Province of San- 
toigne. West France, educated in medicine at 
Leyden University, Holland. Here he became 
acquainted with Jesse De Forrest, the origi- 
nator of the famous "Leyden petition" to the 
English government in 1622 for permission 
for himself and si.Kty families to emigrate to 
Virginia. Among the sixty was Monsieur 
Jean La Montagne, "Student of Medicine." 
This matter fell through for want of encour- 
agement from the British government, and 
De Forrest then negotiated with the West In- 
dia Company and in 1623 with thirty fam- 
ihes sailed in the ship "New Netherlands," 
and landed in New .-Xmsterdam, making the 
first permanent settlement there after the 
trading station. La Montagne accompanied 
the party being (it is supposed) engaged to 
the young daughter of De Forrest. Jesse De 
Forrest died and his family returned with 
Montagne to Holland. He continued his stud- 
ies, obtained his degree, and married Rachel 
De Forrest in the Leyden church. He again 
emigrated to New Netherlands in 1637, and 
seems to have interested himself more in the 
public affairs of the colony than in the prac- 
tice of his profession. His wife died and 
he married (second) in 1647, widow Agnes 
Storm (born Ten Woert), who bore him sons 
Gillis and Jesse. The children by first wife 
were Jolant, Jesse, John, Rachel and Mavis. 

(II) John, son of Dr. Jean and Rachel (De 
Forrest) La Montagne, was born in 1632, died 
1672-3 : married, in Holland, Petronelle Pikes, 
and had John, Vincent, Necissus, Alvan, Je- 
lente, Isaac, Petronelle and Johanna. 

(III) \'incent, son of John and Petronelle 
(Pikes) La Montagne, born in New Amster- 
dam, April 29, 1659, married Adriana Aiken. 

(IV) Thomas, son of Vincent and Adriana 
(Aiken) La Montagne, married Rebecca 
Bruyn. 

(V") Vincent (2). son of Thomas and Re- 
becca (Bruyn) La Montagne, married Cathe- 
rine Howe. 

(VI) Peter, son of Vincent (2) and Cath- 
erine (Howe) La Montagne, was born De- 
cember 25, 1757, in New York, died 1828. 
He was a soldier of the revolution, serving in 
Colonel Philip Van Cortland's regiment. He 
married Gertrude Keator. 

(VII) Isaac, son of Peter and Gertrude 
(Keator) La Montagne, married Mary Long- 
year. 

(VIII) Gertrude, daughter of Isaac and 
Mary (Longyear) La Montagne, born 18 10, 
died 1841, married Thomas Hill. 

(IX) Eliza, daughter of Thomas and Ger- 
trvide (La Montagne) Hill, married Rundell 
J. Lake. 



232 



HUDSON AND :\IOHAWK VALLEYS 



(X) Gertrude, daughter of Rundell J. and 
Eliza (Hill) Lake, married Dr. John Thome 
^^"heeler, whom she survives, a resident of 
Chatham. New York. 

(X) Thorne Lake, only son of Dr. John 
Thorne and Gertrude (Lake) Wheeler, born 
June 8, 1888; unmarried; now in the Mas- 
sachusetts Institute of Technology, class of 
1911. 



Rt. Rev. Thomas IMartin Aloy- 

BURKE sius Burke, the fourth Bishop of 
Albany, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Ireland, January loth, 
1840. His father was Dr. Peter Ulic Burke, 
a physician and surgeon, who died in Utica, 
New York, November 24th, 1868. 

In May, 1170, the De Burghs accompanied 
Richard, the Earl of Strongbow, to Ireland. 
Although many centuries have elapsed since 
the advent of the De Burghs to Ireland, their 
Norman descent is as fresh as if the event 
had occurred within recent years. The name 
of De Burgh in the course of years was an- 
glicized and changed to Burke. In order to 
perpetuate and to keep fresh the memory of 
his Norman descent, the name of Ulic. which 
is very probably a contraction of Guillaume 
(\\'illiam), referring to the Conquerer, is al- 
ways borne by the eldest son of every branch 
of Dr. Burke's family. 

Dr. Peter Ulic Burke, or as he was called, 
Doctor Ulic Burke, was born in Birr, Ire- 
land, August 24th, 1798. His classical studies 
were made under learned teachers in private 
schools and academies. When he had com- 
pleted his study of humanities he entered 
Trinity College. Dublin, where he finished a 
successful course in medicine and surgery. 
As Dr. Burke was a Catholic, he could not 
receive his diploma and graduate from Trin- 
ity. The Emancipation Act had not as yet 
been passed, hence he was obliged to enter 
the University of Edinburgh, which at that 
time was in the zenith of its glory. The 
celebrated Dr. Knox was at that period the 
demonstrator of anatomy. Under Dr. Knox 
and other celebrated professors. Dr. Burke 
completed another full course of studies. His 
success in his classes was so great that he re- 
ceived, as a mark of special distinction, a 
written diploma signed by the president and 
all the professors. 

Returning to Ireland, Dr. Burke took up his 
residence in Dublin and opened his office at 
yj Lower Gardner street. Not very long af- 
ter his coming to Dublin, an event occurred 
which had a great influence in the subsequent 
career of the young practitioner. A noble- 
man from the west of Ireland came to Dub- 



lin to be treated for a growth in the throat, 
which caused him great suffering. He applied 
to several of the older surgeons in Dublin, but 
they could not relieve him ; finally he applied 
to young Dr. Burke. The practice of sur- 
gery at that period was much more difficult 
than at the present time. The use of chloro- 
form, ether and other anaesthetics, which at 
the present time render surgical operations 
comparatively easy, was then unknown. The 
young surgeon fully realized the delicacy and 
the danger of the operation. He, however, 
undertook to perform it, and lie succeeded so 
well, that the nobleman fully recovered his 
healtli. He was so grateful that he persuaded 
Dr. Burke to come and reside near him. The 
practice of Dr. Burke in his new home became 
in a short time very extensive. His services 
were called upon for many miles around, and 
he included among his patients nearly all the 
prominent families in the district. He was 
invited in consultation by the neighboring doc- 
tors in all important cases. Not only was 
Dr. Burke consulted in surgical and medical 
matters, but he so enjoyed the confidence of 
his patients and of his neighbors, that they 
frequently consulted him in their personal and 
business affairs. 

As in Ireland there was but little hope of 
procuring suitable positions for his numerous 
family of sons, Dr. Burke came to the United 
States in 1850 and settled in Utica, New York, 
where he resumed his practice of medicine 
and surgery. His first patient in Utica was 
a venerable old gentleman, the father of a 
JMethodist minister. The old gentleman was 
loud in his praise of the new doctor. His prac- 
tice daily increased, and his success in treat- 
ing his jjatients was phenomenal. So skillful 
was he in his diagnosis, that the judgment 
of Dr. Burke as to the final result of the ill- 
ness was considered almost infallible. He 
took a deep interest in the Oneida County 
Medical Society, of which he remained an 
active member until he was removed from ac- 
tive participation by a stroke of paralysis. 

Notwithstanding his large practice, the 
Doctor found time to devote to religious, edu- 
cational and charitable works. He was for 
many years president of St. Vincent de Paul's 
Society, of which many of the most prominent 
Catholics of Utica were members. He had al- 
ways at heart the establishment of an orphan 
asylum for boys. There was already in Utica 
a large flourishing asylum for girls. The at- 
tention of Dr. Burke was called to the case 
of two boys w'ho had no home and no one 
to provide for them. He immediately called 
the attention of the society to the sad fact, and, 
after consultation with the other members of 




4- 



C^\>t^M^t^A >L. ^. Y^ivv^L^ 



^'^ i WfeWs/ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



233 



the society, the Doctor induced the Brothers 
to receive these two boys into their house and 
provide for their maintenance. This was real- 
ly the beginninq- of the Boys' Asylum in 
Utica. The Asylum at present is an imposing 
building, and it occupies a prominent position 
on Rutger street. 

Dr. Burke always took a deep interest in 
promoting education. He was not only a 
skilled physician, but he was also a linguist, 
haying a thorough knowledge of Latin and 
Greek, and was also versed in Italian, Span- 
ish and French. He translated from the 
French for the Christian Brothers, several 
works. Having suffered a severe stroke of 
paralysis. Dr. Burke retired from the practice 
of medicine. Although his left side and arm 
were affected, he still retained his mental 
vigor, so that he was able to devote himself 
to literary work. He composed for the Broth- 
ers of the Christian School, Burke's "Amer- 
ican Practical Arithmetic," with Burke's "Pri- 
mary Arithmelic." He also wrote a work 
upon philosophy, the publication of which was 
prevented by death. 

A yotuig physician, a graduate of Glasgow 
University, had come to Utica. This young 
doctor induced Dr. Burke to resume his rnedi- 
cal practice. The active work was to de- 
volve upon the young doctor, whilst the elder 
doctor was to be the consulting phyhician. A 
few days after restuning his medical practice, 
as Dr. Burke was returning home from his 
office, he had a second stroke of paralysis 
which deprived him of the use of his sight. 
His active career was at an end. He peace- 
fully departed this life on November 24th, 
1868. His funeral took place in St. John's 
Church, Utica. and Bishop Conroy celebrated 
the mass, wliich was the first pontifical mass 
celebrated in St. John's Church. There were 
forty priests present in the sanctuary. Lauda- 
tory obituaries were written by all the Utica 
papers. The Utica Observer especially pub- 
lished one of the most beautiful panegA'rics 
that ever appeared in that most excellent jour- 
nal. Bishop Burke lost his mother by death 
when he was one year old. 

The Bishop received his early education un- 
der the direction of his father, in his own 
home. When the Academy of the Assumption 
in L^tica was opened for the reception of pu- 
pils, he was among the very first to be enrolled 
amongst the scholars. He remained but one 
year in the Brothers' Academy. Young Burke 
at an early age conceived an ardent desire 
of consecrating himself to the holy priesthood. 
To carry out his design, he entered, in 1855, 
St. Michael's College, Toronto, Canada, and 
began his studv of the classics. The confine- 



ment of the college and the climate of Toron- 
to so impaired the health of young Burke, that 
after five months he was compelled, though 
most reluctantly, to return home. During the 
eight months which he remained at home he 
continued the study of Latin under the direc- 
tion of his father. In September, 1856, young 
Burke entered St. Charles College, Ellicott 
City, Maryland. St. Charles College, named 
after the revered Charles Carroll, the signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, was 
founded in his honor by the Carroll family. 
The president of St. Charles College was 
Rev. Oliver Jenkins, a member of the Jen- 
kins family of Baltimore. Father Jenkins had 
been a banker, but he renounced his position 
and all worldly honors to join the .Society of 
St. Sulpice. A more worthy and learned 
priest than Father Jenkins could hardly be 
found. St. Charles College counted among 
its students, when young I3urke entered, Mr. 
James Gibbons, now Cardinal Archbishop of 
Baltimore ; Mr. John J. Keane, the present 
Archbisliop of Dubuque; Mr. Jolin J. Kain, 
the late .\rchbishop of St. Louis, and" several 
other distinguished ecclesiastics. Bishop Burke 
was in Maryland when John Brown made his 
famous raid on Harper's Ferry. He was, 
however, at his home in Utica when John 
Brown was executed. He has always main- 
tained that the attack on Harper's Ferry was 
the first battle of the Civil War. The ex- 
citement in the North was intense, violent 
language w^as uttered, and agitators and dem- 
agogues delivered fiery speeches. The people 
in the South became alarmed, and in many 
places military companies were formed, which, 
when the war broke out, entered the Confed- 
erate army. 

Young Burke graduated with the highest 
honors from St. Charles College in June, "i860. 
It was arranged that he should enter upon 
his philosppliical and theological studies in the 
American College. Rome, but owing to the 
death of his eldest brother. John Ulic Burke, 
of Utica. and also to the political agitation 
at that time in Italy, he abandoned liis in- 
tention of going to Europe, and returned to 
St. Charles College. During the year which 
he spent in the college, he taught Latin, Eng- 
lish, and other branches, and at the same 
time, under the direction of one of the pro- 
fessors, he devoted himself to the study of 
logic and philosophy. The following year he 
entered St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, 
where he began the study of theology. After 
entering the seminary he was appointed mas- 
ter of conference of philosophy, and during 
the two subsequent years he occupied the 
position of master of conference of theology. 



234 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



At the end of his three-years' course in St. 
Mary's he received the degrees of Master 
of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity. Having 
completed his studies, he was ordained to the 
holy priesthood in the seminary chapel on 
June 30th, 1864, by the Rt. Rev. Francis P. 
McFarland, Bishop of Hartford, who had for- 
merly been his pastor in St. John's Church, 
Utica, New York. Up to the day of Bishop 
McFarland's death the warmest friendship 
existed between him and Father Burke. 

The late Cardinal McCloskey had about this 
time been nominated by the Holy See as the 
successor of the great Archbishop Hughes. He 
had not as yet taken possession of his new 
see, and he continued to reside at the episcopal 
residence on Madison avenue, Albany, N. Y. 
His Grace received the young priest with his 
usual kindness and invited him to be his guest. 
Father Burke had from his early youth been 
personally acquainted with Cardinal McClos- 
key, for whom he cherishes to this day a warm 
and affectionate recollection, and whom he 
justly regards as one of the most amiable, 
eloquent and pious prelates that" ever adorned 
the Church in America. 

Father Burke's first appointment was assis- 
tant in St. John's Church, Albany. He re- 
mained in St. John's only seven months, af- 
ter which he was transferred to St. Joseph's 
Church, Albany, of which Very Rev. John 
Joseph Conroy was then the pastor. During 
the interregnum that followed the departure 
of Archbishop McCloskey, the administration 
of the diocese devolved upon Vicar-General 
Conroy. Bishop Conroy was appointed suc- 
cessor to Bishop McCloskey, and he was sol- 
emnly consecrated in the Cathedral of the 
Immaculate Conception, Albany, on Sunday, 
August 15th, 1865. For several years after 
his consecration. Bishop Conroy retained the 
pastorship of St. Joseph's Church. 

Father Burke, by reason of his intimate re- 
lations with the bishop, was frequently deputed 
to perform episcopal functions, such as lay- 
ing corner-stones, blessing churches, etc. The 
bishop also frequently consulted him in im- 
portant matters referring to the administra- 
tion of the diocese. Before his appointment 
as pastor of St. Joseph's Church by Bishop 
McNeirney in 1874, Father Burke had erected 
St. Joseph's .School for boys, at a cost of forty- 
two thousand dollars. School No. 15 was the 
first of the large public schools erected in 
Albany. St. Joseph's Boys' School was the 
second large school. The erection of these 
two schools gave the impetus to school build- 
ing, which has resulted in the erection of so 
many costly and magnificent school buildings 
which now adorn our city. 



St. Joseph's parish embraced within its 
bounds all the section of the city lying North 
of Orange street, and also North and West 
Albany. Immediately after his appointment 
as pastor of St. Joseph's, Father Burke re- 
quested Bishop McNeirney to establish a new 
parish in North Albany, to be named the par- 
ish of the Sacred Heart. The Bishop granted 
his request, and at his suggestion he consti- 
tuted Rev. Francis J. Maguire the first pastor 
of the new parish. Under the zealous admin- 
istration of Father Maguire the new parish 
flourished, and the present beautiful church 
and fine parochial residence were erected. 
Some years later Father Burke ceded West 
Albany to St. Patrick's parish. West .\lbany 
afterwards became a separate parish. The Rev. 
James Peyton became the first pastor, and 
he erected St. Francis de Sales Church, a pa- 
rochial residence, and a commodious hall. All 
these buildings were destroyed by fire. The 
present new brick church and elegant parish 
house were built by the present pastor. Rev. 
P. F. Scully. 

Father Burke took a special interest in the 
young men of his parish. He assumed charge 
of the Young ]\Ien's Sodality immediately 
upon his appointment by Bishop Conroy. and 
he retained his ofhce of spiritual director of 
the Sodality until the day he left St. Joseph's 
to take up his abode in the episcopal residence. 
He conducted many spiritual retreats both for 
the young men and young ladies. His last 
retreat was for married women, at which 
more than twelve hundred were present. 

Although as a rule the pastor of St. Joseph's 
confined himself strictly to parochial duties, 
yet he took an active part in urging the con- 
struction of the Hawk street viaduct. On sev- 
eral occasions he spoke in favor of the pro- 
ject before the legislative committees. The 
bill permitting the city to issue bonds for the 
construction of the bridge was finally passed, 
but after a long and arduous struggle. As but 
a few days intervened between the passage of 
the bill and the adjournment of the legisla- 
ture, the signature of the governor was re- 
quisite before it could become a law. At the 
request of several citizens on Arbor Hill, the 
bishop called upon Governor Hill and ex- 
plained to him the necessity of the proposed 
viaduct, and persuaded the Governor to make 
a personal examination of the ravine, so that 
he might judge for himself of the reason- 
ableness of the demand of the citizens resid- 
ing north of Clinton avenue. The governor 
signed the bill, and the event was celebrated 
by fireworks and the booming of cannon. The 
victory was not, however, as yet won. The 
bill was subject to the mayor's signature. A 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



235 



meeting was held in the City Hall. Speeches 
pro and con were delivered. When Father 
Burke was called upon he made a forcible 
•speech in favor of the viaduct. Among other 
things he said : "It has been asserted here, 
that only the nabobs of Fort Orange will walk 
•over this bridge. It is indeed, true, that the 
members of the Fort Orange Club will use 
this bridge. It is false, however, that the 
nabobs of Fort Orange Club will be the only 
ones who will enjoy this structure : on the 
very contrary, when this bridge shall have 
been completed, you will see it black with 
working men going with their dinner pails to 
their work; you will see crowds of children 
going to the schools and academies, and ybu 
will see hundreds of citizens from the north- 
ern part of the city going to their offices 
and places of business. When the bridge shall 
have been built, should any one be so rash 
as to demand its renioval, he would incur the 
indignation of the people of Albany." The 
result has fully verified the prediction. 

During tlie incumbency of Father Burke, 
St. Joseph's Church was twice struck by light- 
ning, which each time shattered one of the 
western towers; and did considerable injury 
to the structure itself. The damage, how- 
•ever, was quickly repaired. The water table, 
I the windows and ornamental trimmings of 
St. Joseph's were made from Caen stone 
imported from France, which owing to the 
severity of the climate had considerably dis- 
integrated and the exterior of the church pre- 
sented a rather dilapidated appearance. The 
•decaying stone was removed and replaced by 
Ohio sandstone, which was greatly improved 
the appearance of the building. Another im- 
j provement which added greatly to the beauty 
.1 of the church and its surroundings, was the 
1 'laying out of St. Joseph's Park and the open- 
' ing and grading of St. Joseph's Terrace. The 
erection of the new parochial residence and 
■other fine houses makes St. Joseph's Terrace 
■one of the most desirable localities in the city. 
When Vicar-General Ludden was nomina- 
ted Bishop of Syracuse, Bishop McNeirney 
appointed Father Burke his successor in vica- 
riate. The new \icar-General was, by apos- 
tolic authority, June, 1890, created a Knight 
of the Holy Sepulchre, and in June, 1894, he 
was elevated to the dignity of Commander of 
the Grand Cross of Jerusalem. The knight- 
hood of the Holy Sepulchre is among the old- 
est orders of knighthood, and it is recog- 
; nized by every court of Europe. Had this 
honor been conferred by any crowned head, 
Bishop Burke woukI have declined to receive 
it, but. as it was conferred by apostolic au- 
■ thoritv, he did not for a moment consider that 



it would in any manner conflict with his strict- 
est loyalty to his American citizenship. Father 
Burke filled the oflfice of vicar-general during 
seven years. Bishop McNeirney 's health 
towards the end of his life was quite delicate, 
hence he went from time to time to the baths 
in Germany, and during his absence the ad- 
ministration of the diocese was committed to 
the vicar-general. The vicar did all in his 
pow'er to lighten the burdens of the bishop, 
who on his part frequently and openly ex- 
pressed the hope that Father Burke would be 
his successor in the episcopal office. The in- 
cumbency of Father Burke in St. Joseph's 
parish extended over the long period of thirty 
years less two months. Upon the death of 
Bishop McNeirney, January and, 1894, Father 
Burke was appointed by the late Archbishop 
Corrigan administrator of the diocese, scde 
I'acantc. The appointment was afterwards 
ratified by the Holy See. 

After the funeral of Bishop McNeirney, 
Archbishop Corrigan called a meeting of the 
Diocesan Consulters and the Irremovable Rec- 
tors, for the purpose of nominating a suc- 
cessor to the deceased prelate. As the result 
of the ballots taken during this meeting, the 
names of the Rev. Thomas M. A. Burke, the 
Rev. John F. Reilly, and the \'ery Rev. James 
McDermott, were announced as the choice of 
the priests. These names were subsequently 
presented to the bishops of the province, 
whose duty was to consider the merits of the 
respective nominees. The bishops had author- 
ity also to send to the Sovereign Pontiff other 
names approved by themselves. On May 
nth, 1894, Father Burke received from a 
friend in Rome a cablegram with these two 
words. "Salve Episcope." It was only, how- 
ever, on May i8th, that in public consistory, 
the Holy Father announced the elevation of 
Rev. Thomas M. A. Burke to the Episcopal 
See of Albany. As soon as the nomination 
was made known through the Associated 
Press, cablegrams from Europe and telegrams 
from archbishops, bishops, priests and laity 
from every part of the United States, poured 
in, offering him their warmest congratula- 
tions. These congratulations were by no 
means confined to Catholics, but what was 
particularly gratifying, many were also re- 
ceived from non-Catholics of all religious de- 
nominations. On the first of July, 1894, 
Bishop-elect Burke was consecrated the fourth 
Bishop of Albany, with all the splendor and 
ceremonial of the Catholic church. The dav 
was exceedingly hot. nevertheless the streets 
were filled with people, and joy seemed to 
pervade all hearts. The ceremonies, the mu- 
sic and the glorious spectacle presented in the 



236 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



Cathedral, were most beautifully described in 
the morning and evening journals. 

The aim of Bishop Burke was to keep up 
and perfect the good work of his predeces- 
sors — Bishop McClosky, Bishop Conroy, and 
Bishop McNeirney. He began at once to 
make the visitation of the diocese, which had 
been interrupted by the death of Bishop Mc- 
Neirney. Since his consecration he has made 
six visitations of the diocese. In these visi- 
tations he has carefully examined into the 
spiritual and material condition of each con- 
gregation, and has administered the sacra- 
ment of confirmation to over fifty thousand 
children and adults. 

One of Ilishop Burke's first objects was to 
have all the churches in the diocese incorpor- 
ated under the special state law for the incor- 
poration of Catholic churches. In this work 
he was most efficiently aided by his chancel- 
lor, Rev. C. J. Shea. There are at present 
one hundred and twenty-one churches with 
resident rectors, and fifty-two mission 
churches. The Bishop is theV.r officio presi- 
dent of all these churches. As he must pre- 
side at all important meetings of all these 
corporations, it can be easily conceived how 
much labor this duty alone necessitates. 

Under Bishop McNeirney the new sanc- 
tuary had been added to the Cathedral, which 
had been blessed but not consecrated. A 
church cannot be consecrated until it is free 
from debt. The Rev. Father McGuire, the 
rector of the Cathedral, undertook to collect 
a sufficient sum to cancel the debt. He was 
ably assisted by his zealous assistants, Rev. 
M. L. Walsh and Rev. John J. Lynch. Af- 
ter an appeal to the congregation, a domicil- 
iary visit was made, and members of the 
congregation responded so generously that 
within a com])aratively brief period the whole 
debt was li(|uidatcd. 

During the youth of Bishop Burke, a col- 
lection was taken up in St. John's Church, Uti- 
ca, for the south transept window in the Cath- 
edral. Some one had given him a present of 
a sum of money. This money young Burke 
contributed towards the purchasing of the 
window. Shortly after his consecration. Bishop 
Burke gave an order to Messrs. ITard- 
man & Company, of London and Birmingham, 
to replace the original window with the pres- 
ent magnificent one. When the late Father 
Purhrick. S. J., saw the window, he declared 
that it was one of the most beautiful of mod- 
ern times. The Bishop also donated to the 
Cathedral the present Stations of the Cross 
and the Sanctuary lamp. All the original win- 
dows of the Cathedral, which were quite 
plain, were afterwards, through the generosity 



of various societies and individuals, replaced 
by most beautiful stained glass pictorial win- 
dows manufactured by the celebrated firm of 
Hardman & Company. The exterior of the 
Cathedral was also newly faced; the interior 
was newly frescoed ; so that on the day of 
the consecration the building was practically 
a new edifice. 

There are many larger churches, there are 
many more costly, there are many more elab- 
orately decorated, but. in the judgment of 
many, there is not in America a single eccles- 
iastical structure which more forcibly excites 
the idea of beauty in the mind. The Cathedral' 
had been blessed and opened on November 
2ist. 1852. The ceremony of the solemn- 
dedication and consecration took place on No- 
vember i6th, 1902. The memory of the con- 
secration will never be forgotten by tho^e who 
enjoyed the privilege of being present at the 
ceremony. "On Sunday, the sixteenth," said 
the Argus, on the following morning, "with 
beauty of ceremonial that left nothing to be 
desired, and a wealth of melody that soothed 
and delighted, and a distinguished array of 
prelates and clergy of the church, supplemen- 
ted with an immense congregation represent- 
ing Albany and the state, the Cathedral of the 
Immaculate Conception was made God's own, 
by the unction and prayer of consecration, and 
the Golden Jubilee celebrated." 

In the year 1871 Bishop Burke made his 
first visit to Rome. He enjoyed the privi- 
lege of seeing and conversing with Pius IX, 
the then reigning Pontiff. On his way to 
Rome he revisited Paris, which had just 
passed through the siege by the Germans, and 
the awful, but fortunately short reign of the 
Commune. When the Bishop arrived at the 
station in Paris he was obliged to wait an 
hour to find a conveyance to take him to the 
hotel. All the horses had been eaten dur- 
ing the siege, and there was scarcely a cab 
in Paris. The most beautiful buildings and 
monuments were in ruins, and the loneliness 
and the silence of death seemed to pervade the- 
boulevards and the streets. \\'hcn the Bishop 
returned to Paris in 1889, he found everything 
changed. The streets were again crowded, 
the damage caused by the war and the Com- 
mune was in a great measure repaired, and 
the city had once more assumed its wonted 
life and gaiety which make it the most beau- 
tiful and interesting citv in the world. 

I'lCsides making a tour through Italv and' 
France, the Bishop visited Switzerland. Ger- 
many, England, Ireland and Scotland. Again 
in the year 1889, he went to Rome, and had' 
the pleasure of meeting for the first time, one- 
of the most remarkable Pontiffs that have- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



237 



adoTnerl the liistory of the Church, Leo XHL 
He had the pleasure of assisting at the Pope's 
Mass, and afterward enjoyed a very pleasing 
conversation with his Holiness. Leaving 
Rome, he proceeded to Egypt. In Alexan- 
dria he saw the ruins caused by the bombard- 
ment by the English and the French a few 
years previously. He found Cairo a most in- 
teresting city, for there for the first time he 
came in contact with Eastern civilization. 
Leaving Cairo he crossed the Lybian desert 
to Ismalia, and visited the residence which 
de Lesseps built for himself after he had com- 
pleted the Suez canal. From Ismalia he sailed 
through the Suez canal to Port Said, and from 
there he sailed on a Russian steamer to Jafifa, 
whence he went by carriage to Jerusalem. 
The railroad at present running from Jaffa 
to Jerusalem had not yet been constructed. 
The road passes through the plains of Sha- 
ron, rendered famous by the feats of Samson, 
and also through the plain of Ajalon, where 
the sun stood still at the prayer of Josue. 
After passing over the brook from which Da- 
vid took the limped stone with which he slew 
Goliath, and by the ruins of the castle of the 
brave and patriotic Maccabees, the travelers 
arrived in sight of the Holy City. All 
alighted, and all with uncovered heads saluted 
that city which Christ had «o often sanctified 
by His presence and consecrated by His death 
upon the cross. 

It is proper that a few words should be 
said here of the Bishop's fellow-travelers. 
When he left Albany he was just recovering 
from a long and severe attack of illness. He 
took no companion with him when he sailed 
from New York on the good ship "Etruria." 
When a few days out he became acquainted 
with a Mr. Sprague, a mill owner from Rhode 
Island, who in turn introduced him to a gen- 
tleman, a Mr. John S. Thompson, from Illi- 
nois, who, with his wife, Mrs. Clara Thomp- 
son, was about to visit Palestine. The Bishop 
and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson agreed to travel 
together. At Brindisi they met a Mr. Cross- 
man from Jamestown, Michigan, whom they 
took into their party. At Ismalia they met 
a Mr. and Mrs. Sturrock who had just ar- 
rived from Melbourne, and whom they invited 
to join them in their tour through the Holy 
Land. During the short sojourn of the party 
in Palestine they met with several adventures. 
Leaving Jerusalem on a IMonday morning, our 
travelers set out for the Dead Sea and the 
River Jordan. At that time there was no 
road between Jerusalem and Jerico. At the 
present time there is a fine road, which the 
Sultan constructed on the occasion of the visit 
of the Gennan emperor. Between the village 



of Bethany and Jerico there is a cave in the 
side of a hill, called the robbers' cave. Ac- 
cording to tradition this is the exact spot in 
which the traveler mentioned in the parable 
of the Good Samaritan, fell among thieves, 
who beat him and left him half dead. As the 
bishop and his companions passed by the cave 
it was full of robbers. The party was under 
the protection of Tribal Sheik, and it was 
moreover during the hours of Ramadan, dur- 
ing which the Bedouins will not slay or rob. 
After a dip in the Dead Sea and a copious 
draft of the sanctified water of the Jordan, 
our travelers arrived late at night at the Ho- 
tel Jordan. During the night a great wailing 
and weeping arose in the neighborhood of the 
hotel. It appears that a party of ten Arabs 
with fifty donkeys carrying sacks of wheat 
passed by the robbers' cave after the hours 
of Ramadan ; the robbers rushed out upon 
them, killed three, wounded others, and drove 
the donkeys with the corn across the Jordan. 
Two of the murdered Arabs were recognized 
by their friends who carried them to Jerico. 
The third was a stranger. When, early the 
next morning, the Bishop passed the robbers' 
cave, he beheld a number of Bedouins in front 
of it surrounding the body of the dead stran- 
ger. Had the unfortunate man been griev- 
ously wounded and not killed outright, the 
parable of the Good Samaritan would, to a 
certain extent, have been literally re-enacted. 
This scripture parable is indelibly impressed 
upon the mind of the bishop and his fellow- 
travelers. 

In the year 1895 the bishop again visited 
Rome. On the occasion of this visit he was 
then bishop, and he enjoyed the privilege of 
having a long private interview with the Holy 
Father, Leo XIII. He also made at that 
time his visit ad limina Apostolontm. 

In 1900 the bishop, accompanied by the 
Very Rev. Dean McDermott and the Rev. Jos- 
epli A. Mangan, again visited Rome. It was 
the year of the great jubilee. Rome at the 
time was full of strangers. A congress of all 
the Catholic societies of Italy was being held, 
under the presidency of the cardinal vicar. A 
vast number of priests, and many princes, no- 
bles and other distinguished men of Italy, 
France and Spain, took part in the proceed- 
ings. Bishop Burke was invited to address the 
congress. He accordingly made an address in 
Latin which was received with great applause. 
The substance of the address was cabled by 
the Associated Press to the United States and 
the address itself was incorporated in the 
minutes of the proceedings. During this visit 
to Rome, the bishop had his last audience with 
Leo XIII, who received him with the utmost 



238 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



kindness and real affection. As both realized 
that they would not in all probability meet 
again in this world, the parting was mingled 
with sincere sorrow. 

The Bishop's next visit to Rome was in 
1904. The Delegate Apostolic, Archbishop 
Falconio, for whom the bishop entertains the 
highest esteem and a warm friendship, was 
then in Rome. The Bishop realized that the 
p/esence of the Delegate in the Eternal City 
would greatly add to the pleasure of a visit 
at that particular time. Shortly after his ar- 
rival in Rome he had the happiness of meet- 
ing for the first time the present reigning 
Pontifif, Pope Pius X. Nothing could sur- 
pass the cordiality with which the Pope re- 
ceived the Bishop. His Holiness had evi- 
dently been well informed by His Excellency, 
the Delegate Apostolic, about the Bishop and 
his diocese. The Pope on that occasion, at 
the request of the Bishop, created the vicar- 
general, the Very Rev. John J. Swift, Pro- 
tonotarv Apostolic, and the Rev. John L. 
Reilly, 'the Rev. C. J. Shea, the Very Rev. 
Dean Duffy and the Rev. John Walsh, domes- 
tic prelates, with the title of Rt. Rev. The 
Bishop had the pleasure of dining with his 
Eminence, Cardinal Martinelli, the Sunday af- 
ter his arrival in Rome. He spent the Fourth 
of July under the Stars and Stripes at the 
American College. 

The following year, 1905. the Bishop made 
a tour through Norway, Sweden and Den- 
mark. He also visited the International Ex- 
position at Liege, Belgium. 

The Bishop made his latest visit to Rome 
in 1908. This time he was accompanied by 
his secretary. Rev. Joseph A. Delaney. His 
reception by the Pope was most warm. His 
Holiness, at the request of the Bishop, made 
Father Delaney a monsignore, and the Rev. 
James P. O'Connor, rector of the cathedral, 
a domestic prelate. From Cardinal Merry del 
Val the Bishop received the utmost kindness 
and courtesy. When the present secretary of 
state to His Holiness, Cardinal Merry del 
Val, was on his way to Rome from Canada, 
he and Cardinal Martinelli met at the Bishop's 
residence. His stay in Albany was quite 
short. He had just time to take a drive 
through our beautiful park, and to pay a hur- 
ried visit to the Capitol. The Bishop visited 
California twice. He traveled through almost 
every state in the Union. He made a tour 
to Mexico, to Cuba, through the northwest 
provinces of Canada, through Manitoba and 
British Columbia. 

Although most uncompromising in his Cath- 
olicity and ardently devoted to the Holy See, 
Bishop Burke has always respected the hon- 



est belief of those who diflfer from him in 
religious matters. Hence, upmn his election 
as Bishop of Albany, he received a large num- 
ber of warm congratulations from his fellow- 
citizens of every religious profession. 

The Bishop as a rule does not mingle much 
in public matters. He did not, however, hes- 
itate to take action when the good of the city 
required his services. Thus, in July, 1902, 
the bishop was hastening to take the fast mail 
train for Chicago, when he was halted by two 
reporters, who informed him that he had been 
selected by the United Traction Company as 
an arbitrator to settle a strike threatened by 
the employes of the company. The whole trou- 
ble was about the retaining in the employment 
of the company two men, who had rendered 
themselves odious to the members of the 
Union. These men had been suspended by 
the company, which seemed inclined to re- 
store them to their positions, against the pro- 
tests of their fellow-employes. The Bishop 
was the arbitrator for the Company. The 
two men in question had been accused by the 
Union of some acts of injustice. After ex- 
amining the matter carefully, the question of 
justice was left to be decided in the courts. 
The two men accused were not worthy of 
special consideration. The Bishop, however, 
demanded of the members of the union, a 
guarantee, that the union would not in any 
manner interfere with the discharged men, and 
that no opposition would be made to their 
procuring employment in any other company. 
The decision given was that these two men 
should remain permanently suspended. Thus 
a strike that threatened most disastrous re- 
sults and the utmost inconvenience to the cit- 
izens of Albany was within twenty-four hours 
averted. The latest act of the Bishop for the 
interests of .Mbany was the giving to the city 
of a tract of land in the western section, of 
twenty-five hundred feet in length by three 
hundred feet in width. Through the center of 
this tract runs a creek, which will be turned 
into a great culvert, receiving tlie drainage of 
a great part of the western section of the city. 
The sides of the gully will lie planted with 
trees, shrubs and flowers. On each side of 
this sunken garden, two fine streets will be 
constructed, thus not only beautifying the 
western part of the city, but also giving a 
breathing spot to our citizens in general. 



The paternal ancestor of the 
GREEN Greens of Troy, New York, 

herein recorded was Richard 
Green, born in the north of Ireland and set- 
tled in Canada about the year 1800. He re- 
mained in that country until after 1823 as 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



239 



in that year his son William F. was born 
in the city of Quebec. He later settled in 
Troy, New York, where his other children 
were born. He married Mary Ann, daughter 
of Robert and Isabella (Crawford) Barnes, 
born in Ireland. Children: James N.. enlisted 
in the civil war, rose to the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel and was killed in battle, a daring and 
gallant officer; Richard (2); William F., of 
whom further; Robert; John Crawford, of 
whom further ; Catherine and Edward. Isa- 
bella (Crawford) Barnes, was a descendant 
of the Crawfords of Dumbarton Castle, Scot- 
land, a family famous in Scotch history. 

(II) William F., third son of Richard and 
Mary Ann (Barnes) Green, was born in the 
city of Quebec, Canada, September 20, 1823, 
died in Troy, New York, September 16, 1877. 
He associated with his brother Robert in the 
furniture business in Troy, having lived in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until about 1870. 
He was a member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, an attendant of the Presby- 
terian church, and in politics a Republican. 
He married (first) December 30, 1845, Susan 
Maria, born April 21, 1823, in New York City, 
died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 
29, 1857, daughter of John and Susan Maria 
Oppel. He married (second) June, 1862, 
Kate Grace, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
She was born there July 24, 1837, died Octo- 
ber 4, 1890, at Troy, New York, daughter of 
Samuel and Catherine (Shetsline) Grace. 
Samuel Grace died in 1876. Children by 
first marriage : William Henry, born March 
23, 1847, died April 15, 1857; Emma Eliza- 
beth, November 14, 1857: Sara Catherine, 
now a resident of Troy. Children by second 
marriage : Mary Grace, resident of Troy ; 
Jeanette Durr. born in Philadelphia, December 
18, 1865. died June 17. 1867, in Philadelphia; 
Dr. Robert Barnes, born in Troy, June 19, 
1871, a graduate of Philadelphia Dental Col- 
lege, D.D.S., 1898. now a practicing dentist 
of Tarrytown, New York, married, October 
16, 1902, Frances Daisy, daughter of Town- 
send and Ermina P. Roe. 

(II) John Crawford, son of Richard and 
Mary Ann (Barnes) Green, was born in Trov, 
New York, June 12, 1832, died July 9, 1908. 
He was a decorator and furniture dealer ; 
prominent in the Republican party ; serving as 
fire and school commissioner of Troy. He 
was trustee of the Unitarian church and a 
man of influence. He married Mary Good- 
speed (see Goodspeed VIII). Children: 
Arba R., of whom further ; Lansdale Board- 
man, of whom further. 

(HI) Dr. Arba R. Green, eldest son of John 
Crawford and Mary (Goodspeed) Green, was 



born in Troy, New York, August 18, 1854. 
He was educated at Troy Academy and se- 
cured his professional education at the Home- 
opathic College and Hospital, New York City, 
whence he was graduated, M.D., class of 1879. 
He has since practiced his profession at Troy 
with much success. He has served as cor- 
oner of Rensselaer county and president of 
the New York State and Rensselaer County 
Homeopathic Medical societies. He married 
Lydia N'irginia, born in Nassau, Rensselaer 
county, New York, daughter of Leonard Vin- 
cent Richmond, born February 11, 1827, died' 
May I, 1905, at Land Lake, New York; he 
married at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Janu- 
ary 23, 1859, Nana, daughter of James Holt, 
born in England, died September 15, 185 1, 
aged fifty-four years, six months, and his- 
wife, Mary, who died 1876, aged seventy- 
five years. Child of Dr. Arba R. Green: 
Crawford Richmond, born in Troy, New York,. 
September 8, 1881, educated in the Troy Acad- 
emy, graduating 1898 ; a graduate of Brown 
University, A.B., 1902 ; New York Homeo- 
pathic Medical Institute, M.D., 1906, walked 
Metropolitan Hospital, New York, eight 
months after graduation. In the spring of 
1907 he began the practice of his profession 
in Troy. He is a Republican in politics, a 
member of the Unitarian church, of the Del- 
ta Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Alpha Gamma,. 
Pafraet Dael Club, Sons of the Revolution. 
His professional societies are Albany County, 
Homeopathic Medical Society, New York 
State Homeopathic Medical Society, Ameri- 
can Institute of Homeopathy. He is on the 
visiting medical staff of the Albany Homeo- 
pathic Hospital. He married, June 12, 1907, 
Helen Fish, born in Troy, daughter of Mar- 
cus M. Waterman,, born in Williamstown,. 
Massachusetts, and his wife, Anna (Adams) 
Waterman. Child, Carleton, born April 23, 
1909. 

(HI) Lansdale Boardman, son of John 
Crawford and Mary (Goodspeed) Green, was 
born in Troy, New York, May 13, 1871. He 
was educated in the Troy Academy, grad- 
uate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, C.E., 
class of 1891. He entered the furniture store 
of his father. Green & Waterman, Troy, as 
a clerk and continued with them until 1898 
when John Crawford Green withdrew from 
the firm, establishing in the same business un- 
der his own name. In 1903 he admitted his 
son Lansdale B. to a partnership, changing 
the firm name to J. Crawford Green & Son. 
On the death of his father in 1908 the son 
continued the business and is so engaged at 
present (1910). The business is art furniture 
and interior decoration. The firm manufac- 



240 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ture in their own shops a great amount of 
their finest furniture and hold a high position 
in the trade. He served in the Spanish war 
(see Adjutant General. 1908, report). He is 
an Independent Republican and takes an ac- 
tive part in politics. In 1905 he was elected 
supervisor on the Independent ticket and re- 
elected in 1907 and 1909 on the regular Re- 
publican ticket. He is the present president 
of the board. He is a member of the Uni- 
tarian church and formerly a trustee. He is 
a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, and of 
the Troy Pafraet Dael Club, .Armv and Navy 
Club (New York City), and the Island Golf 
'Club of Troy. 

(The Goodspeed Line). 

The American ancestor of Mary (Good- 
speed) Green, wife of John Crawford Green, 
was Roger Goodspeed, of whom the first rec- 
ord is in 1639, when he went to Barnstable, 
Massachusetts, and became one of the origi- 
nal proprietors of that place. It is not known 
from what country he came, in what vessel, 
or when. The earliest record of his wife is 
of her marriage, — "Roger Goodspeed and Al- 
lis Layton, married December, 1641." He was 
granted lands to which he added by purchase. 
In 1644 he joined the church. In 1672 his 
name was dropped from membership, in 1679 
he was reinstated at his own request. He 
died .'\pril, 1685, leaving a will. Children: 
Nathaniel, John, of whom further; Mary, 
Benjamin, Ruth, Ebenezer, Elizabeth. 

(II) John, second son of Roger and Alice 
(Layton) Goodspeed, was born. June 1645. 
He passed the first few years of his life at 
Barnstable and later moved to Misteake, where 
he died in 1719. He served as a soldier dur- 
ing King Philip's war, and was in the third 
expedition under Captain Thomas Howes. He 
married Experience Holway or Holly, daugh- 
ter of Joseph Holway or Holly, whose de- 
scendants claim lineal descent from the As- 
tronomer Holly, the first person to observe the 
transit of Venus. Children : Mary or Mercy, 
Samuel, John, of whom further ; Experience, 
^Benjamin, Rose, Bathsheba. 

(HI) John (2), second son of John (i) 
and Experience (Holway or Holly) Ciood- 
speed. married. February 16, 1698, Mrs. Re- 
member Buck, daughter of John and Susan- 
nah Jennings, widow of Joseph Buck. Chil- 
dren : Elizabeth. Temperance, Samuel, of 
whom further ; Cornelius, John, Experience, 
Remember. 

(I\') Samuel, eldest son of John (2) and 
Remeinher (Jennings) (Buck) Goodspeed, 
was born March 17. 1701. He married Re- 
becca . Children : Temperance, John, 



Eunice, Ann, Abigail, Remember, Samuel, Ab- 
ner, Anthony, of whom further. 

(\^) Anthony, youngest child of Samuel 

and Rebecca Goodspeed, was born at 

Barnstable, Massachusetts. April 18, 1746. He 
lived at Sheffield, Massachusetts ; Litchfield, 
Connecticut : Poultney, Vermont, and finally 
moved to Troy, New York, about 1785, where 
he died about 1825. He was a carpenter by 
trade. While living at Sheffield, Massachu- 
setts, he served in the revolution as follows: 
Corporal in Captain William Bacon's com- 
pany. Colonel John Fellows Regiment, which 
marched on the Lexington alarm of April 19, 
1775, served from April 21, 1775, to May 7, 
1775, seventeen days; also in the same com- 
pany and regiment, muster roll dated August 
I. I775' enlisted May 8, 1775. service, three 
months and one day ; also in a company re- 
turn dated Dorchester, October 6, 1775 ; also 
had an order for a bounty coat or its equiva- 
lent in money, dated Dorchester, 1775. He 
was sergeant in Captain Ephraim Fitch's com- 
pany. Colonel Benjamin Simons detachment 
of Berkshire company militia, muster roll, 
dated Ticonderoga, February 25, 1777, entered 
service December 16, 1776, term to expire 
March 15, 1777; he was lieutenant in Jere- 
miah Hick's company. Colonel John Ashley's 
regiment, entered service July 6, 1777. dis- 
charged July 27, 1777. service twenty-two 
days. The company marched to Kingsbury, 
July 6, 1777, at the request of Major General 
Schuyler; also lieutenant in Paul Dewey's de- 
tachment from Captain William Fellows' com- 
pany of mattrosses, Brigadier-General John 
Fellows, Berkshire brigade, entered service 
September 21, 1777, discharged October 19, 
1777, service twenty-eight days ; detachment 
was ordered out by Brigadier-General Fel- 
lows to serve under Major General Gates in 
the northern department. He married, about 
1766, Abigail Lothrop. Children: Cornelius, 
Rebecca, Temperance, .Ann, Eunice, Samuel, 
of whom further ; Elizabeth Candace. 

(VI) Samuel, son of Anthony and Abigail 
(Lothrop) Gotxlspeed, was born about 1776. 
He passed an honorable, active and useful life 
at Troy. New York, and was one of the first 
trustees of the village corporation of Troy. 
He was captain of a sloop and for many years 
was engaged in the Hudson river trade. He 
married, at Troy, New York, Mary Dyer. 
Children: i. Sarah, born 1798, died Febru- 
ary 27, 1892, unmarried. Her obituary notice 
said "Miss Goodspeed's entire life is an exem- 
plification of the beauty and inspiration of true 
Christianity. Her entire thought was for 
others : early in childhood she became a mem- 
ber of the First Baptist Church of Troy and 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



241 



€ver since has been one of its most active 
members." 2. Anthony, of whom further. 3. 
Abisjail, married \\'illiam M. Arnold. 4. Wary, 
married William Lewis. 5. Ann Elizabeth, 
married John Fulton. 

(V'll) Anthony (2), eldest son of Samuel 
and Alary (Dyer) Goodspeed, was born in 
Troy about the year 1800. He passed his 
entire life in Troy. He married, about 1832, 
Juliana Washburn. Children: i. Mary, of 
whom further. 2. Renjamin Monroe Hill, 
born about 1835, married Sarah N. Halsey. 3. 
Frederick, died young. 4. Adelaide. 5. Wil- 
liard Fox, a veteran of the civil war, now 
deceased, married Adelia Leavenworth. 6. 
Blanche, married Thomas Harrison. 7. Rich- 
ard, married Elizabeth Moores. 8. John Fred- 
erick. 9. Harriet K., married Judge Rufus M. 
Townsend, now deceased, a lawyer. United 
States circuit court, commissioner at Troy 
and an officer of the Spanish-American war. 

(AT II) Mary, eldest child of Anthony (2) 
and Juliana (Washburn) Goodspeed, was born 
in Troy, October 6, 1833, died March 11, 
1895. She married, at Troy, John Crawford 
Green (see Green II). 



This ancient and honorable 
GREENE New England family was 
founded in America by John 
Greene, who was the progenitor of the family 
Tcnown as "The Greenes of Warwick," Rhode 
Island. The ancient familv name "De Greene" 
was derived from their large possessions in 
Northamptonshire, England, where they were 
seatetl as early as the reign of Edward II. of 
England (1320). 

(I) John Greene, of Warwick. Rhode Isl- 
and, was born in England, 1597, fourth son 
of Richard and Mary Greene, of Bowridge 
Hill, England. He married in St. Thomas 
■Church, Salisbury, England, November 4, 
1619, Joana Tattersall, who died at Conani- 
cut or Newport, Rhode Island. He came to 
America in the ship "James of London," sail- 
ing from Southampton in April, 1635, arriving 
in Boston, June 3, 1635. Lie proceeded to 
Rhode Island, residing in Providence until 
1643, when be with twelve others made ar- 
rangements for the purchasing of Narragan- 
sett from the Indians. He was a sturdy 
champion of the right of speech and con- 
science, became embroiled in the fierce relig- 
ious controversies of the day, and in the land 
•dispute between Connecticut and Rhode Isl- 
and, which raged for half a century. At 
Warwick he filled the offices of magistrate and 
■clerk of the court. He had a second wife, 

Alice Daniels, and a third, Phelippa . 

His will was proved January 7, 1659. 



(II) James, son of John "the founder" and 
Joana (Tattersall) Greene, was Ixirn in Salis- 
bury, England. 1626, died 1698. He married 
(second) Elizabeth Anthony, August 3, 1665, 
daughter of John Anthony, by whom he had 
six sons, and two daughters : one of these 
sons, Jabez, was the grandfather of General 
Nathaniel Greene, of the revolutionary army. 

(III) John (2), son of James and Eliza- 
beth (.Anthony) Greene, was born in War- 
wick, Rhode Island, (Polowomuth) September 
30, 1685. ?Ic was made a freeman in 1708, 
and died December 8, 1757. He married Alary 
born 1689, daughter of Increase Allen, of 
Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 

(IV) Joseph, son of John (2) and Mary 
(Allen) Greene, was born in Warwick, Rhode 
Island, February 19. 1727. He was a Quaker 
and a trusted friend of General Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, with whom he always visited 
when in Albany. He was a cousin to General 
Nathaniel Greene. He died in Berlin, New 
York, 1822, aged ninety-five years. With 
Joseph Greene the settlement of the family in 
New York state began. lie married Phoebe, 
born April 26, 1734, daughter of John Lang- 
ford, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. 

(V) Langford, son of Joseph and Phoebe 
(Langford) Greene, was born in 1766. He 
occupied a farm in the northern part of the 
town of Stephentown, Rensselaer county. New 
York, at a very early date. He married Abi- 
gail Thomas. His sons. Joseph, Samuel, Ben- 
jamin and George, were all farmers of the 

.same neighborhood. 

(\T) Benjamin, son of Langford and Abi- 
gail (Thomas) Greene, was born in Novem- 
ber, 1798, died April, 1842. He married, in 
182 1, Rhoda Niles, born August 17, 1802, died 
October 3, 1849. daughter of Eliphalet and 
Rebecca Niles. Children : Louise Antoinette, 
married Lavinus Stillman ; Benjamin Frank- 
lin, see forward : Calvin Pardee, married Jean- 
ette Dodge; Rebecca, died young; Abigail, 
married Hiram Rosencrans. Rhodai (Niles) 
Greene survived her husband and married 
(second) Barsaleel Streeter. 

(VII) Benjamin Franklin, son of Benja- 
min and Rhoda (Niles) Greene, was born in 
Berlin, New York, December, 1825, died in 
Adrian, Michigan, July 30, 1863. He resided 
in Troy, New York, several years, then re- 
moved to Adrian, Michigan, where he engaged 
in the flour and feed business under the firm 
name of Warner and Greene. For a time he 
was associated with Senator Chaffee of Mich- 
igan in supplying the mining camps of Cali- 
fornia and the west. He was a Congregation- 
alist, and acted with the Republican party. He 
married Mary Jane, born January 29, 1828, 



242 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



daughter of Jonathan and Catharine (Brew- 
ster) Hubbs. The Brewster and Hubbs fam- 
ilies are of English ancestry and settled in 
America in 170 1. 

(\TII) Harvey S., son of Benjamin Frank- 
lin and Mary Jane (Hubbs) Greene, was 
born in Adrian, Michigan, October 5, 1858. He 
was well educated in the high schools of Adri- 
an. Came later to Albany and was with a 
boot and shoe house for some time, when he 
engaged with G. H. McDowell & Company 
of the Arcade ]\Iills of Cohoes, New York, 
and when his father-in-law, John CUite, died 
in 1906, at the latter's request took the busi- 
ness management, having with Mrs. Greene, 
his wife, become the chief proprietors of the 
Campebell & Clute Manufacturing concern. 
Mr. Greene is president of the Manufactur- 
ers National Bank. Served two years as a 
member of board of police commissioners, and 
is a director of the Cohoes City Hospital. He 
is a Republican. He married, November 18, 
1884, Adaline Margaret, daughter of John and 
Adaline (Winne) Clute (see Clute HI). Chil- 
dren: I. Alice Adaline, born September 27, 
1885 ; married October 17, 1908, Percy j\Ioses, 
of Brookline. Massachusetts ; child, Percy 
Lawrence, born December 7, 19 10. 2. 
Harold Clute, born October 22, 1889; was a 
student at Amherst College, and member of 
Delta Kappa Epsilon society ; now engaged 
with the Asbestos Metal Company at Canton, 
Massachusetts. 3. Mildred Niles, born Janu- 
ary 22, 1893, a student at Dana Hall, Welles- 
ley, Massachusetts. Mrs. Greene is a mem- 
ber of the auxiliary board of the Cohoes Hos- 
pital. 

(The Clute Line). 

The earliest period this name appears in 
the records of Albany is in 1656, when three 
of the name. Captain Johannes, Johannes his 
nephew, and Frederick Clute, came to Bever- 
wyck from Nuremberg. Captain Johannes 
was a trader and a large land owner at Loon- 
enburg, Niskayuna. Albany, etc. He was held 
in high esteem among the Indians from whom 
he obtained extensive tracts of land. It is 
not known that he had any family. On his 
death his projierty passed to his nephew, Jo- 
hannes Clute the "Boslooper." Johannes 
(nephew) married Baata, daughter of Gerrit 
Slichtenhorst, and reared a large family, heads 
now of widely scattered families. 

(I) Andrew Clute, great-grandfather of 
the Colioes family, was bom in Holland and 
when a boy was brought to America, settling 
in Albany, New York. He married and had 
issue. 

(II) Andrew (2), son of Andrew (i) 
Clute, of Albany, was born in Albany, New 



York, 1799. In 1820 he removed to Mont- 
gomery county, where he remained until 1842^ 
following the business of farming. He re- 
tired to Albany where he died in 1849. He 
was a member of the Dutch church and a 
Whig in politics. He married Maria, born 
August 15, 1795, died 1864, daughter of 
Charles Hemstreete, of Albany county, a de- 
scendant of an early Dutch family, "Heem- 
straat." Charles Hemstreete was the owner 
of a great part of the land on which the 
city of Cohoes is built. When the Erie ca- 
nal was built he was so much opposed to- 
its construction that he sold his land and re- 
moved to Mechanicsville. While he died a 
wealthy man. had he remained in Cohoes his 
land would have brought him greater wealth. 

(Ill) John, son of Andrew (2) and Maria 
(Hemstreete) Clute, was born in town of 
Glen, Montgomery county. New York, Au- 
gust 10, 1830, died at Cohoes, New York, 
October 29, 1906. He was educated in the 
district schools, and early became connected 
with the manufacturing interests of Cohoes. 
He learned the trade of machinist with George 
Gage with whom he remained until 1852, in 
Waterford, where the Gage machine shops 
were located. He then removed his business 
interests to Cohoes, where for a short time 
he was with The Cohoes Manufacturing Com- 
pany. January i, 1863, he formed a part- 
nership with George Campbell, under the firm 
name of Campbell & Clute, for the purpose 
of manufacturing machinery for use in the 
knitting mills. The demand for such machin- 
ery was very great, and the company pros- 
pered to an unusual degree. Their product 
was shipped to every manufacturing part of 
the Union and to foreign countries. Some 
years before his death the company was in- 
corporated as the Campbell & Clute Machine 
Company, with Mr. Clute as president and 
principal stockholder. Besides his immense 
manufacturing interests he was largely inter- 
ested and prominently identified with the banks 
of Cohoes. He was president of the Manu- 
facturer's Bank, trustee and director in others. 
He retained all these business interests and 
official positions until his death. He was 
largely interested in real estate, owned several 
farms and was a lover and breeder of fine 
stock, especially horses. He was exceedingly 
public-spirited and interested in all tliat per- 
tained to the welfare of his city. He was 
a Republican and served for fourteen years 
as water commissioner of Cohoes, also doing;' 
duty upon the fire board of commissioners. 
He attended the Presbyterian church. 

He married (first) December 23, 1852, .Ada- 
line, born December 2^, 1829, died January 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



243 



18, 1866, daughter of Robert Winne, of Wat- 
erford. He married (second") June i, 1868, 
Cordelia Brewster, of Waterford. Children, 
all by first marriage: i. Elizabeth, graduate 
of Egbert high school : married George H. 
McDowell, of George H. McDowell & Com- 
pany, Knitting Mill, Cohoes, and vice-presi- 
dent of the Cohoes Savings Institution. Chil- 
dren : i. John Clute ]\IcDowell, born January 
I, 1879, died November 18, 1893; a gradu- 
ate of Yale University ; ii. Howard G., in busi- 
ness with his father in George H. McDowell 
& Company ; iii. Harry V., died in infancy ; 
iv. Helen Adaline ; v. Frederick Blaine, as- 
sociated in business with his father; vi. Laura 
E., student at the Emma Willard school ; vii. 
Frances Louise, died in infancy. 2. Adaline 
Margaret, also was educated at the Egbert 
high school where she graduated in class of 
1877: she married Harvey S. Greene, (see 
Greene VHI). 



This family name, 
VANDER VEER written \'an'der Veer 
("From the Ferry"), 
was borne by one of the earliest Dutch set- 
tlers of Long Island, New York, Cornelise 
Janse Vander Veer was one of the founders 
of the town of Flatbush, having emigrated 
from Alkmaar, Holland, in the "Otter," and 
landed at Flatbush, February, 1659 ; was en- 
tered on the ship list as a farmer, and a fac- 
simile of his signature shows that he spelled 
his name Vander Veer. Among his descend- 
ants there is much diversity in regard to 
spelling their surname. A great-grandson of 
Cornelise Janse in one bond dated 
May 29, 1765, spelled it as follows: 
Vander Veer, V. D. Veer, Van Der- 
veer. Van Der \'eer. It would seem that 
over a century ago members of this Dutch 
family were somewhat undecided at to the 
correct spelling of their surname. Sons of the 
founders of this family settled in the Raritan 
Valley of New Jersey, in ]\Ionniouth county, 
and after the revolution ascended the Hudson 
and Mohawk rivers to Montgomery county, 
New York, always with unerring instinct set- 
tling upon rich and fertile land. They fur- 
nished officers and soldiers for the revolution. 
The farms of two of the allied families formed 
a portion of the battle field of Monmouth 
— that of Albert Couwenhoven (Conover), 
and on which was located the famous spring 
around which the soldiers lay thick, dying 
from freely drinking the cold water ; among 
the bodies of the dead the women and chil- 
dren of the family found their way in order to 
carry water to the helpless, while the men 
did their part in the actual combat. 



In the war of 1812-14 they participated, as 
well as in the war with Mexico, and the great 
civil war, where one of this family gallantly 
led his men. though severely wounded, refus- 
ing to yield until the battle was over, when 
soon after, with a soldier's fortitude, he went 
to his long rest. One of the Albany family 
was in the Spanish-American war, which com- 
pletes a remarkable military record. The an- 
cestry of the Albany line entitles them to 
membership in all patriotic orders of the Uni- 
ted States based on military or colonial for- 
bears. \\'hile this is true, the descendants of 
the first \"ander Veer have earned recogni- 
tion for themselves, and their names adorn 
the rosters of some of our most noted in- 
stitutions and organizations, placed there 
through individual achievement. From the 
earliest days of American history their path- 
way may be traced by their deeds as soldiers, 
pioneer farmers, merchants, manufacturers 
and professional men. In the professions the 
name is an eminent one, not only in theology, 
but ever best as well in the divine art of heal- 
ing, where it is pre-eminent. 

Through intermarriage, the descendants of 
Cornelise Janse Vander \^eer are connected 
with a great many of the earlier Dutch set- 
tlers in eastern New Jersey and the Hudson 
and IMohawk Valleys of New York state. By 
a marriage of a Vander Veer with a Sarah 
Martin the family connects with Philip Schuy- 
ler and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst through 
their son, Colonel Philip (Quidor) and second 
wife, Maria Van Rensselaer, also Surgeon and 
Mayor Abram Staats. the first physician in 
the colony of Rensselaerwyck. By the mar- 
riage of a later Vander \^eer with Margaret 
E. Snow, descent is traced to Isaac Aller- 
ton, of England, who came over in the "May- 
flower" and was the fifth son to sign "the 
immortal compact." 

(I) Cornelise Janse Vander Veer, of Hol- 
land, came of a family of considerable distinc- 
tion, dating back to an early period. The 
reading of the family coat-of-arms indicates 
this. The foil denotes that some action in de- 
fense of the Trinity has been performed by 
him to whom the arms were first granted. The 
cap of dignity in crest denotes the family to 
have been of noble origin. The wolf's head 
in heraldry denotes courage and determination 
while the ragged edge of head indicates some 
great feat of valor had been performed. Mot- 
to: Aut in veniam, aut faciam (Whatever we 
attempt, we do). Several tales are told among 
the descendants of Cornelise Janse \'ander 
\'eer regarding his coming to this country, 
the most frequent one being that two brothers 
sailed for America, became shipwrecked and 



244 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



were picked up by a Spanish vessel held for 
ransom, and eventually returned to Holland, 
one to remain, while Cornelise Janse later 
came to the new world. Landing in Flatbush, 
February, 1659, from ship "Otter," he bought 
a farm in 1678-79, February 24, from Jan 
Janse Fry for 2600 gulden, in Flatbush, lying 
south of Fry's farm, from which it is evi- 
dent he was a resident at this date. The pur- 
chaser's farm referred to in the above de- 
scription was probably a tract of 2600 mor- 
gans in Flatbush, patented jNlarch 12, 1661, by 
Governor Stuyvesant to Cornelise Janse, lying 
on the north side of the land of Jan Swediker. 
His name is on the patent of Flatbush, 1685, 
and his official papers bear date of 1678-80. 

About 1672, Cornelise Janse \'ander Veer 
married Tyntje, daughter of Gillis de Man- 
deville and Elsjie Hendricks. An inscription 
on a plate over the gate at the entrance of 
Rowen, Normandy, France, from whence the 
de Mandevilles originally came, shows that 
thev had achieved great distinction in the ear- 
ly history of that ancient city. Cornelise Janse 
and Tyntje Gillis (De Mandeville) Vander 
Veer had children. In the records of these 
children all have suffix Cornelissen. meaning 
son or daughter of Cornelise. Children: i. 
Cornelise Cornelissen, baptized about 1677 ; 
married Jannetje Van Nostrand. 2. Neeltje 
Cornelissen. married, August 13, 1685, first 
wife of Daniel Polhemus. 3. Jan Cornelis- 
sen, married, January 6, 1695, Fennuetje Ber- 
gen. 4. Dominicus Cornelissen, see forward. 

5. Maria Cornelissen, baptized July 30. 1682. 

6. Hendrickje Cornelissen, baptized August 
17, 1684: married Johannes Wyck (or Wyc- 
koff). 7. Michael Cornelissen, married Be- 

litje . 8. Jacoba Cornelissen, baptized 

April 29, 1686; married Jan Willemse Van 
Couwenhoven. 9. Pieter Cornelissen, bap- 
tized Ajjril 29, 1686. 10. Jacobus Cornelissen, 
baptized October 29, 1686; married Cathe- 
rine . 

(H) Dominicus Cornelissen, third son of 
Cornelise Janse Vander Veer, was baptized 
November i6, 1679, in Flatbush, Long Island. 
His name appears in the Flatbush records in 
1704-27-40 in relation to salt meadows and 
church funds in said town. In 1736 he was 
.sheriff of Kings county. Late in the seven- 
teenth and early in the eighteenth centuries 
the Dutch had taken all of the agricultural 
lands on the west end of Long Island, conse- 
quently many of the second generation of this 
Holland stock were forced to seek tillable 
acres in East Jersey. A few years after 1746 
the .^xtcll patent in New Jersey was sold to 
Long Island men, the inhabitants of the Rari- 
tan X'alley and of the vicinity of Flatbush 



being at this time in close alliance. About 
1750, Dominicus \'ander \'eer (as he signed 
his name) was persuaded to locate on his pat- 
ent along the Raritan river. He married (first) 

Jannetje : one son, Cornelise, born 

1700, of Shrewsbury, New Jersey ; married 
(first) Jannetje Wyckoflf ; (second) Marytje 
Smock. Dominicus Vander Veer married 
(second, license dated January 28, 1703), Ma- 
ria Margaretta \'an Orteck. Children: i. Tu- 
nis, see forward. 2. Jannetje, baptized June 
I, 1709. 3. Jacobus, of the Raritan. baptized 
December 10, 1721 ; married. May 25, 1745, 
Fannetje Strycker. 4. Dominicus, laaptized 
November 3, 1723 ; married, July 3, 1748, Eliz- 
abeth Lequeer. 5. Catlyntje, baptized July 
25, 1723 : married Jacobus Lefferts. 6. Neelt- 
je, baptized July, 1727 ; married, July 9, 
1749, first wife of Peter Lott, of Long Island. 
7. Jeromus or Jeremias, of Long Island, bap- 
tized March 30. 1729: married Elizabeth Dit- 
mas. 8. Arntje, baptized October 17, 1731 : 
married Cornelise Van Duyn. 9. Jan, bap- 
tized August 19, 1733. 10. Cornelia. 11. Hen- 
drick, of Monmouth county, New Jersey ; 
married Neeltje Van Cleef. 

(Ill) Tunis, son of Dominicus Cornelissen 
Vander Veer, was born about 1704. on Long 
Island, and later was a resident of Freehold, 
New Jersey. He married, about 1723, Alchie, 
daughter of Gerret Roelofse ScKenck and wife 
Neeltje Coertsen Van \'oorhees. Most of the 
Vander Veers living in and about Monmouth 
county are the descendants of this couple, 
among them the late \'ice-President Garret A. 
Hobart, on his mother's side. The farm of 
Tunis \'ander \'eer formed a portion of the 
battlefield of Monmouth. All the buildings 
were burned by the British, and on the re- 
turn of the family, which had taken refuge 
in the left wing of Washington's army, only 
a cat and pair of fowls could be found. On 
the roster of the New Jersey revolutionary 
troops are not to be found the names of Tunis 
and his sons, save one, his namesake, who 
was later taken prisoner at Sandy Hook and 
detained in the old "Sugar House" eighteen 
months. Tunis, the father, with his six sons 
and a grandson (Jacob's son Tunis) all took 
part tliat day, and the fatlier rode as aide-de- 
camp for Washington ; his son Garret was a 
prisoner for some time ; his wife communica- 
ted with him by concealing letters in loaves 
of bread. Monmouth county suft'ered severe- 
ly from the depredations of the British army, 
particularly in and about Freehold, where they 
exceeded all the others through the state. Fe- 
rocious and lawless as the British soldiers 
were, they were outdone by the refugees who 
took up arms against friends and former 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



245 



neighbors. Between them cx:curred scenes of 
ferocity and incidents of individual daring to 
fill a volume of horrors. In order to protect 
their wives and daughters, and save their 
property from these awful dangers, the men 
of determination and influence drew up arti- 
cles of agreement to suppress the raiders. The 
original is to be found in the secretary of 
state's office at Trenton, and attached to it 
will be found the names of Tunis \'ander Veer 
and his sons. Children of Tunis and Alchie 
(Schenck) \'ander Veer: i. John, of Marl- 
boro, New Jersey, born November 8, 1724. 2. 
Phebe, married John N. Voorhees, of New 
Brunswick, New Jersey. 3. Garret (see 
sketch). 4. Nelly, baptized January 2, 1734; 
married (first) Hendrick Voorhees. S.Jacob, 
see forward. 6. Tunis, baptized April 19, 
1739: married (first) Jane Hance ; (second), 
. 7. Cornelise, of Holmdel, New Jer- 
sey, baptized May 24, 1741 ; married (first) 
1761, Jannetje Williams: (second) 1764, Ma- 
ria Conover. 8. Alchie, baptized 1745 ; mar- 
ried James Connelton. 9. David, baptized Sep- 
tember 25, 1748: married, February 28, 1765, 
Catherine Conover. 

(IV) Jacob, son of Tunis Vander Veer, 
born May 5, 1736, died July 24, 1806. He 
married (first) October, 1759, Alchie Wyc- 
koff. born July 21, 1736, daughter of Gerret 
Gerretse Wyckofif and Alchie Gerretse. Mar- 
ried (second) (supposed) Anna Clayton: she 
married after his death at Glen, New York, 
October 17, 1812, Tivis Follic (Matthias Van 
Valkenburgh). Jacob Vander Veer and his 
first wife, Alchie (Wyckoff) Vander Veer, 
came from along the Raritan river. New Jer- 
sey, into the Alohawk \'alley, and located 
in Florida, Montgomery county, a few miles 
south of Amsterdam, New York. Jacob was 
one of many who came with Washington 
at the time (1780) the troops came to subdue 
the Indian depredations. Finding the valley 
so rich and beautiful a country, he purchased 
a farm containing buildings and improvements 
from John Watts, the father-in-law of Sir 
John Johnson. He remained a year, sowed 
and reaped a crop of wheat, which he sold for 
one dollar per bushel, and thus paid off his 
indebtedness of $1100. He then returned to 
his family in New Jersey, who ere long came 
with him to the new home. Not long after 
her coming to this home, his wife died, and 
is buried on the farm beside Jacob. The 
farm was left to his youngest son Asher, with 
the reputation of being the best cultivated and 
best equipped buildings in the township. Chil- 
dren of first wife: i. Nelly, baptized August 

3, 1760 : married Warner. 2. Tunis, 

baptized May 29. 1762, (was a bachelor). 3. 



Catherine, baptized August 3, 1763; married 
Cobis, or James Sutfan, of Cranberry Creek, 
New Jersey. 4. Garret, see forward. 5. Phebe 
baptized May 17, 1767, died young. 6. John, 

married . 7. Samuel, married lietsey 

Denison. 8. Alchie, married Timothv Gor- 
dan. 9. Anna, born 1779; married William 
Stillwell. Children of second wife: 10. 
Thomas, born 1783, drowned July 19, 1800. 
II. Joseph, born 1784, accidentally killed De- 
cember 3, 1794. 12. Asher, born May 17. 1787, 
married Asenath Elliot. 13. Sally, married, 
February 25, 1813 (first wife) Ehsha Cady. 
14. Polly, married, December 30, 1810; (sup- 
posed) Cornelise Mount. 

(V) Garret, son of Jacob V^ander \'eer. was 
born July 4, 1765. He came with his parents 
from New Jersey into the Alohaw-k \'alley. At 
the time of their coming there was a general 
exodus from this state westward. Albert Cou- 
wenhoven and his wife Patience located near 
Garret's new home. They had occupied in 
New Jersey the adjoining farm to his grand- 
father. Tunis Vander Veer. They brought 
with them a daughter Rachel, born April 18, 
1768. She, as a child of ten years, helped to 
carry water on that terrible day in June. 1778, 
from the spring on her father's farm. There 
are living in the present generation (1910) 
those who have heard from her lips the story 
of that day. The night before the battle her 
father's house was used as a shelter for the 
women and children of the neighlxirhood. She 
told with pride of the good night visit made 
by Washington accompanied by Lafayette. 
The former shook hands with them, followed 
by a kiss from Lafayette, and then the two 
sought their night's rest under a nearby tree. 
The following day she witnessed the meeting 
between General Washington and General 
Lee, and says : "What General Washington 
said to General Lee was not expressed in very 
nice language." Time passed, and on Febru- 
ary 29. 1788, in her father's home at Glen, 
she married Garret Vander Veer. For a few 
years they lived on and worked the farm of 
a cousin (or as then commonly called Uncle 
Peter Couwenhoven) in the town of Florida; 
in 1 80 1 they took up new land in the town 
of Root: here Garret died, April 19. 1813, 
leaving his wife with nine sons and three 
daughters to rear. Children: i. Alchie, born 
July 29, 1789 : married Cornelise Fero. 2. 
Albert, born April 18, 1791 : married Margaret 
Fero. 3. Jacob, born August i, 1793: mar- 
ried Martha W'illett. s. Peter, born Decem- 
ber 18, 1796: married Jane Walker. 1:;. John 
G.. born May 10. 1798: married Ann \'oor- 
hees. 6. Thomas, born October 14, iSoo. died 
young. 7. and 8. Thomas and Joseph, twins, 



246 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



born ]\Iarch 23. 1802, Thomas married (first) 
Roba rioag; (second) Mary Mercy Corbin, 
widow of James Carr. Joseph married Har- 
riet Allen. 9. Abraham Harris, see forward. 

10. Patience, born July 9, 1807, died young. 

11. Katherine, born June 4, 1810, died young. 

12. Garret, born May 9, 1813; married Alary 
Allen. The descendants in Montgomery coun- 
ty are numerous, filling all stations in life, 
but usually are farmers of substance and 
prominence. 

(VI) Abraham Harris, eighth son of Gar- 
ret and Rachel (Couwenhoven) Vander Veer, 
was born in the town of Root, Montgomery 
county, New York, June 18, 1804, died Au- 
gust 19, 1888. He was one of the founders 
of the village of Leatherville (Rural Grove), 
where in partnership with Henry Stowitts he 
established and operated a large tannery. He 
was reared in the Dutch church, but his wife 
was a member of the Christian church. He 
married, September 27, 1826, Sarah Martin, 
daughter of Barent P. Martin and first wife, 
Hester McGraw, of Fort Hunter. Sarah 
Martin was of an early English Martin fam- 
ily who first located in New Hampshire ; later 
a branch settled in the Piscataway Valley, 
New Jersey, and at Albany and Fort Hunter. 
Children: i. Rachel, born September 2", 1827, 
died young. 2. Esther, born January 14, 1830, 
died May 30, 1909 ; married, June 10, 1852, 
John Craig; children : i. Janet, died young; ii. 
Ada, married William J. Walker, five chil- 
dren; iii. Marcia, died October 4, 1899, mar- 
ried Martin Van Buren, two sons ; iv. Stuart, 
died young; v. Marion Mead; vi. Margaret, 
died November i, 1895; married Robert P. 
Thorn, Jr., three sons. 3. Patience, born 
March 17, 1832, died March 7, 1902; mar- 
ried, June 20, 1855, Charles W. Marselius ; 
children: i. Willard Charles, M.D., died De- 
cember 24, 1893, married Gertrude Wheeler; 
ii. Sarah, married (first) Dr. Frank O. Cor- 
nell; (second) Rev. Enoch Powell; two sons; 
iii. Esther, married Franklin Potter Toll ; two 
children ; iv. Marcia, died May 13, 1901 ; mar- 
ried George H. Brewster ; two sons. 4. Mar- 
tin, born May 6, 1834; married, February i, 
i860, Katherine L. I'otter ; children: i. Kath- 
erine Potter; ii. Bradford Martin, died March 
14, 1895; iii. Rollin Garret, died young; iv. 
Marcia Moulton. 5. Garrett, born August 28, 
1836, died February 24, 1864; married, De- 
cember 18, 1861, Margaret Kline; child, John 
Craig, died young. Garrett was made captain 
of Company A, One Hundred and I'ifteenth 
Regiment New York Volunteers. At the bat- 
tle of Olustee, Florida, he was four times se- 
verely wounded, but refused to leave the field 
until the fight was ended ; his men, in relays 



of four, carried him on a stretcher through 
the woods and swamps a distance of nineteen 
miles to Barbers ; he then was placed in an 
open car, crowded with suffering men, rode 
all day Sunday and until after midnight on 
this train, which at times was drawn by mules. 
At Jacksonville he was placed on a hospital 
boat and carried to Beaufort, South Carolina, 
where he died shortly after his arrival and 
was buried there, attended to his grave by 
many of the wounded members of his regi- 
ment and his brethren of the Masonic frater- 
nity. Later his remains were brought to Ful- 
tonville. New York. Post Vander Veer, 
Grand Army of the Republic, at Fonda, New 
York, is named in his honor ; at the time of 
his death he had been promoted to lieutenant- 
colonel and his commission was even then in 
transit. General Seymour caused a redoubt 
in the fortifications at Jacksonville to be 
named \'ander Veer in honor of his memory, 
and noticed his gallantry in general orders. 
6. Jane Ann, born November i, 1838, died 
May 18, 1910; married (first) Aaron Lillen- 
back; (second) Charles E. Shires; children 
of first marriage: i. Abraham H., died young; 
ii. Albert V., married Ella A. Mosher ; eight 
children ; iii. Garret V., married Adele L. 
Whitaker ; iv. Mary L., died young ; v. Lucy 
Kate; vi. Martin Aaron, died young. 7. Al- 
bert, see forward. 8. Putnam Enders, died 
young. 9. Sarah E. F., died young. 10. Wil- 
liam Putnam Enders, born March i, 1851. 

(VH) Albert, seventh child and third son 
of Abraham Harris and Sarah (Martin) Van- 
der Veer, was born in Root, Montgomery 
county. New York, July 10, 1841. His early 
education was acquired in the public schools 
of Canajoharie, Union Free School, Palatine, 
and in Canajoharie Academy. At the age of 
eighteen and nineteen he studied medicine un- 
der the direction of Dr. Simeon Snow (see 
forward), of Currytown, New York, and later 
was a student under Dr. John Swinburne, a 
physician and surgeon of renown in Albany, 
afterward attaining a national reputation. In 
1861 he attended a full course of lectures at 
Albany Medical College, and in 1862 a second 
course at the National Medical College, medi- 
cal department, Columbian University, now 
the George Washington University, from 
which he was graduated December 23. 1862. 
In May, 1862, he enlisted in the Unitecl States 
Medical Corps, one of the original '"One Hun- 
dred Medical Cadets" called to service by the 
surgeon-general of the United States army, 
they having studied medicine two years and 
attended one full course of lectures and pass- 
ing a satisfactory examination, to act as in- 
ternes in the military hospitals. After tak- 



f 





^^-/^/S^i^^t^^, 



cc.^^^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



247 



ing the examination he was assigned to Co- 
Jumbia College Hospital, and was soon in- 
formed by Dr. Crosby, surgeon-in-charge, that 
if they (he and two or three other cadets) 
would arise early and attend to all their dress- 
ings they could have from 2 to 8 in which 
to attend lectures, graduate, and get their di- 
plomas. • After passing a New York state ex- 
amination he was commissioned in December, 
1862, assistant surgeon of the Sixty-sixth Reg- 
iment New York \'olunteers, and ordered to 
join his regiment at Falmouth, Virginia. Soon 
after he was detailed as assistant to one of 
the chief operators at brigade hospital. Third 
Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, 
Army of the Potomac. In June, 1864, on the 
recommendation of every officer in the regi- 
ment, he was appointed by Surgeon-General 
Ouackenbush and Governor Seymour, of New 
York, surgeon in charge of the regiment, with 
the rank of major. Soon after he was ap- 
-pointed one of the surgeons of the First Di- 
vision hospital. Second Army Corps, and 
placed in charge of an operating table. Here 
he gained his first actual experience in opera- 
tive surgery that was henceforth to be his 
specialty. He was with his regiment in all 
their battles after the first Fredericksburg ex- 
cept Ream's Station, when ill, up to the sur- 
render at Appomattox. At that historic event 
he had the pleasure of witnessing the meeting 
between General Grant and General Lee. He 
nvas mustered out of the service in September, 
1865. 

After attending a full course of lectures at 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
New York, he returned to Albany, New York, 
in Alay, 1866, and entered upon the practice 
■of his profession, where, after forty-three 
years of successful practice, he is now (1909) 
still to be found, full of years and professional 
(honors, associated with his two sons, who are 
also able practitioners. His life has been one 
of great activity as a professional man and 
as a citizen. He is honored at home and 
abroad for his knowledge and experience in 
medicine and surgery, his services to the cause 
of education, and his high character as a man. 
Skillful and useful as he is in private practice, 
■hospital and consultation, his literary and plat- 
form ability has enabled him to convey to 
his brethren of the profession in a series of 
addresses and printed articles his experiences, 
theories and conclusions, thereby increasing a 
thousand fold his usefulness. To recite his 
membership would be to call the roll of the 
leading medical and surgical societies of the 
world. He has served as member and presi- 
dent of the Albany County Medical Society, 
the Medical Society of the State of New York, 



the American Association of Obstetricians 
and Gynecologists, and is a member of the 
American Medical Association. He was a del- 
egate to the International Medical Congress, 
held at Copenhagen in 1884, and was elected 
honorary president of the Fifteenth Interna- ' 
tional Medical Congress held at Lisbon, Por- 
tugal, in 1906, having been appointed one of 
the commissioners from the United States 
government. In July, 1905, he was elected 
president of the American Surgical Associa- 
tion, an honor that comes to few men, having 
been a fellow since 1882, a member of the 
nominating committee, of the council, and 
twice president. In 1909 he was appointed 
by the United States government delegate to 
the International Medical Congress meeting 
at Budapest, Austria, but was unable to attend 
owing to the illness of his wife. He is the 
author of "Cleft Palate and Hair Lip" ; 
Wood's "Reference Hand Book of Medical 
Science" ; "History of General Surgery" in 
"Encyclopedia Americana": "Injuries and Dis- 
eases of Abdomen" in "International Ency- 
clopedia of Surgery," and numerous articles 
in the leading medical journals at home and 
abroad, that show how full and complete is 
his mastery of whatever subject he discusses. 
In 1867 he was attending surgeon to the Al- 
bany Hospital Dispensary as assistant to Dr. 
Alden March; 1869, attending surgeon (with 
exception 1874-75, while abroad studying) un- 
til 1904, when appointed surgeon-in-chief ; 
1873 to 1903, attending surgeon St. Peter's 
Hospital ; 1898 to date, attending surgeon 
South End Dispensary ; consulting surgeon 
New York State Hospital for Crippled and 
Ruptured Children, West Haverstraw, New 
York ; consulting surgeon Benedictine Hos- 
pital, Kingston, New York ; consulting sur- 
geon Champlain Valley Hospital, Plattsburg, 
New York. He has always manifested the 
deepest interest in the Albany Medical Col- 
lege, where he listened to his first course of 
medical lectures. He has filled the following 
important chairs in that institution : 1869-74, 
chair of general and special anatomy ; 1875- 
82, chair of didactic, abdominal and clinical 
surgery : 1882 to date, chair of surgery : dean 
from 1896 to 1904. Dr. \'ander \'eer ap- 
plied in Albany the first plaster paris jacket 
for curvature of the spine : performed the first 
Bigelow's operation for litholapaxy : first Ker- 
ncxrhan's operation for removal of infra orbi- 
tal nerve and Meckel's ganglia, reporting a 
number of cases. He has always led in the use 
and introduction of new methods and opera- 
tions, if they possessed value. Always pro- 
gressive, now nearing his fiftieth year in med- 
icine, his services as a consulting physician 



248 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK WALLEYS 



and surgeon are in constant demand and glad- 
ly given. 

Outside his profession, the career of Dr. 
Vander Veer has been a busy and interesting 
one. In 1895 he was elected a regent of the 
University of the State of New York, serving 
faithfully for six years ; then by act of legis- 
lature the board was changed, he drawing the 
shortest period of one year ; re-elected a third 
time for a full term, the first regent to be 
elected three times by the legislature. He 
was a trustee of the National Savings Bank 
many years: resigning January i, 1910: trus- 
tee of Albany Cemetery Association, and pres- 
ident of the Holland Society of New York. 
While vice-president of the latter society he, 
with other members of Albany, entertained the 
officers of the "Van Speyk" when visiting 
this country, receiving from the Queen of Hol- 
land as an appreciation the order and decora- 
tion of Oranje Nassau. He is a life member 
of the New York Historical Society. Through 
his own military service as an officer in the 
civil war he is a companion of the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion and Grand Army 
of the Republic. He is a member of Philip 
Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, 
the Albany Institute and Historical and Art 
Society, and of Albany social clubs — Fort Or- 
ange and University. In his nearly fifty years 
of professional life Dr. Vander Veer has re- 
ceived many evidences of the esteem in which 
he is held by his fellows. Albany Medical 
College conferred an honorary degree of 
M.D. ; Williams and Hamilton College that of 
A.M. (1882); Union College (now Univer- 
sity) Ph.D. (1883) ; Columbian University 
(now George Washington University, Wash- 
ington, D.C. ) in 1904 conferred LL.D., while 
honorary memberships in societies abroad and 
at iiome have been freely bestowed. In many 
of these he has been active and served as 
president. In Albany, where he has lived so 
long, he has ever taken an earnest interest in 
all that pertains to the public good : served 
for many years on the city board of health 
and was president of the board of special 
water commissioners. He is a Republican in 
politics. For more than forty years he has 
been a member of the First Presbyterian 
Church and is now an elder. 

He married, June 5, 1867, Margaret E., 
daughter of his friend and preceptor. Dr. 
Simeon Snow (see forward). Children, all 
born in Albany. New York ; Charles Anson, 
March 30, 1868, died December 30, 1883 ; 
Margaret Snow. December 29, 1869, died May 
13. 1873 ; Edgar Albert, James Newell, and 
Albert Jr., of whom further; Garrett, born 
May 3, 1885, died Augu.st 27, 1900. 



(VIII) Edgar Albert, son of Dr. Albert 
and Margaret E. (Snow) \'ander \'eer, was 
born September 29, 1873. He was educated 
at the Albany Academy ; studied one year at 
Union College ; then entered Yale University, 
where he was graduated with the class of 
1895, receiving the degree of Ph.B. He stu- 
died medicine with his father and entered the 
Albany Medical College, graduating in class 
of 1898 as M.D. He was assistant surgeon. 
United States army, stationed at Fort Mc- 
Pherson, Georgia, during the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war. After a year spent abroad he began 
the practice of his profession in Albany in as- 
sociation with his father. He is a member 
of the Albany County Medical Society, Medi- 
cal Society State of New York, and the Amer- 
ican Medical Association. He is attending 
surgeon in the Albany Hospital ; has practiced 
clinical surgery in the Albany IMedical Col- 
lege, and has a large private practice. He is 
a member of the Loyal Legion : the Holland 
Society of New York ; the Society of Colo- 
nial W'ars, gaining admission to the latter 
through the original certificate issued to Cap- 
tain Roelof Martense Schenck (in New York 
State archives), said to have been the first 
military commission issued in Flatbush, Long 
Island ; Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of 
the Revolution, and Society of Mayflower De- 
scendants. He married, June 5, 1900, Harriett, 
twin daughter of Benjamin W. Wooster and 
his second wife, Catherine M. (Wright) 
Wooster; children: Grace, born May 11. 
1901 ; Albert, August 10, 1902; Edgar Albert 
Jr., June 15, 1906. 

(VIII) James Newell, son of Dr. .Albert 
and Margaret E. (Snow) Vander \'eer, was 
born December 12. 1877. He is a graduate 
of the Albany Academy ; of LTnion Univer- 
sity, A.B., class of 1899; of .Albany ^ledical 
College, i\l.D., 1903; Union, conferred in 
course, 1903, the degree of A.M. He began 
the practice of medicine in Albany in as- 
sociation with his father and is in active prac- 
tice. He is lecturer on surgical technic, and 
instructor in genito-urinary surgery. Albany 
Medical College. He is chief of surgical staff 
of the Albany Hospital, attending surgeon at 
the .South End Dispensary and Home of the 
Friendless, and consrlting surgeon of The 
House of the Good Shepherd. He is a mem- 
ber of the American Medical .Association, Al- 
bany County Medical Society, Medical Socie- 
ty ot State of New York, .American Acad- 
emy of Medical Science, and a life member 
of the Anglo-American Medical .Association 
of Berlin. Germanv. In 1904 and again in 
1905-06, Dr. Vander Veer was abroad, doing 
post-graduate work in Germany and France. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



249^ 



He is assistant surgeon of the Tenth Regi- 
ment, New York National Guard, Medical 
Corps, with rank of lieutenant. He was ma- 
jor of the cadet battalion of the Albany Acad- 
emy, 1894-95. His clubs are the Clinical, Uni- 
versity and Fort Orange of Albany, and the 
Alpha Delta Phi Club of New York. Through 
maternal ancestors he is a member of the So- 
ciety of Mayflower Descendants, and Sons of 
the Revolution, and through both lines he en- 
ters the Holland Society of New York. His 
fraternities are Alpha Delta Phi and Nu Sig- 
na Nu. He married. December 3, 1908. Ada, 
daughter of Thomas and Cornelia (Quadland) 
Holt : has one son, Adrian Holt, born No- 
vember 4, 1909. 

(\'in) Albert, son of Dr. Albert and Mar- 
garet E. (Snow) Vander \'eer, was born No- 
vember 28, 1879. He is a graduate of the 
Albany Academy, and Yale University, A.B., 
class of 1900. He passed 1 year in the study 
of medicine at Albany Medical (College, then 
entered the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons of New York, where lie was graduated 
M.D., class of 1904. He is in active practice 
in New York City ; visiting physician, of Red 
Cross Hospital : assistant attending physician 
at Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled ; 
assistant physician of New York Dispensary ; 
assistant physician of out-patient department 
of St. Luke's Hospital ; clinical assistant of 
Vanderbilt Clinic : member of Alumni .Asso- 
ciation of Sloane Maternity and of Roosevelt 
hospitals : founder of the LTniversity Club, Al- 
bany ; member of Yale Club of New York, 
Holland Society of New York, Albany So- 
ciety of New- York, Quiz Club. Omega Club, 
Alpha Delta Phi. and the City, State "and Na- 
tional Medical associations. He is unmar- 
ried. 

(The Snow Line). 

This is an ancient New England family, to 
be found from the earliest days figuring prom- 
inently in the annals of Massachusetts. The 
American ancestor and first emigrant. \'\'illiam 
Snow, born in England. 1624, came to Amer- 
ica in 1637, settled at Duxbury, Massachusetts, 
afterward was of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. 
He married Rebecca, daughter of Peter 
Brown, who came in the "Mayflower." 

(H) William (2). son of \Villiam (i) and 
Rebecca (Brown) Snow, was born in Bridge- 
water, Massachusetts, where he married, 
reared a family and died ; his wife was 
Naomi Whitman. 

(HI) Eleazer, son of William (2) and Na- 
omi (\\'hitman) Snow, was also of Bridge- 
water. Massachusettes. He married, in 1728, 
Mercy King. 

(IV) Reuben, son of Eleazer and Mercy 



(King) Snow, was born in Bridgewater. Mas- 
sachusetts, but removed to Easton, Massachu- 
setts. He married Hannah Willis, a descend- 
ant in the sixth generation from Isaac Aller- 
ton, a "Mayflower" passenger, and the fifth 
signer of the "Compact." 

(V) Simeon, son of Reuben and Hannah 
(Willis) Snow, was a merchant of Boston in 
1812, afterward a manufacturer of nails and 
hardware. He married Polly Phillips. 

(VI) Dr. Simeon (2), .son of Simeon (i) 
and Polly (Phillips) Snow, was born in Mans- 
field, Massachusetts, February 17, 1803, died 
in Currytown, Montgomery county. New 
York, September 20, 1865. His early life was 
spent on the farm. He received a thorough 
academic education, becoming unusually pro- 
ficient in Latin and developing great interest 
and understanding of chemistry. He entered 
the medical school of William College, grad- 
uating in 1828. He settled in the town of 
Root, Montgomery county, New York, in the 
village of Currytown, where he had a large 
and successful practice. He was skilled in his 
profession, and his services were greatly 
sought after. He was a Democrat in politics 
and represented Montgomery county in the 
state senate, 1852-53. He married Margaret 
Dievendorf, born in Currytown, January 10, 
i8ri, died in Albany, New York, April 19, 
1884, daughter of Jacob Dievendorf, a pioneer 
settler of the county, who had the unusual ex- 
perience not only of being scalped by the In- 
dians but of surviving the operation a^d living 
to the age of eighty-four (see Simm's "Bor- 
der Wars," and "History of Montgomery and 
Fulton Counties"). Children: Jacob Dieven- 
dorf. married Margaret Failing: Elizabeth, 
married Seth Ramsey. M.D. : Xorman Leslie, 
married Elizabeth Smith : William Russell, 
died in childhood ; Horatio Nelson, unmar- 
ried : Charles Sidney, married Janet Lipe ; 
Margaret, see forward; George Anson, mar- 
ried Fanny Dievendorf. 

(\TI) iMargaret. daughter of Dr. Simeon 
(2) and Margaret (Dievendorf) Snow, was 
born in Currytown, Montgomery county. New 
York. September 20, 1845. She married. June 
5, 1867, Dr. Albert \ander Veer (see \'ander 
\'eer \Tr). The young couple began life to- 
gether in Albany, where for nearly half a 
century they have lived. She is a memljer of 
the First Presbyterian Church, as are her hus- 
band and three surviving sons, (1909), all 
physicians of high repute. She is a member 
of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, 
Daughters of the Revolution, the social and 
other organizations of the city. The children 
of Dr. Albert and Margaret (Snow) \'ander 
Veer thus trace through seven generations 



250 



HUDSON AND AIOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



(they being the eighth) direct to a Hollander 
and an Englishman, collaterally to a French- 
man. But, as the military record of the Van- 
der Veers show, the commingling of blood has 
produced patriotic Americans. 



(IV) Garret, third son 
VAN DERVEER of Tunis (q. v.), and 
Aeltje (Schenck) Van- 
der \'eer, was born in Monmouth county. New 
Jersey, December 14, 1731, died there Janu- 
ary 31, 1803. He married, April 20, 1756, 
Jane, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Schenck) 
\'oorhees, by whom he had seven children. 
(In this line the family follows the \'an Der- 
veer form of the family name). 

(V) John, third child and second son of 
Garret and Jane (Voorhees) Van Derveer, 
was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, 
April 4, 1765, died May 8, 1839, in Mont- 
gomery county, New York. While yet a 
young man he came with one of his brothers 
to Montgomery county, where he proposed 
to make his home, and to that end bought 
property in what was then the town of Flor- 
ida, and is now just outside of the fifth ward 
of the city of Amsterdam. Here he remained 
a short time, and therl returned to New Jer- 
sey in order to marry the sweetheart whom 
he had left behind him, and whom he brought 
at once to the new home he had made for 
her. For the remainder of his life he lived 
on his farm in Montgomery county, New 
York, where he was fairly prosperous, became 
a man of some influence, and was highly es- 
teemed and respected by the community in 
which he lived. He married, April 7, 1791, 
Catharine, born November 5, 1771, died Jan- 
uary 26, 1850, daughter of Cornelius R. and 
Jane (Denise) Conover, of Monmouth county, 
New Jersey, granddaughter of Roeloff and 
Sarah (Voorhies) Cowenhoven, great-grand- 
daughter of Cornelis Willemse and Margrietje 
Roelofse (Schenck) van Couwenhoven, great- 
great-granddaughter of Willem Gerritse and 
Jannetje Pieterse (Monfoort) Couwenhoven, 
great-great-great-granddaughter of Ger- 
ret Wolfertse van Couwenhoven and 
Aeltje, daughter of Cornelis Lambertse Cool, 
and great-great-great-great-granddaughter of 
Wolfert Gerretse and Neeltje van Couwen- 
hoven, the emigrants from Amersfoort to 
Rensselaerwyck, where as early as 1630 
he was superintendent of farms. Cor- 
nelius R. Conover died at an advanced 
age in New Jersey, and his widow, 
who survived him, then came to Montgomery 
county. New York, to the home of her daugh- 
ter and son-in-law, and died there. Children 
of John and Catharine (Conover) Van Der- 



veer: I. Jane, born February 24, 1792, died 
April, 1876; married (first) Joseph Stanton; 
(second) John Sherburn; both now deceased. 
2. Cornelius, born April 20, 1794, died May 
13, 1843 ; accidentally killed on the outskirts 
of Amsterdam while blasting stone ; married 
(first) Maria H. Phillips; (second) Sarah 
Shuler ; both now deceased. 3. Sarah (Sal- 
lie), born April 4, 1796, died April 20, 1864; 
married (first) George Serviss ; (second) 
James Greenman ; both now deceased. 4. Gar- 
ret, referred to below. 5. Tunis G., born 
April 7, 1800, died August 21, 1871. 6. 
John Jr., born June 16, 1807, died January 
25, 1889; married (first) Mary Conover, of 
New Jersey; (second) Elizabeth Serviss, both 
now deceased. 7. Catharine J. A., born Octo- 
ber 4, 1809, died March 23, 1890; married 
Peter I. Enders, who died leaving two chil- 
dren, Jacob and Kate, both now deceased. 8. 
Henry, born November 12, 18 12, died Feb- 
ruary 15, 1837: married Martha A. Conover; 
had one child, born April 8, 1835, died July 

5. 1837- 

(VI) Garret, fourth child and second son 
of John and Catharine (Conover) \'an Der- 
veer, was born February I, 1798, died May 
25, 1885. He married. May 13, 1824, Mary 
Young, born July 30, 1799, died February 28, 
1859. Children: i. Peter Young, born June 
21, 1825, died June 4, 1887; married, Sep- 
tember 5, 1850, Rachel \'ander Veer, born 
October i, 1828, died April 30, 1885. 2. 
Catharine, born November 28, 1826; unmar- 
ried, resides in Florida. 3. Sarah A., bom 
November 28, 1828, died December 8, 1903; 
married R. Taylor Johnson March 19, 1846; 
he died 1901. 4. Jane, born January 31, 1831 ; 
married Reuben Munson Hartley, born March 
10, 1858: three children. 5. John J., born 
June 2, 1833, residing in Amsterdam. 6. Tu- 
nis, born October 31, 1835; lives with brother 
George, unmarried. 7. William Spencer, born 
October 8, 1837: married, September 15, 1863, 
S. Augusta Parks ; children : Mary E., Kath- 
arine, Jay Howard and G. Herbert. 8. 
George, referred to below. 9. Henry, born 
April II, 1842, died September 17, 1842. 

(VII) George, fifth son of Garret and Mary 
(Young) Van Derveer, was born March 28, 
1840. While his opportunities for an educa- 
tion were confined more or less to the public 
schools, he always carried off the laurels for 
his effort in public speaking, music and pen- 
manship, and to these early characteristics he 
owes much of the pleasure and his identity in 
life, as he was in constant demand for many 
years as a public lecturer and organizer of 
Patrons of Husbandry organizations through- 
out the state. He organized the state and 




MoA 



Wcro^->^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



251 



comity grange and has been a working mem- 
ber for fifteen years, being at present (1910) 
secretary of the local grange, and still keenly 
interested in the principle of that movement. 
During the civil war, when a young man, he 
organized the first musical band in this part 
of the state, and its first public performance 
was to play a funeral dirge at the burial of 
the first two soldiers to be killed out of the 
regiment that was made up at Amsterdam, 
they being killed at the battle of Harper's 
Ferry. As a musician he has given many per- 
formances, but of late years has given less at- 
tention to it. He devotes his time and atten- 
tion to his farm and the breeding of high 
grade registered stock, as well as pet stock and 
poultry, being the first to introduce the fa- 
mous Rhode Island Red (fowls) into this sec- 
tion. He has in his possession hundreds of 
premiums, largely first, taken for his exhibits 
at the public fairs and exhibitions, which now 
decorate his home. His speeches at various 
public places, discussing subjects of local and 
general importance, won for him a wide repu- 
tation as an orator and he was engaged for 
one year on the New England Lyceum Lec- 
ture Course. He is also an author of note, 
having written considerable poetry, much of 
which found favor with the newspapers and 
magazines in which they appeared from time 
to time. His retentive memory enables him 
to call up and repeat every little ditty and 
poem, both long and short, that he ever 
learned from the time of his childhood, this 
being an accomplishment of which any one 
might be proud. He is serving as district 
deputy of the State Grange, is a member of 
the National, State and County Breeders' 
Club, to the advancement and success of which 
he has contributed largely, and a life member 
of the State and County Agricultural Society. 
He is a Republican in politics, but has never 
sought or held public office. Mr. \'an Der- 
veer married, October 18, 1876, Belle Mc- 
Cann. They were the parents of one child, 
George Jr., who died at the age of nine, yet 
at that early age he had attracted more than 
local attention for his aptitude in speaking 
and giving little musical performances, in 
which he had been carefully trained by his 
mother, a woman of strong musical traits. 



The family name of 
VAN DER rOEL \'an der Poel is the 

D u tc h significance 
for "from the lake," or marsh, and when the 
name was first applied undoubtedly this family 
dwelt beside a small body of water, dammed or 
hemmed in by natural or artificial means, and 
thus at a time when Christian names only 



were in common use it designated which one 
of several bearing the same given name was 
meant. The family lived originally in Go- 
richem (Groningen?) on the Rhine, but dis- 
persed about the year 1600, the branch which 
then went to Amsterdam, Holland, coming to 
America not long afterwards, from whom 
those of the name living here are descended. 
The branch originated in America by Ten- 
nis (Anthony) Cornelis Van der Poel (alias 
Spitsbergen), who had a short existence, for 
he left no male descendants so far as is known 
at this day. He was in Revcrwyck from 1660 
to 1687; married Catrina, daughter of Jo- 
hannes Croon; was a magistrate in 1671, and 
owned one-half of Constapel's Island in the 
Hudson river opposite Paerde Hoeck. When 
he died, about 1687 (his will was made June 
17, 1687), he left a widow and three daugh- 
ters, Elizabeth, Maria and Johanna. At this 
time he was still the owner of a house in .\m- 
sterdam. 

There is evidence of two others of the 
name having been early in this country. Ja- 
cobus (James) Van der Poel married Mar- 
garet Jans in New York, July 25, 1693, ^^'^ 
Gerrit \'an der Poel, a widower, married De- 
bora Warren, February 12, 1697. 

(H) This line of descent originated with 
Wynant Gerritse \'an der Poel. son of Ger- 
rit Van der Poel, who was probably born in 
Holland and was in Albany as early as 1657. 
He resided there until about 1694. He pur- 
chased a half interest in a saw-mill located on 
the eastern bank of the Hudson river on what 
came to be known for the next two centuries 
and more as the Wynants Kill. He bought it 
in 1674 from Geertruy Pieterse Vosburgh, 
widow of Abraham Vosburgh. His last will, 
made in 1695, shows that he had removed 
from Albany, as it was indorsed "The Will 
of Wynant Gerritse Van der Poel, late of Al- 
bany, now of New York." It was dated Feb- 
ruary 29, 1695, and was probated April 17, 
1702. so the date of his death must have been 
in the interim. For some reason he be- 
queathed only six shillings to his son, Mel- 
gert, and gave the residue of his estate to his 
son-in-law, William G. Van den Bergh. It is 
very possible that he provided in the usual 
way for his children during his life, and in 
old age resided with his daughter, Catryn, who 
married \'an den Bergh. Wynant Gerritse 
Van der Poel married Tryntje Melgers. Chil- 
dren : Cornelia, married Cornelis Gysbertse 
Van den Bergh before 1685 ; Melgert Wyn- 
antse, see forward ; Gerrit, married Catrina 
\'an Zandt ; Catryn, married William G. \'an 
den Bergh, before 1685; Margariet, married 
Johannes \'an Zandt, about 1683. 



252 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(HI) Melgert Wynantse, son of Wynant 
Gerritse and Tryntje (Melgers) Van der 
Poel, resided in Albany, and his house, as also 
his father's fronted on the Fort on State 
street, in 1675, probably located on the south 
side of that main street. Not infrequently he 
wrote his name Melchert, for so it appears 
on some of the records. It is likely that he 
died before the year 1700. He married (first) 
Ariaantje, daughter of Abraham Isaacse and 
Maria (\'igne) \'erplanck. by whom he had 
eight children, and he married (second) Eliz- 
abeth Teller, by whom he had two children. 
She was the daughter of William Sr.. and 
Margaret (Donchesen) Teller. By her first 
husband, as shown by her will, made Febru- 
ary 19, 1720, she had several children: Mar- 
garet, married ^'olckert Douw : Maria, mar- 
ried John Vinhagen ; Magdalena, married 
Abraham Lansing, and Helena. She died in 
that year. Children of Melgert W. \'an der 
Poel : Melgert, see forward ; Maria ; Trynke ; 
Abraham, married Antje Van den Bergh, 
January 3, 1713; Wynant, baptized October 
14, 1683, married Catharina De Hoogen (or 
De Hooges), August 17, 1706; Gelyn, bap- 
tized May 17. 1685; Jacobus (James), born 
March 9, 1687; Hendrick, baptized June 2, 
1689; Wilhelm, born March 19, 1693; Aria- 
antje, born November 17, 1695. 

(IV) Melgert, son of Melgert Wynantse 
and Ariaantje (\'erplanck) \'an der Poel, was 
baptized in Albany, and resided in Kinder- 
hook, New York, until his marriage, when he 
removed to Poelsburgh. where he died. He 
married, May 17, 1696, Catharina, daughter 
of Lourens (Laurence) and Elbertje (Evert- 
se) Van Alen. She inherited a large estate 
from her father, who was a .son-in-law of de 
Bruyn, to whom a large patent of land on the 
Hudson river had been granted. Children. 
and dates of baptism: Elbertje, February 3, 
1697, married Martin \'an Deusen, Decem- 
ber 23, 1719; Ariaantje, September 3, 1699; 
Lourens, January 26, 1701, married. October 
29. 1726, .Ariaantje \'an den Bergh; .Maria, 
January 10, 1703. married, November 8, 1724, 
David Groesbeck ; Johannes, see forward ; 
Abraham, February 9, 1707, married, October 
26, 1738, Elizabeth Quinlen ; Jacobus (James), 
April 17, 1709, married, October 16, 1740, 
Neeltje Huyck ; Isaac, October 14, 171 1, mar- 
ried .Anna ; Catryna, December 16. 

1716. 

(V) Johannes, son of Melgert and Catha- 
rina (Van Alen) Van der Poel, was born on 
his father's estate in Kinderhook, New York, 
March 4, 1705, died there .April 11, 1777; but 
was interred in Poelsburgh. It is thought 
that he was a widower (having married on 



November 8, 1736. but to whom unknown) 
when he married Annatje (Nautje or .Annie),, 
daughter of Dr. Samuel and Catharine ( How- 
arden) Staats. This marriage took place ort 
]\Iay 5, 1743, at the house on the Flatts (be- 
tween Albany and Troy) of IMadani Schuy- 
ler, "The American Lady," whose niece and 
adopted daughter she was. His wife was the 
granddaughter of Major Abraham Staats, sur- 
geon, who came to Rensselaerwyck in 1642, 
with Dominie Megapolensis. and whose wife 
was Catrina Jochemse Wessels. Major 
Staats was a prominent leader during Leis- 
ler's administration of the government, and 
probably left New York to settle in Poels- 
burgh soon after its collapse. Children: 
Isaac, see forward ; Maria, married, Novem- 
ber 19, 1762, Laurence \'an Dyck ; Catherine, 
married John Pruyn, October 27, 1767; Eltje, 
baptized April 22, 1750, married John Van 
\'alkenbergh ; Sarah, married (first) John 
Van Alstyne, (second) Colonel Jacob Scher- 
merhorn. 

(\'l) Isaac, son of Johannes and Annatje 
(Annie) (Staats) Van der Poel. was born in 
Kinderhook, December 8, 1747, and was bap- 
tized in Albany, December 25, 1747, with 
Philip Schuyler and Geertruy Lansing as 
sponsors. He died in Chatham, Columbia 
county. New York, December 25. 1807. He 
was commissioned adjutant of the Seventh 
regiment (Kinderhook district), October 20, 
1775, and was removed from this position for 
disaffection to the American government. He 
afterwards joined the British forces and com- 
manded a company of refugees on Staten 
Island. While acting in this capacity, he was 
taken sick, and it is said that through the in- 
fluence of his mother with her relative. Cien- 
eral Philip Schuyler, a pass through the .Amer- 
ican lines was secured for him. She brought 
him to her home, cared for him tenderly until 
his complete recovery, and then returned him 
to his company on Staten Island. His estate 
was confiscated by the government, and he 
was thus rendered almost penniless. He was 
a man of extraordinary intellect, and of a 
frank, noble and generous nature, but he 
never enjoyed a day of peace after the mis- 
taken step he took in the revolution. Fol- 
lowing his marriage, he purchased a small 
farm in the village of Chatham, over the hill 
and about a mile and a half from Kinderhook 
lake, where he passed the remainder of his 
days quietly. 

Isaac Van der Poel married Moyca ( Mayke, 
or May), daughter "of Jacobus (James), of 
Pompaonie, and Elizabeth (Van Dyck 
Huyck. She was born October 17, 1758, 
died in Stuyvesant, New York, No- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



253 



member 20, 1827, and was interred 
in tlie Kinderhook cemetery. Her mother 
was the daughter of Arent and Heyltie (Van 
Alen) \an Dyck, who had, beside Moyca, 
children named Arent and Burger. Arent 
Van Dyck, the maternal grandfather of Isaac 
Van der I'oel, was one of His Majesty's jus- 
tices of the peace for the colony. He was a 
gentleman of education and talents, and the 
general scribe for the region in which he 
lived. He was a lineal descendant of Hen- 
drick \'an Dyck, who was the attorney-gen- 
eral of the Dutch province of New York, and 
who came from the West Indies with Gover- 
nor Stuyvesant. He and Stuyvesant were two 
obstinate Dutchmen, and seem to have quar- 
reled all the way from the West Indies to 
New York. Children : Anne, born Januarv 
3, 1785, died September 5, 1787: James, see 
forward : Anne, July 30, 1789, died April 3, 
1793; Elizabeth, January 19. 1791, married 
Lucas J. \'an Alen, January 16, 1815, died 
August 23, 1833; John, .August 24, 1796, mar- 
ried, January 14, 1823, Sarah W. Oakley, 

■died October 27, 1851 ; Aaron, February 5, 
1799, married (first), September 3, 1821, 
Harriet Baldwin, who died in April, 1837; 
married (second), April 2, 1839, Ellen Mc- 
Bride. 

(\"II) James, son of Isaac and Moyca 
(Huyckl Van der Poel, was born in Kinder- 
hook, Columbia county. New York, January 
10, 1787, died in Albany, October 3, 1843. 
He was a judge and most highly respected 
all his life by members of the bar and ac- 

■ quaintances generally. For many years pre- 
vious to his appointment to the bench. Judge 
Van der Poel had acquired a high reputation 
at the bar and was prominent in both public 
and professional life among the eminent men 
of his ilay in Columbia county. As a circuit 
judge of the third judicial district of the 
state, he was distinguished for learning, abil- 
ity and promptitude, for rapid and clear- 
sighted views of the law and the facts, as he 
was also in his intercourse with his fellow- 
citizens for all manly and honorable qualities. 
But if his public life was honorable and ele- 
vated, his domestic living was eminently 
beautiful. He was truly the venerated and 
beloved center of a family circle that appre- 
ciated the great and good qualities that shed 
lustre over his life and sustained and cheered 
the long period of his illness. To all, indeed, 
who were allied to him by the ties of family 
or kindred, or who came within the circle of 
his friendship, he was an object of the highest 
respect and the warmest attachments. Judge 
James \'an der Poel married, April 19, 1808, 
Anna, born July iq, 1782, daughter of the 



Rev. George Jacob Leonard Doll ; she died in 
Albany, March 14, 1855. Children: Eliza- 
beth, jjorn May 22, 1810, married, June 22, 
1841, John Van Buren, died November 18, 
1844; Susan Christina, February 16, 1812, 
married, Septemlx-r 10, 1833. William Coop- 
er, died March 30, 1841 ; Sarah Ann. April 26, 
1816, married, December 2, 1835, James M. 
French, died November 30, 1857; Alary, June 
25. 1818, died .April 9, 1821 ; Isaac, see for- 
ward; Harriet, June 6, 1824, married, Septem- 
ber 10, 1844, Joseph Christopher Yates 
Paige, died at .Albany. 

(\'III) Isaac (2), son of Judge James and 
Anna (Doll) Van der Poel, was born fn Kin- 
derhook, May 7, 1821, died at his home in Al- 
bany, No. 59 Eagle street, December 28, 1868. 
He was buried in the .Albany Rural cemetery. 
He received a classical education at Williams 
College, where he was graduated with the 
very highest honors. He prepared for the 
profession of law and became eminent in prac- 
tice. He attained high public position ; was 
assistant adjutant-general under Governor 
Horatio .Seymour, and on the death of Adju- 
tant-General Temple, succeeded him in office, 
serving on the governor's staff. In 1861-62 
he was in charge of New York state military 
supplies. In 1867 he was corporation coun- 
sel of the city of Albany. He was an elo- 
quent and pleasing speaker and popular on 
the lecture platform as well as in demand as a 
political speaker. He was an ardent Demo- 
crat, very pronounced in his views, yet 
strongly anti-slavery and a strong advocate of 
the preservation of the Union. He was a 
valued contributor to the columns of the Army 
and Xai-y Gaccttc. and other service maga- 
zines, having an unusual knowledge of mili- 
tary matters. During the civil war he served 
as a member of the Albany board of alder- 
men and warmly espoused and advocated all 
patriotic measures adopted by the city for the 
raising and care of troops. He was a mem- 
ber of the Dutch Reformed church and liberal 
in its support. He always retained a lively 
interest in his college fraternity, Sigma Phi. 
Isaac Van der Poel married. ]\Iay 14, 1850, 
Susan Foster, born at Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 30, 1832. died at her home. No. 
453 State street. Alban\-. October 11, 1907. 
She was the daughter of .Adams and ]\Iary 
(Keith) Foster. She was one of the most 
interested of those concerned in the movement 
inaugurated by Bishop Doane for the institu- 
tion of the Cathedral of .All Saints. To all 
manner of church work she was devoted so 
long as her health permitted, teaching in the 
Cathedral's Sunday school for a great many 
years, and giving very largely of her time to 



254 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the promotion of the charitable works of that 
congregation. Her kindly word and act have 
brought cheer to many an individual in suf- 
fering, worry and want, and no one in the 
large congregation was more missed when 
her ministration ceased. Children : Isaac, 
born at No. 5 Oak street, Albany, June 8. 
1851, married in I'.rooklyn. New York, May 

21, 1896, JMinnie Buckmaster, no children"; 
Mary Keith, born at Albany, November 26, 
1854, married, Albany, December 21, 1875, 
Marcus T. Hun ; James, born at Albany, Sep- 
tember 27, 1857, residing in 1910 at No. 453 
State street, Albany; Henrv Adams, born at 
Albany, October 28. 1861, died at New York, 
February 8, 1898, married Grace McClure Ol- 
cott : child. Henry Adams ; Susan, ' see for- 
ward. 

(IX) Susan, daughter of Isaac and Susan 
(Foster) \'an der Poel, was born in .\lbany. 
New York, August 12, 1866. She received her 
education at St. Agnes' school in that city 
and is a member of the Cathedral of All 
Saints. She married, Albany, June 3, 1903, 
Joseph Pacificus Ord. Bishop William Cros- 
well Doane officiating, and they reside at No. 
459 State street, Albany. Child : Susan Van 
der Poel Ord. born in New York City, April 

22, 1908. 

Joseph Pacificus Ord was born at Monterey, 
California, April 30, 1852. His father was 
Pacificus Ord, born at Cumberland, Marv- 
land. in 1816, died at Washington, D.C., May 
II. 1900, son of James Ord, born in England, 
and Rebecca Ruth (Cresap) Ord, of Cumber- 
land, Maryland. His mother was Maria Lou- 
isa (Pogue) Ord, who was born in Maryland, 
died in California in 1854, daughter of John 
S. and Lucinda Elizabeth Lee (Snow) 
Pogue. His parents were married in New 
Orleans in 1849, a"fl took up their residence 
in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Ord received 
his education at Yale, graduating in the class 
of 1873. and was a member of the college 
society, Skull and Bones. For a number of 
years he was vice-president of the General 
Electric Comjiany at Schenectady, and by pro- 
fession is a lawyer. He is a member of the 
Fort Orange club, the Albany Institute and 
Historical and Art Society, the Country Qub, 
and the University Club of New York City. 
His summer home is at Westport, Essex 
county. New York, and his residence is No. 
459 State street, Albany, New York. 



The family name of Willett 
WILLETT is sometimes to be met with 

in history spelled Willet or 
Willets, and as such is in common use in vari- 
ous sections of the country, also other varia- 



tions in less usual degree. The family has- 
gained an enduring place in American his- 
tory, several members having achieved suc- 
cess and greatness in the early generations,, 
down through the .-Xmerican revolution and' 
later. 

(I) The progenitor of this family in .'Xmer- 
ica was Captain Thomas Willet, or Willett,, 
who came from Leyden, Holland, where he- 
had been sojourning with other Puritans, to- 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1629, or the- 
spring of 1630, when twenty years of age. 
He was sent to Penobscot, Maine, to super- 
intend a trading house, but returned shortly 
and engaged in the carrying trade between 
New England colonies and New Amsterdam, 
acquiring landed interests in 1645. He was- 
a navigator from 1651 to 1664, when, on the- 
request of Colonel Nicholson, he accompa- 
nied him on his expedition of the English 
against the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. 
On the change of the charter of the city of" 
New York to an English form, he was ap- 
pointed the first mayor of that city by Gov-- 
ernor Richard Nicolls, June 12, 1665, and' 
held that office again in 1667. When the- 
Dutch retook the colony in 1673, his property 
in New York was confiscated, and he retired" 
to New England, settling in Rohoboth. or- 
Swansea, later known as Seconek, Massachu- 
setts, and died there .August 3, 1674. (This; 
town, with adjacent land, set off as in Rhode* 
Island, in 1747. hence some accounts state he 
retired to Barringtown, Rhode Island.) Thorn-- 
as Willett married, July 6, 1636, Mary, daugh- 
ter of John Brown, of Swansea, who died 
January 8, 1669. They had fourteen children, 
one of them, Thomas, who became a soldier, 
was born in Plymouth. Massachusetts, Octo-- 
ber I, 1646: was major commanding the- 
Queens county militia, and summoned them tO' 
meet the I'rench under the Marquis Denon- 
ville in 1687 ; was a councillor under Sir Ed- 
mund Andros. Samuel, fourteenth child' 
of Thomas and Mary (Brown) Willett. was 
born October 27, 1638, settled on Long 
Island, where he became the sheriff of Queens 
county, and practiced the belief of a Quaker. 
He had three children. Edward, eldest child' 
of Samuel Willett, was born in 1701, died 
in New York in 1794; child, Marinus, born in: 
Jamaica, Long Island, July 31, 1740. He- 
served with distinction as lieutenant in Gen- 
eral Abercrombie's expedition against Fort 
Ticonderoga in 1758, and participated in the* 
capture of Fort Frontenac ; was a leader in 
the Sons of Liberty in New York City; im. 
August, 1777, while second in command at 
Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), he led a* 
sally against Colonel Barry St. Leger, thuy 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



255 



giving the victory to the miHtia at Oriskany; 
joined Washington's army in 1778, and ac- 
companied General John SulHvan's expedition 
against the Six Nations. He died in New 
York City, August 23, 1830. 

The Willetts of the second and third gen- 
erations had produced large families, residing 
for the most part in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
in Rhode Island, New York City, Long 
Island, and the upper part of New Jersey. 

(I) Thomas J. Willett was born October 15, 
181 2, in New Jersey. He was a carriage 
manufacturer by trade. He married Phoebe 
Breese. born Alay 20, 1817. Children: John 
Crigen, born May 30, 1837; Oscar D., March 

12, 1839; Willis L., December 21, 1840; Eu- 
gene Merritt, August 12, 1842, see forward; 
A. Cyrene, April 19, 1844; Josephine E., July 
18, 1846; Gertrude L.. July 20, 1848; Robert 
Allen, November 3, 1858. 

(II) Dr. Eugene Merritt, son of Thomas J. 
and Phoebe (Breese) Willett, was born in 
Nunda, New York, August 12, 1842. He was 
educated in the schools of his native town, 
learned dentistry, and practiced in Albany 
many years, where he became one of the most 
prominent in his profession. He was a mem- 
ber of the Dutch Reformed church, active in 
all that church undertook and holding several 
offices in its conduct. Dr. Willett married 
Laura Phelps, September 22, 1870, daughter 
of Avery Phelps. Children: Edward Cyrene, 
born September 3, 1871, see forward; Frances 
Eugenia, born December 12, 1873, died Alarch 

13, 1908; Eugene Russell, August 22. 1886. 

(III) Edward Cyrene, son of Dr. Eugene 
Merritt and Laura (Phelps) Willett, was 
born in Newark, Wayne county. New York, 
September 3, 1871. He was reared in Albany, 
educated in schools of that city, where he pre- 
pared for the College of Dentistry, and as- 
sisted his father for a number of years in his 
profession. He, however, gave up dentistry 
and took up the mineral water business, in 
which he continued with success. His com- 
panionable nature made many friends for him 
and he gained a wide circle of acquaintances 
by atililiation with a number of organizations, 
in which he took considerable interest. He 
became a member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, 
holding the office of district department grand 
master of the Albany district No. i, of Phoe- 
nix Lodge No. 41, of the former society. He 
is a member of the Albany Encampment No. 
58 ; Roval Welcome Rebekah Lodge No. 2^2. 
and Jabel Santorum No. 89, O. O. H & P. 
Mr. Willett married, November 8, 1891, Har- 
riet May, born May 24. 1873, daughter of 
Frank and Idelia (Keller) Cramer. Children: 



Herbert Cyrene, born May 23, 1903; Helen 
RIartina, March 6, 1906. 



The American chronicle of this 
TRACEY branch of the Tracys begins in 

the early part of the nineteenth 
century with Dr. Daniel Tracey (who changed 
the spelling of the name). Of an Irish branch 
of the well-known English family, and by 
much the eldest of four orphaned children, a 
graduate of Trinity College and of its medical 
school, he was a practicing physician residing 
in Kings county, Ireland, when the accidental 
death by drowning of a younger brother, to 
whom he was fondly attached, led him to de- 
cide on a change of residence to Canada. Af- 
ter a shipwreck in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
he arrived in Montreal in the year 1825, hav- 
ing with him his brother, John, then a lad of 
fourteen years, and his sister. Ann, aged fif- 
teen. This sister afterwards married Charles 
Wilson, who later became mayor of the city 
of Montreal, and a senator for life of the Do- 
minion, and was made knight commander of 
the Order of St. Gregory by Pope Pius IN. 

Canada was then in an agitation over pub- 
lic grievances growing out of the '"Family 
Compact," and other abuses of administration. 
Dr. Tracey, espousing the popular cause, 
founded at Montreal and edited The I 'indica- 
tor, the leading anti-government newspaper in 
the English language published in the lower 
province. He attacked the government so 
fiercely that he was arraigned before the legis- 
lative council on a charge of contempt, and, 
refusing to retract, was committed to prison. 
A local history of Quebec relates that on the 
night of his condemnation, the jail was sur- 
rounded by a crowd cheering and singing pa- 
triotic songs. Some of the youthfurpatriots 
in this crowd afterwards became leaders of 
the Conservative party and government min- 
isters. In the spring of 1832 Dr. Tracey was 
put up for parliament for Montreal West, and 
after an exciting election, lasting thirty days, 
was elected by a majority of three votes. He 
died of the cholera in 1832 without taking his 
parliamentary seat. In 1837 the rebellion 
broke out. It was speedily crushed. After 
hanging all the leaders that could be caught, 
the English government granted the principal 
reforms contended for by the rebels. 

(I) John Tracey. who as a child had been 
an inmate of his brother's home, had obtained 
his education and was engaged in business 
at the beginning of the rebellion. Although 
he took no part in the outbreak, word was 
brought him privately that an information 
was to be lodged against him. He quickly 
left Canada and came to the United States, 



256 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



settling in Albany in 1839. After traveling 
in the South, he decided on New Orleans as 
a location, but did not long remain there. He 
returned to Albany, where he later became 
established in successful business and promi- 
nent in civic public life. He was a member 
of the Democratic party, a friend of Governor 
Seymour and other public men of his day, re- 
ceiving and entertaining them socially at his 
home. His residence in Albany for twenty- 
four years was the old Schuyler Mansion, in 
which he had a life tenancy during the life- 
time of Mrs. Millard Fillmore, widow of 
President Fillmore. He served as alderman 
from the old First ward ; member of the 
board of police commissioners and of the 
toard of education; in 1872 was defeated by 
a narrow majority as a candidate for the 
state senate ; was a trustee of the Albany 
Savings Bank, was a member of the board 
of trade. He was a Catholic in religion, and 
deeply interested in the welfare of his church 
and the various charities under her control. 
He was trustee of the Cathedral of the Im- 
maculate Conception. St. Agnes Cemetery, 
St. X'incent's Orphan Asylum and a governor 
of Albany City Hospital. He married, in Can- 
ada, Maria McCarthy, daughter of a retired 
English army officer. Lieutenant Charles Mc- 
Carthy, a soldier under Wellington, debarred 
from higher rank through his religion and re- 
fusal to take the oath of abjuration. John 
Tracey died July 12. 1875. Maria McCarthy 
Tracey, born in the Isle of Wight in 1812, 
■died February 5, 1880. There were nine chil- 
dren of this marriage, four only of whom 
survived infancy. 

(II) Colonel John (2) Tracey, son of John 
(i) Tracey, was born November 29, 1843. 
He graduated at Mount Saint Mary's College, 
Emmettsburg, Maryland, where he took his 
A. B. and after a course at the Albany Law 
School was admitted to the bar and began 
practice in the office of Peter Cagger. After 
the breaking out of the civil war he entered 
the army as a lieutenant, and served on the 
staff of Brigadier-General Michael Corcoran, 
•commander of the Irish brigade, seeing hard 
service in the Army of the Potomac and be- 
ing mentioned in dispatches for conspicuous 
gallantry. He was nnistered in as major of 
the lugliteenth Regiment, New York Light 
Cavalry, October 15, 1863; was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel, December 28, 1864, with 
rank from November 25, 1864. He was mus- 
tered out June 12, 1865, at New Orleans, 
Louisiana, with the brevet rank of colonel, 
being then in command of his regiment. In 
1867 Colonel Tracey married Katlierine Clin- 
ton \'ernani, who survives her husband, and 



resides in New York City. Their children are 
Minnie, Ernest Clinton and Katherine. 

(II) Charles, son of John (i) Tracey, was 
born in .Albany, New York, May 27, 1847, 
died in the same city, March 24, 1905. He 
attended primary schools, then entered the 
Boys' Academy, where he was graduated in 
the class of 1866. He had a natural aptitude 
for military drill and was major of the cadet 
battalion. In 1866 he went abroad, visited 
the Holy Land, and remained in Europe some 
time, and during the period enlisted and 
served two years in the Pontifical Zouaves, 
returning home in 1869. In 1870 he went to 
Rome and took part in the siege of that city 
against the king's forces. He was captured 
and iield a prisoner for a time. He returned 
to New York City and engaged in business. 
He there organized the Catholic Union, and 
became its first secretary. He then returned 
to Albany, which was ever after his home. 
After returning from his military career in 
Rome, Pope Pius IX. conferred upon him the 
order of St. Gregory the Great with the rank 
and title of Chevalier. His life from this time 
was devoted to the public service. He was 
an unwavering Democrat, and first held sev- 
eral entirely honorary offices. He was on the 
staff of Governor Tilden with thci rank of 
colonel, and under Governor Robinson was 
commissary-general. In 1887 he was nomi- 
nated and elected to congress to fill a vacancy. 
He at once took a leading position in the 
house, and the first fruit of his labor was the 
bill for "the continuance of the manufacture 
of large cannon at Watervliet." In Septem- 
ber the appropriation for the Watervliet gun 
factory was passed and signed by President 
Cleveland. In 1888 he was renominated and 
elected for a second congressional term. He 
served that term with especial credit and bene- 
fit to his district. He introduced and forced 
to passage many important measures, one of 
which was "to enforce the eight-hour law on 
government premises." So well was his work 
appreciated that in 1890 he was again elected 
to congress. He was especially honored by 
President Cleveland, and was his spokesman 
on the rtoor of the house. He rounded out his 
last congressional term full of honors, leav- 
ing a record without a stain, and at the time 
of his death was the national chairman of the 
Gold Democratic party. He took strong 
ground on sound money, tariff and labor 
questions. He was quiet, unassuming in 
manner, sunny in disposition, firm in his opin- 
ions, an ideal, true and courageous standard 
bearer. He held many positions of honor and 
trust outside of his political ones. For nine- 
teen vears he was a trustee of the .\lbanv Sav- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



257 



ings Hank, as was his father; was a director 
for fifteen years of the National Commercial 
bank- ; trustee of the Boys' Academy ; St. Ag- 
nes cemetery ; manager of St. Peter's hospi- 
tal, trustee of the House of Refuge, at Hud- 
son, appointed by Governor Cleveland and re- 
appointed by Governor Hill. He was a Cath- 
olic in religion, and the beauty and purity of 
his life is thus expressed by a friend : 

■"He kept the faith, he chose the purer thought, 

Upheld the truth and spoke with cleanly lips. 
Untarnished walked the halls where men are 
bought 

.\nd served his country more than politics. 
Tol'rant of weakness in his fellowmen, 

Impatient only of the gross and vile, 
His life was plotted on a noble plan, 

He viewed the future with a trustful smile. 
Centle and true he leaves an honored name 

More lasting in the hearts of friends than 
fame." 

In 1853 General Tracey married Hcrmine, 
daughter of Colonel Duchesnay. of Montreal. 
They were the parents of four children, Marie 
T., Charles, Philip and John. 

(H) Eliza, daughter of John (i) Tracey, 
is a member of the Franciscan Order, in 
which she has taken the name of Sister Am- 
brosia anil is at present iNlother Superior in 
charge of St. James' Hospital, Newark, New 
Jersey. 

(H) James Francis, youngest son of John 
(i) Tracey, was born in Albany, New York, 
May 30, 1854. He was for four years a stu- 
dent at the ijoys' Academy, and toured Eu- 
rope for two years as part of his preparatory 
course. He entered on his return George- 
town University, where he was graduated 
A. B., class of 1874. He was graduated 
LL. B. from the .-Mbany Law School, and was 
admitted to the New York bar in 1875. He 
studied in the ofiice of M. T. and L. G. Hun, 
and in 1882 formed a partnership with James 
Fenimore Cooper, and his father, the late 
Paul Fenimore Cooper, who was senior coun- 
sel, under the firm name of Tracey &: Cooper, 
which continued until 1893. In that year .-M- 
bert Rathbone was admitted, and the firm be- 
came Tracey, Cooper & Rathbone, continuing 
until Mr. Rathbone's removal to New York 
City, when he withdrew. His place was taken 
by Frederick Townsend, the firm now being 
Tracey, Cooper & Townsend, conducting a 
general legal business. Mr. Tracey served 
as state examiner of corporations under John 
Big->low when secretary of state, and was 
lecturer on the law of corporations at Albany 
Law School for fifteen years. In 1905 Presi- 
dent Roosevelt appointed him associate jus- 
tice of the supreme court of the Philippine 
Islands, and he took up bis temporary resi- 



dence in Manila. On January 8, 1908, the 
president sent his name to the L^nited States 
senate as member of the Philippine commis- 
sion with portfolio as minister of finance and 
justice. This appointment he declined, and 
on February i, 1909. resigned from the insu- 
lar service, and, returning to Albany, resumed 
practice of the law with his old firm. He is 
connected with various Catholic charities, and 
belongs to the Cathedral congregation. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and at times has 
taken an active part in political movements, 
but has never been a candidate for political 
office. From 1884 to 1886 he served as presi- 
dent of the Young Men's Democratic Club of 
Albany, which did effective work towards se- 
curing for Grover Cleveland the support of 
the party organization and in promoting his 
nomination. He belongs to the Fort Orange, 
University and Country clubs of .Vlbany : the 
University and the Catholic of New York 
City, and the L^niversity of Manila. In 1910 
he received the degree LL. D. from his alma 
mater, Georgetown University. 

Judge Tracey married. May 10, 1893, Luci- 
anne Bosse, of Quebec, Canada, daughter of 
Joseph G. Bosse, judge of the Court of 
Queens Bench (Court of Appeals), and his 
wife, Amelie de Salaberry, of an old French 
family which yet retains its ancestral seats 
upon the Loire, and at St. Jean Pied du Port 
in the Pyrenees. She is a great-granddaugh- 
ter of Colonel de Salaberry, who commanded 
the British and Canadians at the battle of 
Chateaugay in 1812, when the Americans 
were defeated. Judge James F. and Lucianne 
(Bosse) Tracey have one son. Walter aged 
sixteen vears. 



Colonel Thomas Stevens, of 
STE\'ENS Devonshire, England, who 

moved to London, was the 
father of William, Thomas, Richard. Cyprian 
and three daughters. Thomas and Cyprian 
came to New England with Captain Greene 
about 1660. Cyprian was of Chelsea and af- 
terwards of Lancaster. ("History of Fratn- 
ingham," by Rev. William Barry.) 

(II) Cyprian, son of Colonel Thomas Ste- 
vens, was born in England, 1649, '^^'^^ a citi- 
zen of Lancaster, I^lassachusetts, and died 
probably there, date unknown. He married, 
January 22, 1672, Mary Willard, born Sep- 
tember 7, or 2y, 1653, daughter of Major Si- 
mon Willard, of Lancaster, and his third wife, 
Mary Dunster, a relative of Mr. Dunster, 
president of Harvard college. Major Simon 
Willard was a founder of Concord, Massa- 
chusetts, deputy to the general court 1636-54, 
assistant 1654-76, commander-in-chief of the 



258 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



expedition of the United Colonies against 
Ninigret, sachem of the Nyantics, 1655; led 
the heroic relief at the battle of Brookfield ; 
commanded the Middlesex regiment of Massa- 
chusetts troops in King Philip's war. (Year 
Book, Society of Colonial Wars, 1896, page 
417.) The "Willard Memorial" gives the fol- 
lowing: "In 1659 Major Simon Willard re- 
moved to Lancaster, where he lived for twelve 
years, when in 1671-72 he removed to his 
farm lying in the southern part of Groton; 
and his residence at Lancaster, one of the 
finest situations in that pleasant town, was 
conveyed by him to his son-in-law, Cyprian 
Stevens, who married his daughter Mary (the 
second of that name). This was intended 
for Mrs. Stevens' dowry." This house was 
use for a garrison house, and in 1676 shel- 
tered for six weeks eight families and a guard 
of soldiers. (See Lancaster Records.) Cyp- 
rian Stevens was one of the five purchasers 
of a tract of land twelve miles square, six 
miles wide, which is now the town of Rut- 
land, Massachusetts. The deed was executed 
and delivered December 22, 1686, the pur- 
chase price being twenty-three pounds of the 
then currency. There does not seem to be 
any evidence that he ever settled on his pur- 
chase, although Lancaster was not far dis- 
tant. His children, however, settled there 
and erected homes. His garrison house at 
Lancaster, Massachusetts, was attacked by In- 
dians February 10, 1675-76. (Bodge, pp. 
352-3 and 400. See also Nourse's "Early 
Records of Lancaster," pp. 85-86, loi.) In 
garrison at Groton, Massachusetts, February 
29, 1675-76, under Captain Thomas Wheeler. 
(Bodge, pp. 114 and 360.) Under Ensign 
Peter Joslin at Lancaster, Massachusetts, 
April 15, 1704. (Nourse's "Early Records of 
Lancaster," p. 144.) 

(Ill) Deacon Joseph, youngest son of Cyp- 
rian and Mary (Willard) Stevens, was born 
1682-83, was a citizen of Rutland, Massachu- 
setts, and died in Rutland, November 15, 
1769. He married Prudence, daughter of 
John Rice, of Sudbury, Massachusetts. She 
died about 1776. They had nine children. 
Rutland was incorporated as a town July 6, 
1722. At the first legal meeting ever held in 
Rutland, Ensign Joseph Stevens was chosen 
one of the selectmen, one of the assessors, and 
town treasurer. He was clerk of the pro- 
prietors and one of the committee to set oflf 
their land, a deacon in the church, and a cap- 
tain of the militia. He was proprietor of 
house lots Nos. 15 and 56. Part of his divi- 
sion land was located on Stevens Hill, and 
two hundred acres on and adjoining Turkey 
IJill. The following is taken from Reed's 



"History of Rutland, Massachusetts," and 
Temple & Sheldon's "History of Northfield, 
Massachusetts": On August 14, 1723, Dea- 
con Joseph Stevens with four young sons 
went to the meeting house meadow to collect 
fodder for the coming winter. Whilst making 
hay they were attacked by Gray Lock with a 
party of four Indians. Two of the boys were 
killed, and two, Phinehas and Isaac, made 
prisoners. Phinehas and Isaac were carried 
to Canada, where they were held in captivity 
for upwards of a year. Phinehas was re- 
deemed, after which he moved to Charles- 
town, New Hampshire, where he was a cap- 
tain of the militia. He became distinguished 
in the Cape 'Breton war, and also for his- 
brave defense of that plantation April 4, 1747,. 
with a command of about thirty men against 
an attack of four hundred French and In- 
dians under JMons. Debeline. (Reed's "His- 
tory of Rutland, Mass.," pp. 103-105. Hud- 
son's "History of Sudbury, Mass.," pp. 171- 
172. Blake's "History of Rutland, Mass.,"" 
and the "Indian Troubles of 1723-30," pp. 
45-46-47. Also "Massachusetts Archives,"' 
vol. 51, p. 399. Nourse's "History of Lan- 
caster, Mass.," p. 318.) 

(IV) Isaac, youngest son of Deacon Jo- 
seph and Prudence (Rice) Stevens, was bap- 
tized December 14, 1718, in the town of Lan- 
caster, Massachusetts. He married for his 
second wife Abigail Parling, on September 7, 
1748. When carried captive to Canada, he 
was given by Gray Lock to the Cagnowagas, 
and was regained with much difficulty. A 
full acount of the matter is given in Reed's 
"History of Rutland, Mass.," pp. 103-104, 
and in the "Massachusetts Archives," vol. 51,. 
P- 399; vol. 72, p. 258; vol. II, p. 407; vol. 51, 
p. 382. 

(V) Luther, eldest son of Isaac and Abi- 
gail (Parling) Stevens, was born in Rutland,. 
Massachusetts, July 22, 1749. He married 
Lucy Stearns, born June 26, 1762, died Sep- 
tember 7, 181 2. He served in the revolu- 
tionary army as follows — "Massachusetts Ar- 
chives," vol. 12, p. 83: "Appears with rank 
of private on Lexington Alarm Roll of Capt. 
Thomas Eustes' Company, which marched on 
the alarm of April 19th, 1775, from Rutland 
to Cambridge." "Massachusetts Archives," 
vol. 35, p. 94, "Appears in a receipt for ad-' 
vance pay given by Company dated July 13th, 
1775, at Charlestown Camp, payable to him--, 
self. Pay due on account of service in Capt- 
Adam Wheeler's Company, Col. Doolittle's 
Regiment." Colonel Doolittle's regiment 
served at the battle of Bunker Hill. Accord-i 
ing to the same records, he continued to serve-; 
throughout the war, appearing with the ranki 




AylA/^ ]rx^fhty^^-^^^tf-i^t^ ''^^^^v^^>i/~^ u4 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



259 



of serg-eant on muster and pay roll of Captain 
Ephraim Stearns' company, Colonel John 
Rand's (Worcester Co.) regiment. 

Lucy Stearns, wife of Luther Stevens, is 
descended through Captain Elizah Stearns 
and his wife, Lucy Lane, daughter of Job 
Lane, from Colonel John Lane, 1661-1715. 
Colonel John Lane was born in Billerica, 
Massachusetts, and was a citizen of Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony. Lieutenant in com- 
mand of troop, Billerica, j\Iassachusetts, 1693 
("History of Billerica," by Hazen, p. 129, 
Lane papers mss.) ; in service as scout in 
King William's war. Captain 1702-05 ("His- 
tory of Billerica," pp. 135- 136- 137, Lane pa- 
pers mss.) Major 171 1, Queen Anne's war, 
(Lane papers) in continual service until his 
death. ("New England Register," vol. 10, p. 
356, vol. II, pp. 102-231.) Lucy Stearns, wife 
of Luther Stevens, through Martha Ruggles, 
wife of Job Lane, is descended from Gov- 
ernor Thomas Dudley, 1576- 1653. Born in 
Northampton, England ; citizen of Massachu- 
setts Bay. Colony, died in Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts. Second governor Massachusetts 
Bay Colony, 1634-40-45-50; deputy governor 
in 1630. et. seq. ad interim; assistant, 1635-6, 
1641-4; in office continuously twenty-two 
years; commissioner 1643-47-49 for. and twice 
president of the United Colonies ; major-gen- 
eral, 1646; signed charter of Harvard col- 
lege. 1650 (Year Book, Colonial Wars So- 
ciety, 1896, p. 312). Whitmore's Civil Lists 
(passing) History (Whitman & Roberts), p. 
135, or the Ancient and Honorable Artillery 
Company of Boston, Mass. Dudley family, p. 
70. et. seq. 

(\I) Isaac, son of Luther and Lucy 
( Stearns) Stevens, was born in Rutland, Mas- 
sachusetts, August 8, 1795, died July 31, 1835. 
He married Maria Cecelia Parsons, born Feb- 
ruar\- 6. 1S06, died August 30, 1889, daugh- 
ter of Winthrop and Sarah Terry Parsons, 
of Enfield, Connecticut. Maria Cecelia Par- 
sons, wife of Isaac Stevens, through the fami- 
lies of Rev. Nathaniel Collins, of Enfield, 
Connecticut, and Rev. William Adams, of 
Dedham, Massachusetts, and others, is a de- 
scendant of William Bradford, governor of 
Plymouth, Colony, Massachusetts. (Year 
Book, Society of Mayflower Descendants, 
1901, pp. 114-396). 

(\'II) Albert Parsons, son of Isaac and 
Maria C. (Parsons) Stevens, was born in 
Springfield, Massachusetts. April 10, 1835. 
He was but an infant when his father died. 
He grew up in Springfield, where he was edu- 
cated. In October, 1853, he came to Albany, 
and there began his useful active, business 
life, covering a period of half a century. He 



began as clerk in the Albany Exchange Bank, 
then located in the second story of the Ex- 
change building. Broadway and State streets, 
where the postoffice building now stands. He 
held various clerical banking positions in dif- 
ferent institutions until 1869, when he be- 
came one of the organizers of the National 
Savings Bank of the City of Albany. He 
was chosen secretary and treasurer, and held 
these offices continuously until his retirement 
from business in January, 1905. a period of 
thirty-si.x years. His activity has not been 
bounded by the demands of business, but has 
been noticeable in the religious and charit- 
able work of Albany. He has been asso- 
ciated for many years with the work of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, and was 
president of the board of directors when the 
present building corner of North Pearl and 
Steuben streets was dedicated. He is now 
president of the board of trustees, having held 
that position since 1901. He is a member of 
the First Presbyterian church, which he 
serves officially as president of the board of 
trustees. He also served as treasurer of the 
Albany Presbytery, and is a member of the 
committee on Synodical Home Missions of the 
Presbyterian synod of the state of New York. 
Through his distinguished colonial ancestry, 
he has gained membership in the Society of 
Mayflower Descendants, and the New Eng- 
land Society of the City of New York. His 
social club is the Fort Orange, of Albany. 

He married, December 30, 1856, in the 
First Presbyterian church, Emma Henrietta 
McMullen, of Albany, daughter of Thomas 
and Henrietta (Van Benthuysen) McMullen, 
born August 31, 1835, died February 15, 1891. 
Children, born in Albany: 

1. Albert Wheeler, November 3, 1858, died 
October 14, 1861. 

2. Carrie Hooper, August 21, i860, died 
January 24, 1863. 

3. Helen Louise, March 7, 1864, died Au- 
gust 4, 1888. 

4. Clarence Winthrop, October 10, 1869; 
educated in Albany Academy, and immedi- 
ately after leaving school entered the Me- 
chanics' & Farmers' Bank, and now (1910) 
holds the position of assistant treasurer of 
the Mechanics' & Farmers' Savings Bank. 
He is a member of the Albany Academy 
Alumni Association, the Society of Colonial 
Wars, and the New England Society of the 
City of New York. He served five years as 
a member of Company A. Tenth Battalion, 
N. G., N. Y., and is a member of the Old 
Guard. He married, April 4, 1894, Anna L. 
Van Antwerp, daughter of William Meadon 
and Susanna (Irwin) Van Antwerp, of A1-' 



26o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \^'\LLEYS 



bany. Children : Clarence W'inthrop Jr., 
March 5, 1896, died March 5. 1896; Win- 
throp Parsons, January 30, 1898; Anna Van 
Antwerp, September 27, 1899; Gertrude Van 
Antwerp, October 23, 1901. 

5. Frederic Bliss, June 9, 1871, educated 
at the Albany Academy. Entered the Na- 
tional Savings Bank of the city of Albany as 
messenger, where he now (1910) holds the 
office of treasurer, filled so long and capably 
by his father, and is also secretary of Savings 
Bank Associations of the State of New York. 
He served five years as a member of the Third 
Signal Corps, N. G. N. Y., part of the time 
with the rank of sergeant. He is a member 
of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, 
New England Society of the City of New 
York, Society of Colonial Wars. Albany In- 
stitute and Historical and Art Society, Fort 
Orange and Country clubs, the Albany cham- 
ber of commerce, and Albany Academy Alum- 
ni Association. He is unmarried. 



Of the many families scat- 
BASCOM tered throughout the United 

States and Canada bearing this 
name in one of its various forms (Bascom, 
Bascome, Bascum, Bascomb and Bascombe), 
by far the largest proportion are descended 
from a common ancestor — Thomas, who came 
to this country from England, about the year 
1634, probably in the "jNIary and John." He 
is the American ancestor of the family of 
Bascom of Fort Edward herein recorded. 

(I) Thomas Bascom, a Massachusetts colo- 
nist, was established at Dorchester in the year 
1634. He removed to Windsor, Connecticut, 
in 1639, being one of the second company 
that settled at that place. He later removed 
to Northampton, Massachusetts. The first 
mention of his name to be found in the rec- 
ords of the latter place is the date of his own 
and wife's admission to full communion to 
the church. May 14, 1661. In 1666, he was 
elected town constable. He was made free- 
man May, 1670, took the oath of allegiance 
February 8, 1679, and died there. May 9, 
1682. His will is recorded at Northampton, 
Massachusetts. He married in England ( date 

unknown) Avis , who died February 3, 

1676. Children: i. Hannah, born before 
1640; married (first) Jolm I'roughton; (sec- 
ond) William Jaynes. 2. .Abigail, baptized at 
Windsor, Connecticut, June 7, 1640; married 
John Inger.soll. 3. Thomas, see forward. 4. 
Hepzibah, born at Windsor, Connecticut, 
April 14, 1644; married Robert Lyman. 

(II) Thomas (2). only son of Thomas (i ) 
and Avis Bascom, was born in Windsor, Con- 
necticut, February 20, 1642. He married, 



March 20, 1667, Mary, daughter of Thomas 
Newell, of Farmington, Connecticut. Thomas 
and wife Mary were admitted to full com- 
munion in the Northampton church in jNIarch, 
1670. He died there September 11. 1689. 
His will is recorded at Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Thomas, see forward. 
2. John, born 1671, died young. 3. John, born 
October 14, 1672; married Thankful, daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Abigail Webster, and 
granddaughter of Governor John Webster. 
4. Mary, died young. 

(III) Thomas (3) eldest son of Thomas 
(2) and Mary (Newell) Bascom, was born 
about the year 1668. He inherited the home- 
stead at Northampton, and died in that town 
February 3, 1714. He married Hannah, 
daughter of John Catlin, of Deerfield. She 
survived him many years and died January, 
1747. By his will, dated January 28, 1714, 
he gave to her one-half of his house, land 
and "movables," so long as she remained a 
widow. Children, all born at Northampton, 
Massachusetts: i. Samuel, born January 27, 
1692; married (first) Experience Parsons; 
(second) Sarah, widow of Comfort Barnes. 
2. Hannah, born September, 1694, married 
Thomas Judd. 3. Thomas, died in infancy. 
4. Thomas (2), died young. 5. Ezekiel. see 
forward. 6. Abigail, died in infancy. 7. 
Ruth, born April, 1703, married ■ — Cur- 
tis. 8. Jonathan, born 1706; he was one of 
the earliest settlers of Southampton, where his 
home was fortified against Indian attack ; he 
married Mindwell King. 9. Joseph, bom 
January 20, 1709; married Hannah Rider. 10. 
Mary, married Noah Sheldon. 11. Martha, 
born September 16, 1713; married Nathaniel 
White (2), of South Hadley. 

(IV) Ezekiel, son of Thomas (3) and Han- 
nah (Catlin) Bascom, was born at Northamp- 
ton, Massachusetts. November 22, 1700, and 
died in 1746, at Greenfield or Deerfield. He 
married Sarah Severance, March 6, 1728, who 
died September 9, 1729, at Deerfield. He 
married (second) Rebecca Clary, May 23, 
1734. The children were: Moses, born June 
8, 1736; Elias, see forward; Rebecca, mar- 
ried Captain Caleb Chapin ; Ezekiel, born 
1742. 

(\') Elias, son of Ezekiel Bascom, was born 
probably at Hatfield or Deerfield, Massachu- 
setts, May 8, 1737. He resided successively 
at Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield and Northfield, 
Massachusetts, at which latter place he set- 
tled in 1760. He was a clothier or weaver, 
and until an advanced age wrought woolen 
cloth, flannel and linen for his household, as 
well aS for some of his neighbors. Another 
account says : "While an apprentice to a cloth- 




'yUcCi-,,^^ 




7^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



261 



ier, during a season of bad health he learned 
to weave, and when too old for farm work 
(which was his occupation in Vermont) he 
asked for a loom for exercise, and continued 
to use it until he was very old. He was so 
strictly temperate that when past ninety years 
old he objected to a second pint of gin, pre- 
scribed by his physician, saying he feared he 
should learn to like it." In 1829 he headed 
the family list of names for the first tem- 
perance society formed in the town. He served 
three months in the French and Indian war, 
at Lake George, New York, and was present 
at the battle of Saratoga as a volunteer sol- 
dier from Northfield, Massachusetts. From 
Northfield he removed in 1779 to Newport, 
New Hampshire, and in 1792 to Orwell, where 
he died November 29, 1833, at the advanced 
age of ninety-six years. He was deacon of 
the Congregational church at Orwell. He mar- 
ried (first) at Deerfield, Massachusetts, March 
13, 1761, Eunice Allen, mother of all his chil- 
dren ; (second) Thankful Graves, of Green- 
field, Massachusetts. His children were: i. 
Elias, born February 27, 1762. 2. Reuben, 
April 22, 1763. 3. Eunice, August 25, 1764; 
married Daniel Buell. 4. Jerusha, November 
23. 1765. 5. Joseph, baptized February 13, 
1767; died February 14, 1767. 6. Joseph, 
born March 30, 1768. 7. Zeri, January 13, ' 
1770. 8. Artemidorus, see forward. 9. Eli- 
sha, baptized October 13, 1776. 10. Cynthia, 
married Daniel Blandon. 11. Lucy, born Au- 
gust 17, 1778; married Thomas Cutts ; four- 
teen children. 12. Rebecca, married Reuben 
Wright. 13. Ira, born 1783. 14. Lucinda, 
born 1786; married Clark Sanford. 

(\T) Artemidorus (commonly called Do- 
rus), son of Elias and Eunice (Allen) Bas- 
com, was born at Northfield, Massachusetts, 
December 19, 1774. He accompanied his 
father to Orwell, Vermont, in 1792. where he 
married, March 11, 1800, Chloe Hulburd, born 
September 30, 1778, daughter of Ebenezer 
Hulburd and Polly Sheldon. He was for many 
years a deacon of the church and a justice 
of the peace. He had a high appreciation of 
the importance of education. He was 
earnest minded, had a strong love of justice 
and much kindliness of temper. He died at 
Orwell, August 26. 1841. His widow died 
there October i, 1851. His children, all born 
at Orwell, \'ermont : i. Thankful, born De- 
cember 23, 1800; married, October 17, 1820, 
Horace Cobb, died February 19, 1829. 
2. Priscilla Elvira, born Alarch 7. 1802, 
married. March 10, 1822, Linus Wilcox, died 
March 13, 1831. 3. Clarinda, born October 
27, 1804: married, November 28, 1830, Sam- 
uel Howard; married (second). May 28, 1833. 



Alonzo Safiford, died April 15, 1872. 4. Em- 
ily, born August 21, 1806, married, October 
14, 1828, William Riley Sanford. 5. Oliver 
Hulburd, born February 16, 1810; married. 
September 4, 1834, Lucretia Olcott Young. 6. 
Semanthe Eunice, born December 18, 181 1; 
married, March 17, 1840, Rev. H. H. Bates. 
7. Dorus, born April 18, 1814: married, Feb- 
ruary 12, 1839, Elizabeth Clark, died June 23, 
1839 ; had one son, Dorus Clark Bascom, born 
December 7, 1839. 8. William Franklin, born 
January 17, 1817; married, September 16, 
1845, Annie F. Strong. 9. Samuel Hopkins, 
see forward. 

(VII) Samuel Hopkins, son of Dorus and 
Chloe (Hulburd) Bascom, was born at Or- 
well, \'ermont, February 27, 1819, died De- 
cember 4, 1895. He married (first) May 23, 
1842, Ehzabeth Clark, born November 25, 
1816, daughter of Moses A. and Rebecca 
(Wyman) Clark, died December 4, 1870. He 
married (second) Florinda Nichols, of Roy- 
alton, Vermont, who died in 1885. He mar- 
ried (third), 1888, Hattie Preseau. He was 
throughout his entire life actively identified 
with all movements tending to the advance- 
ment and prosperity of his community. In 
1857 and 1858 he represented Orwell in the 
Vermont legislature, and at different times 
held several of the town offices. He was for 
many years a prominent factor in the afifairs 
of the Congregational church, a most efficient 
clerk for fifty-three years, succeeding his fa- 
ther in the office ; also serving as deacon, treas- 
urer, and superintendent of the Sunday 
school, each for a term of years. 
He was a man of intellectual acumen, 
of marked breadth of vision and in- 
terest, of strong moral vigor and pro- 
nounced religious faith. His children, all by 
his first wife, were as follows: i. Anne Eliz- 
abeth, born Jnly 6, 1844, married Clayton N. 
North, of Shoreham, Vermont. 2. Samuel 
Jay, born March 27, 1846; married. May 25, 
1870. Olive J. Longley. 3. Wynian Hul- 
burd, born March 9, 1848: married, Septem- 
ber 22, 1871, Ella Francella Wyman, died 
July 16, 1879, at Orwell, \'ermont. 4. Clor- 
inda, bom March 7, 1850, died March 8, 1853. 
5. George, born August 22, 1852, died Feb- 
ruary 9, 1909. 6. Robert O., see forward. 
7. Jesse, born November 3, 1857, died Janu- 
ary 4, 1858. 8. Cassius Clay, born Septem- 
ber 15, 1861, died October 31, 1894, at Or- 
well, Vermont. 

(VIII) Robert O.. son of Samuel H. and 
Elizabe.th (Clark) Bascom, was born in Or- 
well, \ermont, November 18, 1855. He was 
educated in the public school of Orwell, New- 
ton Academy, Shoreham, \'ermont, and the 



262 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, where he 
was graduated in 1876. After his graduation 
and while studying law at Fort Edward, Mr. 
Bascom was an instructor in history, Eng- 
lish and elocution at the institute for 'a few 
years. He took up his residence at Fort Ed- 
ward, where he commenced the study of law 
in the office of Don D. \\'inn. After the death 
of Mr. Winn (which occurred shortly after), 
he entered the office of the Hon. Edgar Hull, 
where he continued reading until his admis- 
sion to the bar in 1885. He opened an office 
at Fort Edward, where he practiced law until 
his death, May 19, 1909. Mr. Bascom was 
always interested in politics, and held various 
minor offices in the town in early life. He 
was for a number of years corporation coun- 
sel for the village of Fort Edward. He was 
chairman for the Washington County Repub- 
lican Committee for a number of years, and 
was appointed district attorney of Washington 
county by Governor Frank W. Higgins, Janu- 
ary 12. 1905. He was elected to that office 
in the autumn of 1905 for the full term, and 
in 1908 was re-elected. He was one of the 
charter members and a moving spirit in the 
organization of the New York State Histori- 
cal Association, was secretary of that body for 
a number of years, and held the office at the 
time of his death. He was a charter member 
and first president of Adirondack Chapters, 
Sons of the American Revolution. He was 
also a member of the \'ermont Historical So- 
ciety, of the National Geographic Society, of 
the New York Genealogical and Biographical 
Society, the New York State Bar Associa- 
tion, Fort Edward Lodge, F. and A. M., was 
a trustee of Glens Falls Academy. Glens Falls, 
New York, and at one time was a member 
of Jane McCrea Lodge, T. O. O. F.. Wash- 
ington Counsel, Royal Arcanum, an officer of 
of Washington County Agricultural Society 
at the time of his death and was a member 
of the board of education of Fort Edward for 
several years. Mr. Bascom was a student of 
the history of Vermont and New York, and 
was the author of several works dealing with 
local history. He published the "Fort Edward 
Book" in 1903 ; "Captain Norton's Orderly 
Book," a short time previous, and was the 
author of many addresses dealing with Ver- 
mont, the Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Al- 
len, Allen's Capture of Ticonderoga, Mount 
Independence, Jane McCrea, Duncan Camp- 
bell and of the local history of Fort Edward. 
Several of his addresses upon historical sub- 
jects have been published by the New York 
State Historical Association. Mr. Bascom 
was especially interested in Fort Ticonderoga 
and its history, and had compiled a list con- 



taining the names of fifty-three men who are 
known to have entered the fort with Ethan 
Allen. By those familiar with the subject, lie 
was conceded to be the best authoritv in 
America upon this matter. Mr. Bascom was 
a collector of rare coins, Indian relics, stamps 
and curios. 

He was a Republican in politics, and was on 
the stump during every gubernatorial and 
presidential campaign, and was a forceful and 
agreeable speaker. No mention of the man 
would be complete without reference to the 
factional fight which shook the politics of 
Washington county to its very foundation. 
Mr. Bascom was a member of the Howland- 
Hobbie-Burleigh-Bascom faction which wres- 
ted the control of Washington county from 
the "bosses," and which culminated in the 
famous Argyle convention in 1896 when the 
sheriff of the county, under the guise of pre- 
serving the peace, swore in a large number 
of deputies and attempted by force to pre- 
vent the organization of the convention. Many 
of the Howland delegates were forcibly ejected 
from the hall ; tables and chairs were 
broken, several men received serious injuries, 
and the convention was at a stand-still and 
could not be organized because no one could 
be found with the temerity to call the roll of 
the delegates, until Mr. Bascom, despite the 
sheriff, called the towns on the question of 
the selection of a chairman. He was forced 
from the platform several times, and was the 
object of attack of every bully in the room, 
but defied the mob and organized the conven- 
tion. He was afterward counsel for the tax- 
payers' league of Washington county which 
preferred charges against Sheriff John N. 
Hevlett before Governor Roo.sevelt, which led 
to the resignation of the sheriff, his subsequent 
indictment, and the restoration of about ten 
thousand dollars to the treasury of the coun- 
ty. He was also a member of the grievance 
committee of the Bar Association, and was 
secretary of the sub-committee of the griev- 
ance committee which heard the charges 
against Judge Warren Hooker, made by the 
Jamestown Bar Association. Jointly with 
Dean Huffcut, of the Cornell Law School, he 
was the author of the report of that commit- 
tee. Mr. Bascom represented the highest type 
of American citizenship and was a practical 
politician. He was able to deal with men and 
conditions as he found tlieni. but never 
"crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee that 
thrift might follow fawning." In his admin- 
istrations of the various public trusts reposed 
in him, he was never actuated by anything' 
other than the desire to discharge the duty 
which he owed to the electorate which chose 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



263 



him. No innocent man was ever harassed be- 
cause he stood in the politician's way. No 
rogue escaped punishment because he had 
"friends at court." He was an able lawyer, 
a kind father and a faithful citizen. Mr. Bas- 
com was for a number of years a warden and 
vestryman of St. James Episcopal church of 
Fort Edward. He married, December 20, 
1882, Mary Larabee Piatt, daughter of Myron 
and Sarah (Larabee) Piatt, born August 22, 
1857. Children: all further mentioned. 

I. Wyman Samuel Bascom, son of Robert 
O. and Mary Larrabee (Piatt) Bascom, was 
born in Fort Edward, February 14, 1885. He 
married, July 15, 1908, Esther Louise Cowles, 
of Glens Falls, Warren county, New York, 
a daughter of Darius Levens and Hattie 
(Cronkhite) Cowles. Darius Levens Cowles 
was a son of Zinah and Elizabeth (Levens) 
Cowles. Hattie Cronkhite was a daughter of 
William and Esther (Milliman) Cronkhite. 
Mr. Bascom was educated in the public schools 
of Fort Edward ; graduated at Glens Falls 
Academy in 1902, and Albany Law School, in 
1905, with degree of LL.B. He was admit- 
ted to the bar in May, 1906. In politics he 
is a Republican, and served as United States 
Commissioner for the Northern District of 
New York ; corporation counsel of the village 
of Fort Edward, 1907-1911 : indictment clerk 
and assistant district attorney of Washington 
count}-. He is a member of the Glens Falls 
club. Fort Edward Club, Kappa Alpha So- 
ciety, National Geographical Society and V'er- 
mont Historical Society. He has one son, 
Robert William Cowles, born July 15, 1909. 
He is eligible to the Colonial Societies, 
through Ezekiel and Elias Bascom, and to the 
Revolutionary Societies through Elias Bas- 
com, Ebenezer Hulburd, Daniel Sheldon 
(father of Polly), and Lemuel Clark (father 
of Moses A.) ; "Dorchester Town History," 
Stiles, "History of Ancient Windsor," "His- 
tory of Northfield, Mass.," "Bascom's Gene- 
alogy," etc. 

(IX) Robert Piatt Bascom, born at Fort 
i Edward, New York, December 29, 1886; edu- 
cated at public schools of Fort Edward, grad- 
uated from Glens Falls Academy, Glens Falls, 
New York, 1907; graduated from Carnegie 
Technical Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
June, 191 1, with degree of C.E. 

( IX) Frederick George Bascom. born at 
Fort Edward, New York, June 15, 1895 ; edu- 
cated in public schools of Eort Edward. Glens 
. Falls Academy, and Glens Falls High School. 

L (The Piatt Line). 

■ (I) Mary Larrabee Piatt Bascom is of 
the eight generation of the Piatt family in 



America. She descends from Richard Piatt, 
who came to Ainerica in 1638 and settled in 
New Haven, Connecticut, where he died in 

1684. He married Mary , who died in 

1678. 

(II) Lieutenant Joseph, son of Richard and 
Mary Piatt, was born August i, 1648. He 
married. May 5, 1680, Mary, daughter of 
Daniel Kellogg. 

(III) Gideon, son of Lieutenant Joseph and 
Mary (Kellogg) Piatt, was baptized Septem- 
ber 29, 1700. He married, February 28, 1726, 
Mary Buckingham. 

(I\') Epenetus, son of Gideon and Mary 
(Buckingham) Piatt, was born February, 
1728: married Susannah, daughter of Joseph 
Merwin. 

(\') Epenetus (2), son of Epenetus (i) and 
Susannah (Merwin) Piatt, was born, August 
13, 1760. He married (first) August 10, 
1783, Mollie Stone; (second), March 17, 
1803, Sarah Lobdell. 

(\T) Elmore, son of Epenetus {2) and his 
first wife. Mollie (Stone) Piatt, was born Au- 
gust 18, 1797, died July 26, 1880. He mar- 
ried, February 2, 1825, Betsey, born Septem- 
ber 23. 1805, daughter of Reuben Peck. 

(VH) Myron, son of Elmore and Betsey 
(Peck) Piatt, was born August 15, 1830, died 
October 17, 1897. He married, August 4, 
1856, Sarah E. Larrabee. He was a graduate 
of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, 
New York. 

(VIII) Mary Larrabee, daughter of Myron 
and Sarah E. (Larrabee) Piatt, was born Au- 
gust 22, 1857. She married, December 20, 
1882, Robert O. Bascom. She is now and has 
been for a number of years a member and 
ofificer of Jane McCrea Chapter, D.A.R., and 
is a member of the Vermont Society of Co- 
lonial Dames. She was educated at Glens Falls 
Academy, Glens Falls, New York, Newton 
Academy, Shoreham, Vermont, and is a grad- 
uate of Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. 



Peter D. Hanson, born 
HANSON-BEST 1801, died 185 1, mar- 
ried and had the follow- 
ing children: Andrew, Orville, Sarah, Marga- 
ret. John, Harriett, Abram (of whom fur- 
ther), Mary and Andrew. 

Abram, seventh child and fourth son of 
Peter D. Hanson was born in 1841, and died 
October 8, 1908. He descended from Cap- 
tain Hans Hendrickse. an early trader of Bev- 
erwyck, whose descendants took the name 
Hansen from their progenitor's first name 
Hans. Abram Hanson was educated in the 
district schools at Albany Bush, Fulton coun- 
ty. New York, and served a full term of ap- 



264 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



prenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, at 
which he worked until the breaking out of the 
civil war when he enlisted in the One hun- 
dred fifteenth Regiment, New York Volun- 
teer Infantry, known as the "Iron Hearted 
Regiment." He enlisted at Amsterdam, New 
York, as a private in Company B., mustered 
out June 9, 1865. The One hundred fifteenth 
Regiment was largely recruited in the coun- 
ties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton and 
Hamilton. They left for the seat of war, Au- 
gust 29, 1862. and September i. 1862, were 
in Maryland, armed and equipped for serv- 
ice. They were first in battle at Maryland 
Heights ; were surrounded with the army at 
Harper's Ferry; later saw the most terrific 
fighting of the war, and gained a reputation 
for bravery not exceeded by any regiment in 
the service. Through it all Abram Hanson 
bore well his part and escaped without seri- 
ous injury. After the war was over, he re- 
turned to his home, and in association with 
his brother John, he carried on a stove store, 
and as Hanson Brothers, they continued its 
operation until 1886. In that year the part- 
nership was dissolved, Abram starting a sim- 
ilar business under his own name. He was 
engaged in the stove and hardware business 
until his death, building up a good business, 
which he left to his wife, who still continues 
it, with \'roman H. Best as manager. Mr. 
Hanson was a member of Lodge. Encamp- 
ment and Canton of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, the L'niform Rank, Knights 
of Pythias ; Improved Order of Red Men ; 
Colonel Sammons Post. Grand Army of the 
Republic, and the Royal Arcanum. He was 
also a prominent fireman for many years, and 
he belonged in his latter years to the Exempt 
Fireman's Associations. His funeral was held 
under the direction and according to the bur- 
ial rite of both the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Improved Order of Red 
Men. Politically he was a Democrat. He 
was a warm-hearted generous man. bestowing 
upon his wife and adopted daughter every 
attention and advantage. Mr. Hanson mar- 
ried Eliza Churchill, born May 15, 1844. 
They had no children, and adopted when she 
was but four vears old, Mav C, born June 
1, 1868. 

May G., adojjted daughter of .Vbram and 
Eliza (Churchill) Hanson, was born June i. 
1868. She was educated in the Gloversville 
high school and Cortland State Normal 
School, graduating from the latter with the 
class of 1889. She taught a private school 
for one year and in the public schools for 
two years previous to her marriage. She 
married, April 30. 1891, Vroman H. Best 



(see Best). She is now her husband's assis- 
tant in the management of the business left 
by her father. She is a member of Richard 
Montgomery Chapter, Daughters of the- 
American Revolution, having served as sec- 
retary of the society for several years. May 
G. (Hanson) Best is a writer and composer 
of some note, contributing to several of the 
leading periodicals. Mrs. Best has also pub- 
lished a book of poems entitled "Rose Leaves- 
and Rowen." They have one son, Abram 
Hanson Best, born November 30, 1900. 

(The Best Line). 
This branch of the Best family descend' 
from English ancestry. John M. Best was- 
born at Pickering, Yorkshire, England, came 
to the United States with his wife, Eliza- 
beth, and settled in St. Lawrence county, 
New York, where they located on a farm and 
reared six children. 

(II) Jacob, son of John M. and Elizabeth 
Best, married and had four children : Charles, 
Alonzo, of whom further, Angeline and' 
Julia ]\I. 

(III) Alonzo, son of Jacob Best, was born 
in 1836, died July 27, 1904. He married 
Anne \'roman, born in 1836, died February 
21, 1900. She was a descendant of the old 
Dutch Vroman family, whose history is found' 
elsewhere in this work, and that bore so 
prominent a part in the settlement and de- 
velopment of the Mohawk \'alley. Children 
of Alonzo and Anne (\^roman) Best: Fran- 
cis, born and died in i860; and Vroman H., 
of whom further. 

(I\') \"roman H., son of .Alonzo and .Anne 
(Woman) Best, was educated in the public 
schools and at the age of fifteen years, in 
1885. went to Gloversville, where he com- 
pleted his studies in the high school. .After 
leaving school he learned glove making and 
followed that occupation for six years. He- 
then became associated with Abram Han.son 
in the stove business, continuing with him' 
until his death in 1908. He is now manager 
of the business. He is an Odd Fellow and a 
Democrat. He married, April 30. 1891, May 
G., adopted daughter of Abram Hanson and' 
they have one .son, Abram Hanson Best, born 
November 30, 1900. 



The Copeland family of 
COPEL.-\ND Bridgewater. Mas.sachu- 
setts, from whom the pres- 
ent family in Troy descent, was planted in- 
.\merica at an early day by Lawrence Cope- 
land. P.y the marriage of his son William 
to Mary Bass tiie line of descent is carried' 
to John .Mden and Priscilla .Moliiies { Mul- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



265 



lins), through their youngest daughter Ruth. 
Through a later marriage of Jonathan, son 
of William Copeland, to Abby Godfrey a sec- 
ond line is traced to John Alden, through his 
eldest daugiitcr Elizabeth { Hetty ). Several 
revolutionary ancestors are encountered in 
tracing this line, which are hereafter noted. 
The Copelands are a strong and hardy race, 
strong in mentality and character, as well as 
in bodily vigor, and are very tenacious of life. 
Notwithstanding their length of years the 
men of the family matured early and were 
filling men's places in the world when they 
were yet boys — note the early business re- 
sponsibility of George, and the early enlist- 
ment of his son Ithamar W. Copeland. 

(Mayflower descent). 

(I) John .\lden, born 1599. came to Amer- 
ica in the "Mayflower" in 1620, and was a 
signer of the compact. His career is too well 
known to be here considered. He married, 
in 1621, Priscilla Molines (often written 
Mullins). They had eleven children of whom 
Elizabeth was the eldest daughter, and Ruth 
the youngest. 

(H) Ruth, youngest child of John and 
Priscilla (Molines) Alden, married, Alay 12, 
1657. John Bass, of Braintree, and from them 
descended two presidents of the United States 
John and John Quincy Adams. Ruth died 
in 1657. John Bass, born 1632, died Septem- 
ber 23, 1716, was a son of William, born in 
England, 1601, settled in Roxbury, 1630, re- 
moved to Rraintree, 1640, where he was dep- 
uty twelve years. He married .^nnie , 

and died January 10. 1695, aged ninety-four 
years. His wife, Annie, died September 16. 
1692, aged ninety-three years. 

(HI) Mary, daughter of John and Ruth 
(Alden) Bass, born December 11, 1669. mar- 
ried (first) Christopher Webb; (second) 
April 13. 1694, William Copeland. 

The first Cojieland in America of whom 
there is definite record was Lawrence Cope- 
land. born in England in 1589. The time 
and manner of his coming is not recorded. 
He was a resident of Bridgewater, Massa- 
chusetts, and lived to the great age of one 
hundred and ten years. He married, Decem- 
l)er 12. 1651, Lydia Townsend, and had chil- 
dren: Thomas, died in infancy; Thomas (2), 
William, Lvdia, Ephraim, Hannah, Richard, 
Abigail. 

(II) William, son of Lawrence and Lytlia 
(Townsend I Copeland, lived in Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts. He married, April 13, 1694, 
Mary, widow of Christopher Webb, and 
daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass. 
Children: \\'illiam (2), Ephraim, Ebenezer, 



Jonathan, mentioned below ; David, Joseph, 
Benjamin, Moses, Mary. 

(HI) Jonathan, son of William and ]Mary 
(Bass) (Webb) Copeland, was born .Vugust 
31, 1 701. He settled in West Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts, where he married, in 1723, 
Betsey, daughter of Thomas Snell (2). Chil- 
dren: Abigail, born 1724; Betty, 1726, died 
young; Jonathan (2), 1728; Mary, 1731; Jo- 
seph, 1734; Hannah, 1737; Elijah, 1739; Dan- 
iel, 1741 ; Sarah. 1745; Ebenezer, 1746, see 
forward; Betty, 1750. 

(I\') Ebenezer, son of Jonathan and Bet- 
sey (Snell) Copeland, was born in West 
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1746, and 
married, in 1770, Abigail (.Abby) Godfrey, 
of Norton, Massachusetts, daughter of James 
Godfrey, a descendant of John and Priscilla 
Alden, through their eldest daughter Eliza- 
beth (Betty). Children: i. Ebenezer, born 
1773; married (first) Mehitable Snell; mar- 
ried (second) Mrs. Hannah Godfrey. 2. 
James, died without issue. 3. Betty, mar- 
ried, in 1799, Calvin William. 4. Lydia, mar- 
ried, in 1799, Nathan Howard (3). 5. Oakes, 
see forward. 6. Abby, married, in 1796, Eli- 
jah Snell (2). 7. Rachel, died without is- 
sue. 8. Ruth, died without issue. 9. Molly, 
died without issue. 

(V) Oakes, son of Ebenezer and .-Xbigail 
(Abby) (Godfrey) Copeland, w'as born in 
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1793. 
He resided in that town, Foxboro and Graf- 
ton, Massachusetts. He was a prosperous 
farmer, a man of strong character and com- 
manding influence. He married Polly Pet- 
tee, born June 26, 1799 (see Pettee \'). Chil- 
dren ; George, mentioned below ; Joseph, 
Mary, Abigail. Lydia, Simon, C^tis, Thomas. 

(VI) George, eldest son of Oakes and Pol- 
ly (Pettee) Copeland, was born at Foxboro, 
Massachusetts. He was a boy of early men- 
tal and physical development. .At fifteen he 
had left school, and had more than a fair 
knowledge of the machinist's trade and of 
machinery. At the age of fifteen he was em- 
ployeil by a Newton. Massachusetts, firm of 
machine builders to go to China and erect ma- 
chinery they were shipping to that country. 
He remained abroad several years, visited all 
the countries of the far east, and acquired an 
education that included the fluent mastery of 
several languages. He loved nature and spent 
much time in studying rocks and other geolog- 
ical features. Returning to the United 
States, he continued his roving, adventurous 
life and added to an already richly stored 
mind an e.xpert knowledge of mines and min- 
ing. For the last twenty-five years of his 
life he made Denver, Colorado, his home and 



266 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



business headquarters. He was a high-sal- 
aried expert and constantly employed in ex- 
amining and reporting on mmes, etc. He 
acquired private mining interests in Sonora, 
Mexico, and when last seen by his family 
was departing to visit them. He was mur- 
dered at a ranch in Arispe. Mexico, in 1887, 
whether by Indians or Mexicans is not 
known. He had stopped at the ranch over- 
night, two shots were heard and in the morn- 
ing his dead body was found. Among his 
effects, not taken by the murderers, was a 
letter from his granddaughter, Annie S. 
Copeland, of Troy, New York, which gave a 
■clue to his identity and residence. His family 
was communicated with and months after- 
ward learned of his fate. He is buried where 
he fell at Arispe, Sonora, Mexico. He had 
w-on the hearts of the natives by the use of 
some skill he possessed in medicine and sur- 
gery and was greatly beloved. This explains 
the interest that was taken to inform his 
friends in the United States of his death. He 
married (first) Sophia Rabbit, born in Wal- 
pole, Massachusetts, April 10, 1842 (see l-!ab- 
bit \'l). Children: i. Leonore, born in Mex- 
ico, July 30, 1843 ; married, Edwin E. Fish- 
er, of Norwood, Massachusetts, son of Eli- 
phalet Fisher : children : i. Genevieve Howard, 
born June 14, 1863, married Albert Everett; 
ii. Grace Bruerton, born December 15, 1865; 
married Henry French Hallis, of Concord, 
New Hampshire, born August 30, 1869, son 
of Mavor Abijah (who served in the war of 
the rebellion) and Henrietta (Van Matis) 
Hallis, who were married July 9, 1864; Hen- 
rv F. Hallis is a prominent lawyer of Con- 
•cord, and in 1906 was Democratic candidate 
for governor; children: Henry French Jr., 
born May 26, 1894, student of Phillips Exe- 
ter Academy, from which he will go to Har- 
vard College; Anna Richardson, born July 12. 
1896, student at St. Mary's School, Concord, 
New Hampshire; iii. \\'illard Babbit, born 
December 28, 1870, died January 10, 1889; 
iv. Dana H., a graduate of Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology ; v. Edward Lovell, born 
January 21, 1882; vi. Helen Copeland, born 
May 27. 1885. 2. Ithamar Whiting, men- 
tioned below. 3. Edward Jenner, horn in 
Walpole, Massachusetts, 1850, died in Den- 
ver, Colorado, 1887; married a Miss Jones 
and left two children, 4. Annie Drury, born 
in Waltham, Massachusetts, died January i, 
1906, unmarried. 

(VII) Ithamar Whiting, eldest son of 
'George and Sophia (Babbit) Copeland. was 
born in Walpole, Massachusetts, October 9, 
1847. He was educated in the public schools, 
-.and at the early age of fourteen years en- 



listed in Company K, Forty-fourth Regiment, 
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and went 
to the front. He saw hard service and was 
wounded in the battle at Kingston, North 
Carolina, in 1862. This led to his honorable 
discharge in 1863. He returned to Massa- 
chusetts and was variously engaged for sev- 
eral years, including two years spent in pho- 
tography. He then entered the employ of 
the Rutland & Burlington railroad as clerk 
and telegrapher at Vergennes, \"ermont, and 
was soon promoted to a better position at 
Brandon, Vermont, He became an expert 
operator and railroad man, which fact led to 
his appointment as train dispatcher and as- 
sistant to the superintendent at Fishkill New 
York, by the New York, Boston and Mon- 
treal Railroad Company. Here he remained 
five years, and then retired from railroading 
and engaged for three years in mercantile 
life at Brandon, Vermont. He sold his in- 
terests there, and engaged with the American 
Union Telegraph Company as assistant super- 
intendent in charge of construction of new 
lines. In 1881, after the American Union 
had been absorbed by the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, he was appointed man- 
ager of the Western Union office in Troy, 
New York, where he still remains, a trusted 
and capable official. He was actively inter- 
ested for several years in New York National 
Guard. In 1885 he was appointed signal of- 
ficer on the staff of Brigadier-General Parker 
with the rank of captain. This was during 
the administration of Governor David B. Hill, 
When three years later General Parker re- 
signed. Captain Copeland was retained on the 
staff' of his successor. General Robert Shaw 
Oliver, now (1910) assistant secretary of war 
under President Taft. Captain Copeiand is a 
member of King Solomon's Lodge, Free and 
Accepted Masons, Troy Chamber of Com- 
merce, the Magnetic and the Morse clubs of 
New York City, the Electric Club of Bos- 
ton, and was a charter member of the East 
Side Club of Troy, and member of the Com- 
mercial Travelers Club of the same city. His 
patriotic ancestry, which follows, has gained 
him admission to the Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution. Politically he is an In- 
dependent Republican. He married, July 9, 
1873, Mary L. Ross, of Brandon, Vermont, 
daughter of Dr. Volney Ross, a physician and 
merchant of Brandon, \'ermont, and his wife 
Maria (Hill) Ross. Children: i. Annie, So- 
phia, graduate of Troy high school, class of 
1896 ; married, June 22, 1904, Chester Hast- 
ings Stillman, a graduate of Cornell Univer- 
sity, E.E. and M.E., class of 1896; a graduate 
of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, C.E., class 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



267 



fof 1906 ; now employed as engineer with the 
3S^e\v York State Department of Highway 
'Construction. 2. Edith Ross, a graduate of 
Troy high school, class of 1897 ; married, April 
26, 1905, Arthur De Forest Davis, a graduate 
•of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 
1907, in special course in civil engineering. 

(The Pettee Line). 
Polly (Pettee) Copeland, grandmother of 
Itliamar W. Copeland, was a descendant of 
William Pettee, or Pitty, of Weymouth, Mas- 
sachusetts, 1638. He married Mary , 

and had children born at Weymouth : John, 
Joseph, Mary, Samuel, Thomas and William. 

(II) Samuel, son of William and Mary 
Pettee or Pitty, was born at Weymouth, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 6, 1657. He was of 
Stoughton, Massachusetts. He married Mary 

, and had children : Samuel, James, Si- 
mon, and probably others. 

(III) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (i) and 
Mary Pettee, was born at- Stoughton, Mas- 
sachusetts, October 24, 1685. He was a resi- 
dent of ^^'alpale. Massachusetts. He married 
Elizabeth Clapp, and had thirteen children, of 
whom Simon was the youngest. There may 
have been five other children born in another 
town than W^alpdle. 

(1\') Simon, son of Samuel (2) and Eliza- 
beth (Clapp) Pettee, was born at Walpole, 
Massachusetts. January 28, 1749, died June 
28. 1825. at Foxboro, Massachusetts. He 
served in the revolution as follows : Enlisted 
in the W^rentham Matross, second company. 
Captain Thomas Melville. Colonel Thomas 
Crafts, artillery: served from November i, 
1776, to February i, 1777, two months. Rolls 
sworn to at Boston ; also same company and 
regiment, February i, 1777, to May 8. 1777, 
three months and seven days. (See Massa- 
chusetts Rolls vol 12, p. 254.) (See Morse 
genealogy 147- 151.) He was a man of great 
judgment and invention, and a leading citi- 
zen of Foxboro. He married .'\bigail (Jen- 
kins) Caswell. He had ten children, of whom 
Polly was the youngest. 

(V) Polly, daughter of Simon and .\bigail 
(Jenkins) (Caswell) Pettee, married Oakes 
'Copeland (see Copeland V). 

(The Babbit Line). 

Sophia (Babbit) Copeland, mother of Ith- 
amar W. Copeland. was a descendant of Ed- 
ward Babbit, born July 15, 1655, died I7,'^2: 
married .\bigail Walker Tisdale, December 22, 
1698, and settled in Berkley. Massachusetts. 

(II) Nathan, son of Edward and Abigail 
Walker (Tisdale) Babbit, was born March 
1708, died February 25, 1775. He married 



Marv 
1782. 



born 1703, died December 16, 



(III) Lieutenant Nathan (2), son of Na- 
than ( I ) and Mary Babbit, was born in Nor- 
ton, Massachusetts, October 8, 1730, died 
there August 31, 1794. He married, Feljruary 
I, 1752, Abigail Cobb, born in the same town, 
March 5, 1731-32, died March 10, 1782. They 
"owned the covenant" in the Norton church, 
1756. 

(1\') Levi, son of Lieutenant Nathan (2) 
and .Abigail (Cobb) Babbit, was born in Nor- 
ton, Massachusetts, August 31, 1757, died in 
the same town. May 8, 1795. He married 
Betty Babbitt, of Hendrick, Massachusetts, 
December 21, 1779. He served in the revolu- 
tion as follows: "Private in Captain Silas 
Cobbs' company. Colonel Timothy Walker's 
regiment: muster roll dated August i. 1775; 
enlisted May 2, 1775 ; service three months, 
seven days : also a private in Captain Seth 
Gilbert's second company. Colonel John Dag- 
gett's regiment, which marched on the Lex- 
ington alarm, April 19, 1775 ; served ten 
days." (See Massachusetts Rolls, vol I, p. 
387-390.) 

(V) Williard, son of Levi and Betty (Bab- 
bitt) Babbit, was born in Norton, Massachu- 
sett, December 11. 1787. He was also of Eas- 
ton and Walpole, Massachusetts. He mar- 
ried, .April 13, 1815, Sophia, born in Norton, 
Alassachusetts. March 17. 1790, daughter of 
Dr. Samuel Morey, and granddaughter of 
Samuel Morey, a prominent patriot of Nor- 
ton. When the town of Boston. Massachu- 
setts, wrote to Norton asking for food sup- 
plies, which were badly needed, Samuel Mo- 
rey was elected on the committee to collect 
sheep and grain to carry to Boston. Samuel 
was a son of George and Elizabeth Morey, of 
Norton. Massachusetts. He married his cousin 
Mary Hodges, descendants both of Wil- 
liam Hodges and Mary .Andrews, of Taun- 
ton, Massachusetts. 1643. She was not quite 
sixteen years old, and a month after their 
marriage he was appointed her guardian by 
the court. They had seven children. Dr. 
Samuel, son of Samuel Morey. was born in 
Norton. Massachusetts, June 14, 1757, died 
there May 8, 1836. He was graduated at Yale 
College, class of 1777, studied medicine and 
surgery, and shortly after his graduation en- 
listed in the revolutionary army as surgeon 
and served until the close of the war. He was 
a popular and influential citizen, and a skilled 
medical practitioner of Norton from the close 
of tlie revolution until his death. He was 
town treasurer six years, a member of the 
state legislature two terms, school trustee, and 
in 1794 one of the original board of direct- 



268 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK ^■ALLEYS 



ors of Norton Library. He was a charter 
member of Bristol Lodge, Free and Accepted 
Masons, charter A.L. 5797. He married, 
April ig, 1787, Sarah, born in Norton, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 2, 1764, daughter of 
Rev. Joseph and Sarah (Eames) Palmer, of 
Norton. 

(\'l) Sophia, daughter of Williard and So- 
phia (Morey) Babbit, married George Cope- 
land (see Copeland VI). 



The Aliens of Albany and Sche- 
ALLEN nectady, herein recorded, have, 

through intermarriage with the 
Seymours of New England, a clear title to 
Royal descent, and to a most distinguished 
line of ancestors, including Henry HI. and 
Edward HL. of England, a son of the latter. 
Sir Lionel Plantagenet, having married Lady 
\\'anda Plantagenet, a great-granddaughter 
of King Henry HI. Nine generations later 
Lady Elizabeth Wentvvorth, a lineal descend- 
ant of King Edward HL married Sir John 
Seymour, of Wolf Hall, Wilts, England, also 
of Royal descent. Their son, Sir Edward de 
Seymour, K.G., first Duke of Somerset, was 
beheaded 1552. His son. Sir Edward de Sey- 
mour, died 1598. He married Mary, daugh- 
ter of Judge John Mabie, and they were the 
grandparents of Ricliard Seymour, the emi- 
grant to America, and ancestor of Emelescent 
Seymour, wife of Rufus Allen. The ances- 
try of King Henry HI. has been traced to 
King Alfred, "the Great," born at the palace 
of Wantage, and died 901. This ancestry 
touches the royalty of all countries, and from 
King .Klfred goes still farther back to Cedric, 
519, founder of the Kingdom of Wessex, 
whose line continued down to Egbert, King 
of Wessex, 800-836, grandfather of Alfred, 
"the Great." To go still farther back into 
antiquity : About the beginning of the Chris- 
tian era, a warlike prince of Asia left his 
kingdom near the Black Sea. and with a 
mighty army invaded the northwestern penin- 
sula of Europe. According to early historians 
he established rule over a vast extent of coun- 
try, which was inhabited by his posterity, and 
nine generations later his descendant Cedric 
founded the Kingdom of Wessex, 519 B.C. 
Ten Kings of Wessex reigned to Egbert, who 
spent many years of his youth at the court 
of Charlemagne, and reigned 800-836. I lis 
grandson. Alfred the Great, was a wise and 
just ruler, and under him England rapidly 
advanced from a semi-barbarous to a semi- 
civilized ])eople, and some advancement was 
made in the arts and sciences. To King Ed- 
ward HI. the line of descent is through many 
of the famous early rulers of England — Ed- 



ward, "the Elder," Ethelred, "the Unready," 
Edward, "Ironside," Edward, "the Outlaw," 
with whom in 1057 the Saxon line became ex- 
tinct. Then the descent shifts to Scotland, 
and King Malcolm who was murdered by 
]\Iacbetli, and Henry I., son of William the 
Conqueror, and ^^latilda, daughter of Bald- 
win, Count of Flanders, and his wife Ade- 
laide, daughter of Robert. King of France, 
who was also a descendant of the mighty 
Charlemagne, Matilda, daughter of Matilda 
of Scotland and Henry I., of England, married 
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. who 
died 1 151. To Matilda was left all the pos- 
sessions of her father, Henry I., but the throne 
was usurped by her cousin Stephen, and upon 
his death reverted to her son Henry II, who 
married Eleanor, Countess of Poitou and Aqui- 
tane. Their son. King John Lackland, mar- 
ried Isabella of Angoulene in 1200, and their 
son was King Henry III., who married Elea- 
nor of Provence. With their son the line of 
Edwards began, which has just terminated 
with the death of King Edward \'Il. (1910). 

(I) Joseph Allen, of Massachusetts, had 
three wives, the last being a widow named 
Sabin. 

(II) Rufus, son of Joseph Allen, was born 
April 13, 1749. He resided in Pittsfield, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he married, October 11, 
1774, Emelescent Sevmour (see Seymour 
VH). 

(HI) Horace, son of Rufus and Emeles- 
cent (Seymour) Allen, was born November 
14, 1775, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, died in 
Albany, New York, November i, 1836. He 
married Jane Pierson, born 1775, died Sep- 
tember 4, 1847 (s^e Pierson II). Children: 
I. Elizabeth Gelston, born 1809, died Febru- 
ary 19, 1843: married Dr. Leverett Moore: 
children : David Pierson, Mary Rose, who died 
1908. 2. Jane Pierson, born 181 1 : became the 
third wife of John Milton Newton; children: 
i. \\'alter W., married Anna M. Parsons, and 
had three children, John P., Elsie Allen and 
Eleanor B. : ii. William, died unmarried : iii. 
Henry Allen, married Sophia Beckwitii ; chil- 
dren : Harriet, Caroline, Alary and Elizabeth ; 
iv. Caroline Allen, married William Easton ; 
children : Helen Newton and Mary Boyd. 3. 
Henry Augustus, see forward. 4. Caroline, 
unmarried. 

(I\ ) Henry Augustu.s, son of Horace and 
Jane (Pierson) Allen, was born in 1818, died 
in .Albany, New York, February 16, 1854. He 

married (first) Bleecher; (second) 

February 21, 1854. Louisa, born February 11, 
1827, died March 6, 1892, daughter of Jere- 
miah Osborne, of Albany, born 1800, died 
November 14, 1872, and his wife, Jane (Bo- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



■wie) Osborne, born 1799, died December 20, 
1873. Children: i. Annie Bleecker, married 
Alfred Edgerton. 2. Harriet, married A. V. 
Benson. 3. Henry Augustus (2), see for- 
ward. 4. Amie I'ierson, married William P. 
Rudd. 

(V) Henry Augustus (2), son of Henry 
Augustus (i) and Louisa (Osborne) Allen, 
was born December 11, 1854, in Albany, New 
York. He married, June 25, 1878, Carrie 
Isabella, born January 2, 1857, daughter of 
IMichael Maginnis, of Albany, New York, 
"born 1825, died 1838, married Charlotte Ro- 
silla Hermance, born in 1835, died September 
5, 1868. She was a daughter of Cornelius 
Hermance, born in 1793, died September 5, 
1867, and his wife, Ann (Bane) Hermance. 
born 1796, died January 14, 1867. Children 
of Henry A. Allen: i. Henry Augustus, see 
forward. 2. Carrie, umnarried. 3. Charlotte 
T., born October 21, 1882. 4. Charles. 

(VI) Henry Augustus (3), son of Henry 
Augustus (2) and Carrie Isabella (Maginnis) 
Allen, was born in Albany, New York, March 
31, 1879. He was educated in the common 
and high schools of that city, and at the 
Boys Academy. In 1897 he began his busi- 
iness career as messenger in the Albany Coun- 
ty Bank, was promoted exchange clerk, and 
later assistant general bookeeper. In 1902 
he resigned to become receiving teller of the 
Schenectady Trust Company, of Schenectady, 
New York, continuing until 1907, when he 
was apix)inted assistant secretary and treas- 
urer of the same institution. He has been for 
many years actively interested in the National 
Guard of New York. He served in Troop B, 
of Albany, for ten years, holding the rank 
of sergeant. For three years, 1889-1902, he 
served in the signal corps, which was in the 
latter year merged with Troop B. He is a 
Republican, but takes no active part in po- 
litical affairs. He is a member of St. Peter's 
Episcopal Church, of Albany, and active in 
the work of St. Paul's congregation, being 
particularly interested in St. Paul's Sunday 
school, of which he was assistant su- 
perintendent. His club is the ]\Iohawk 
Golf, of Schenectady. He married, April 
13. 1907. Ethel M., daughter of Isaac 
and Mary (Hettrick) Blauvelt, of Albany, the 
former having been for thirteen years in the 
state treasurer's office. 

(The Sej'mour Line). 

(I) Sir Edward de Seymour, Lord Sey- 
mour, a lineal descendant in the eleventh gen- 
eration from King Edward III., of England, 
married Mary, daughter of Judge John Walsh. 

(II) Sir Edward Seymour, son of Lord 



Seymour and Mary Walsh, was Baronet of 
Berry, Pomero_v, Devonshire, England. He 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Arthur 
Chanipernoun, of Darlington, Devonshire, 
England (also of Royal descent). 

(HI) Richard, son of Sir Edward and Lady 
Elizabeth (Champernoun) Seymour, was born 
in Devonshire, England, 1596, died November 
25, 1655. ^Ic came to America in 1639-40, 
and was one of the first settlers of Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. In 1652 he removed to 
Farmington, and later to Norwalk, Connecti- 
cut, where he was selectman in 1655. He 
married Mercy, daughter of Thomas Rash- 
leigh, who survived him, and married (sec- 
ond) in 1656, John Steele, being his second 
wife. 

(I\') John, son of Richard and Mercy 
(Rashleigh) Seymour, was born in Hartford, 
Connecticut, died in 1715. He settled on the 
south side of Little river, in Hartford, where 
he died at an advanced age. He was made 
freeman in 1667. He married Mary, daughter 
of John Watson, of Norwalk, supposed to 
have been born in England. He was a juror 
in Hartford, Connecticut, 1644, and high sur- 
veyor in 1646. He married Margaret Smith, 
who died in 1683 : he died 1650. Among their 
descendants may be named Ex-Governor Ho- 
ratio Seymour, of New York. 

(V) Zachariah, son of John and Alary 
(Watson) Seymour, was born January 10, 
1685. He married, November 24, 1709, Han- 
nah, daughter of Deacon Joseph and Eliza- 
beth (Butler) Olmstead, and granddaughter 
of Captain Nicholas Olmstead, of Hartford, 
Connecticut, who died August 31, 1684; mar- 
ried, 1640, Sarah, daughter of Joseph Loom- 
is, of Windsor, Connecticut, the latter born 
1590, died 1658. 

(\T) Zachariah (2), son of Zachariah (i) 
and Hannah (Olmstead) Seymour, married 
Sarah Steele, born 1716, died April 25, 1739, 
daughter of Jonathan and Dorothy (Mygatt) 
Steele, a descendant of George Steele, born in 
Essex county, England, came to America in 
1631-32; was freeman of Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, 1634 : was proprietor at Hartford, 
Connecticut, 1639, and died there in 1663, "a 
very old man." His son, James Steele, was 
a very prominent man. His record is : "In 
1657-58 he was a trooper in the war against 
the Pequots. In 1662, was appointed by the 
general court to lay out lands * * * . In 
1672, was appointed with others to run the 
dividing line betw^een the towns of Lyme and 
New Bedford, for which service he received 
six pounds, fifteen shillings. In the same year 
he was granted one hundred and fifty acres 
of farm land. In 1675 was apix>inted com- 



270 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



missary in King Philips' war, and was al- 
lowed at the rate of fifty pounds a year com- 
pensation for line service." He married Anna, 
died 1676, daughter of John Bishop, of Guil- 
ford, Connecticut. Captain James, son of 
James and Anna (Bishop) Steele, born about 
1658, died 1712, married Sarah Barnard, died 
1730, daughter of Bartholomew Barnard. He 
left quite a valuable estate for his day. 

Jonathan, son of Captain James and Sarah 
(Barnard) Steele, born about 1693, died Jan- 
uary 6, 1753, married. May 6, 1715, Dorothy, 
born January 26, 1696, died November 8, 1775, 
daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Webster) My- 
gatt, granddaughter of Jacob and Sarah 
(Whitney) Mygatt, and great-granddaughter 
of Joseph and Anna Mygatt. Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Jonathan an(3 Dorothy (Mygatt) Steele, 
married Zachariah (2) Seymour. 

(VH) Emelescent, daughter of Zachariah 
(2) and Sarah (Steele) Seymour, married, 
October 11, 1774, Rufus Allen (see Allen H). 

Sarah Webster, born June 30, 1655, grand- 
mother of Emelescent (Seymour) Allen, was 
a daughter of Lieutenant Robert and Su- 
sannah (Treat) Webster, and granddaughter 
of Colonial Governor John Webster and his 
wife Agnes. Susannah Treat was a daughter 
of Richard Treat, of Mayfield, Connecticut, 
died 1669, and his wife Joan. 

(The Pierson Line). 

David Pierson, father of Jane (Pierson) 
Allen, was a descendant of Henry Pierson, 
one of the earliest settlers of Southampton, 
Long Island, New York, in 1640. He was 
probably of Lynn, Massachusetts, prior to that 
date, as Southampton was settled by a colony 
of forty families from Lynn. He was a brother 
of Rev. Abraham Pierson, of Southampton, 
New Haven, Connecticut, and Newark, New 
Jersey. Henry was clerk of Suffolk county 
(Long Island), 1669-80, and otherwise prom- 
inent. He died in 1680, leaving several chil- 
dren : John, Daniel, Joseph, Henry, Benjamin, 
Theodore and Sarah. 

(II) Colonel Henry, son of David Pierson, 
was born in Southampton, Long Island, 1652, 
died at Bridgehampton, Long Island, 1701. 
He was a member of the New York state as- 
sembly from Suffolk county, 1691-95, and 
from 1698 to 1701. He married Susannah 
Howell. David Pierson, a descendant of Col- 
onel Henry Pierson, was a resident of Sag 
Harbor, Long Island. He married Elizabeth 
Gelston, and they were the parents of Jane 
Pierson, wife of Horace Allen. 
(The Gelston Line). 

The Gelstons are of Irish descent. Hugh 
Gelston, born in Belfast, Ireland, 1697, was 



a merchant of Southampton, Long Island, in/ 
1717. In 1752 he was appointed judge of the- 
court of common pleas for Suffolk county, 
and held the office twenty-one years. He was 
a Presbyterian. His brother Samuel, who 
came from Ireland with him, was a minister. 
They were sons of a prosperous mill owner 
of Belfast. Judge Hugh Gelston married, in 
1717, Mary, died July 23, 1737, daughter of 
John (2) and Susannah (Clark) Maltby, of 
Southampton, a granddaughter of John (i) 
Maltby, born about 1670 in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land. He came to America, and was a mer- 
chant of New Haven, Connecticut. He mar- 
ried, in 1671, Mary, daughter of Richard, and 
granddaughter of Alexander Bryan, who came 
from Ashton, county of Bucks, England. John 
(i) Maltby was lost at sea in 1676. His 
widow Mary married (second) Rev. John 
Taylor: (third) John Howell, of Southamp- 
ton. He died in 1692, leaving her, at the 
age of thirty-eight years, three times widowed. 
John (2) Maltby, born June i, 1673, married 
Susannah, daughter of Samuel Clark. Their 
daughter, Mary Maltby, married Judge Hugh 
Gelston. and had thirteen children. 

(II) Maltby, son of Judge Hugh and Mary 
(Maltby) Gelston, was born March 20, 1723, 
died September 22, 1783. He married Alary 
Jones, died February 28, 1785, daughter of 
Dr. Thomas Jones, whose second wife, Tvlar- 
garet Livingston, was a sister of Catherine 
Livingston, second wife of Governor De Witt 
Clinton, of New York. Maltby Gelston and 
wife lived at Bridgehampton, Long Island, 
where he was a deacon of the church and 
highly esteemed for his piety. They were the 
parents of eight children. 

(III) Elizabeth, eldest daughter and sec- 
ond child of Maltby and Mary (Jones) Gel- 
ston, was born November 30, 1746. She 
married David Pierson. 

(IV) Jane, daughter of David and Eliza- 
beth (Gelston) Pierson, married Horace Al- 
len, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts (see Allen 
HI). 



"The honorable family of 
PARSONS Parsons have been advanced 
to the dignity of viscounts, 
and more lately earls of Ross." (Bishop Gib- 
son A.D. 1725 in "Camden's Brittannia"). 

"It does not appear that there has ever been 
any attempt to collect even the materials for 
a history of the English family of Parsons, 
notwithstanding there have been many indi- 
viduals among them of great distinction, as 
knights, baronets and noblemen." (New Eng- 
land Gen. Reg. 1847). Guppy's "Homes of 
English Names," says, "Parsons is a striking 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



271 



example of a purely south of England name. 
It is represented in most of the southern coun- 
ties, but its great home is in Wilts, and is 
numerous in most of the counties around this 
centre, Somerset, Dorset, Hants, Oxford and 
Monmouth." In America the name is early 
found. The English family bore arms. Those 
of Sir Thomas Parsons, of Great Milton, 1636, 
are those claimed by the American family. 
Gules : Two chevronels. ermine between three 
eagles displayed or. Crest : an eagle's leg 
erased at the high or, standing on a leopard's 
face, gules. 

The family herein recorded is that of Dea- 
con Benjamin Parsons, an early settler of 
Springfield, Massachusetts. From that state 
they went to Enfield, Connecticut, settling in 
Kingsboro, Fulton county, in 1792. The pres- 
ent is the eleventh generation from Thomas 
Parsons, of Great Milton, England, and the 
ninth in America beginning with Deacon Ben- 
jamin. 

(I) Thomas Parsons, of Great Milton, Ox- 
fordshire. England, was buried May 23, 1597. 
He married Catherine Hester, and had five 
children. 

(II) Hugh, son of Thomas and Catherine 
(Hester) Parsons, was born November 27, 
1563, in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. 
He married Elizabeth (Bagshaw) Thomp- 
kins, who died January 24. 1642. They were 
the parents of ten children. 

(III) Deacon Benjamin, son of Hugh and 
Elizabeth Parsons, was born and baptized at 
Sanford Farms, Oxford, England, March 17, 
1627, and died Springfield, Massachusetts, 
August 24, 1689. He came to America, and 
was among the early settlers of Springfield, 
Massachusetts. He was a chief instrument 
in the formation of the Springfield church, as 
appears from his correspondence with Rev. 
Increase Mather. He was a deacon, and a 
prominent citizen of exemplary moral charac- 
ter. In the civil affairs of the town he held 
many responsible offices which he discharged 
with strict fidelity. From the time of mar- 
riage to that of his death. Deacon Parsons, 
with the exception of four years, held some 
office of public trust in Springfield. He mar- 
ried (first) November 6, 1653, Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Richard Vore, of Windsor. She was 
a member of Rev. John Warham's church in 
Dorchester, and accompanied him to Wind- 
sor. She died at Springfield, Massachusetts, 
Januarj- i, 1676. He married (second) Feb- 
ruary 21, 1677, Sarah Heald, widow of John 
Leonard, who settled in Springfield in 1639. 
He was killed by the Indians. She died in 
1690. after a second marriage to Peter Tilton. 
Children by first marriage, all born in Spring- 



field : I. Sarah, August 18, 1656; married' 
James Dorchester. 2. Benjamin (2), Septem- 
ber 15, 1658; died at Enfield, Connecticut, De- 
cember 28, 1728: he married Sarah Keep: her 
mother was Sarah, daughter of John Leon- 
ard. Her father, John Keep, was killed by 
the Indians at Long Meadow in 1676. 3. 
Mary, December 10, 1660, died at Spring- 
field, January 27, 1662. 4. Abigail, January 
6, 1662: married (first) John Mun ; (second). 
John Richards. 5. Samuel, see forward. 6. 
Ebenezer, born November 17, 1668 ; married' 
Margaret Marshfield : he was deacon of the 
Congregational church of West Springfield' 
fifty-two years. 7. Mary, December 17, 1670; 
married Thomas Richards, October 21, 1691. 
8. Hezekiah, November 24, 1673 ; married 
Hannah Cooley, February 20, 1701. 9. Jo- 
seph, December, 1675 ; married Abigail Phelps, 
September 15, 1697. 

(IV) Samuel, son of Benjamin and Sarah 
(Vore') Parsons, was born at Springfield, 
Massachusetts, October 10, 1666, died Febru- 
ary 17. 1735. He married, March 18, 1683, 
Hannah, born September 10, 1668, daughter 
of John and Hannah (Chapin) Hitchcock. 
Children: i. Samuel, November 23, 1690; 
married December 4, 1713, Abigail Randall. 2. 
John, see forward. 3. Luke, born January 4, 
1696: married, September 13, 1716, Sarah Os- 
born. 4. Hezekiah, April 13, 1698: married 
November 15, 1723, Rebecca Burt. 5. Hannah, 
August 2, 1700; married Nathaniel Horton, 
March 3, 1720. 6. Nathaniel, December 28,. 
1703 : married, December 18, 1725, Mary 
Pease. 7. Sarah. November 10, 1704: mar- 
ried, June ID, 1742, Thomas Jones. 8. JNIoses, 
June 10, 1707: married, January 13, 1736, 
Hannah Stebbins. 9. Miriam, April 9, 17 10: 
married, November 10, 1730, Caleb Jones. 10. 
Daniel. 

(V) John, son of Samuel and Hannah 
(Hitchcock) Parsons, was born in Enfield. 
Connecticut, July 23, 1693, died in Somers, 
Connecticut, July 4, 1739. He married, June 
20, 1716, Thankful, born November 12, 1693, 
died July 4. 1739. daughter of Thomas and 
Sarah (Dumbleton) Root. They were the 
parents of seven children, among whom were 
John, Moses and Thomas. 

(VI) John (2), son of John (i) and" 
Thankful (Root) Parsons, was born at En- 
field, Connecticut, April 22, 1724, died at 
Windsor, Connecticut, March 14, 1769. He 
married, April 30, 1747, Elizabeth Barrett, 
who died March 6, 1758. They had six chil- 
dren. 

(\^II) James, son of John (2) and Eliza- 
beth (Barrett) Parsons, was born in Wind- 
sor, Connecticut, October 9, 1748. died Janu- 



272 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ary 22, 1810. He settled in Kingsboro, Ful- 
ton county, New York, in 1792, and was the 
ancestor of Judge Levi Parsons. He was a 
farmer of Fulton county until his death. He 
married, January 25, 1770, Hannah Phelps, 
born September 2, 1748, died March 25, 1837. 
They were the parents of eight children. 

(VHI) Gurdon, son of James and Hannah 
(Phelps) Parsons, was born July 4, 1780, at 
Windsor, Connecticut, died October 5, 1848, 
in Fulton county. New York. He was twelve 
years old when his parents settled in Fulton 
county, two miles north of Gloversville. He 
was reared a farmer, an occupation he fol- 
lowed all his life. He married (first) March 
II, 1801, Sally Permelia Leavenworth, born 
May 20, 1783, died December 30, 1824; (sec- 
ond), Helen Demarest, died October 3. 1863; 
no issue. There were five sons and three 
daughters by first marriage. Parents and chil- 
dren were active and original members of the 
Congregational church of Kingsboro. 

(IX) Tallmadge Leavenworth, son of Gur- 
•don and Sally P. (Leavenworth) Parsons, 
was born on the Parsons' homestead farm in 
Kingsboro, Fulton county. New York, January 
13, 1813, died on the farm where his life was 
spent, January 13, 1847. He was an active 
Whig, and a faithful member of the Congre- 
gational church. He married Jane MacGre- 
gor, born August 8, 1814, died December 

<g, 1883. They had one child. 

(X) Tallmadge Lester, only child of Tall- 
madge Leavenworth, and Jane (MacGregor) 
Parsons, was born July 2, 1843, at Kingsboro, 
'On the Parsons' homestead farm. His father 

died when he was about three and one-half 
years of age, and his early life was spent un- 
•der the care of an uncle. He was educated 
in the common schools and at the academy. 
.About April i, 1878, he came into possession 
•of the Parsons farm, first settled by his great- 
grandfather, James Parsons, he being the 
fourth generation to own and cultivate the 
property. The original tract contained one hun- 
dred acres, to which has since been added by 
Mr. Parsons' father and himself one hundred 
;and fifty acres. He is a successful modern 
farmer, and a capable business man. Pie is 
active in town affairs, and has served three 
terms as supervisor. He is a member and 
an elder of the Presbyterian church. He is a 
Republican in politics. He married, June 5, 
1878, Juliette, born July i, 1850, daughter of 
•George and granddaughter of Charles Mus- 
grave, of England. George Musgrave was 
born in England, February 2, 1810, died Jan- 
uary, 1881. He came to the United States 
in 1830, and settled in Johnstown, Fulton 
•county, New York. He was a farmer, a Re- 



publican, and a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. He married Elizabeth, born 
June 13, 1815, died December 24, 1886, 
daughter of William, born January 7, 1776, 
died May 18, 1856, and his wife Mary Pot- 
ter, born February 11, 1778, died November 
18, 1859. Children of George and Elizabeth 
(Potter) Musgrave: William: Ann Sarah; 
Margaret Jane, married Peter Stewart ; 
Charles, married Julia Van Arnum ; ]\Iatthew, 
married Jennie Brownell ; Mary Elizabeth, 
married Calvin R. Jackson ; Emily, Juliette, 
married Tallmadge Lester Parsons ; James, 
married Jennie Van Deusen ; George Henry, 
married Janette Stewart. Children of Tall- 
madge L. and Juliette (Musgrave) Parsons: 
Jennie, born April 20, 1879 ; Elizabeth, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1881 ; Levi, August 9, 1883 ; Duncan 
MacGregor, March 30, 1885; ^largaret K., 
April 4,"i889. 

The Parsons family from time immemorial 
have been successful tillers of the soil. One 
notable exception must be made to this state- 
ment, however. Judge Levi Parsons, founder 
of the Levi Parsons Library of Gloversville. 
He was a native of Kingsboro, and spent the 
greater part of his working years in successful 
business enterprises in California. He was 
one of the founders of the Whig party in that 
state in 1849, and was the first judge ap- 
pointed in San Francisco. He not only gave 
the first large contribution that made the li- 
brary possible, but he gave to Union College 
$50,000, the interest of which is mainly ap- 
plied to the education of young men from 
Fulton county. Thirteen scholarships are pro- 
vided by this fund, the directors of the Levi 
Parsons Library having the sole right to nom- 
inate the candidates for these scholarships. 
Judge Parsons' early desire for a collegiate 
education inclined him to make this wise pro- 
vision for the young men of his native county. 
He was also greatly interested in the preser- 
vation of the Parsons genealog}', and it is to 
his generosity that so much has been done to 
preserve the Parsons' records. He died Octo- 
ber 23, 1887. 



The Niskayuna family of \'ed- 
VEDDER der herein recorded descend 

from Harmen Albertse \'cdder, 
the first settler of the name in the Mohawk 
Valley. He was a trader in Beverwyck be- 
fore the year 1657. In 1660 he returned to 
Holland. In 1661, as agent for Dirk De 
Wolfe, merchant of Amsterdam, he erected a 
salt kettle on Coney Island, New York, which 
being claimed by the people of Gravesend 
he brought suit before the governor and coun- 
cil to make good his claim, and being beaten; 




^ ^. /an/)^(ru^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



273 



abandoned the enterprise. In 1663 he leased 
"his "houwery" at Schenectady to Simon Groot 
■for six years. In i668, being- in Holland with 
other merchants from the province of New 
York, he purchased goods and chartered the 
ship "King- Charles." and obtained permission 
from the King of England to send the ship 
and goods to New York. In 1667 he lived 
in Albany. In 1672 he bought land in Sche- 
nectady. In 1673 he was one of three mag- 
istrates for Schenectady. He did not show 
proper respect for the magistrates of Albany, 
and also pretended to have the right to trade 
with the Indians. For his presumption he was 
reprimanded and warned "to regulate hin-iself 
accordingly." He purchased the village lot of 
the heirs of Reiner, son of Domine Schaets, 
of Albany, after his massacre by the Indians 
•in 1690. The following children of Harnien 
Vedder were living in 1715: Harmanus. 
Arent. Albert, born May 10, 1671, Johannes, 
Corset, .Angenietje, wife of Jan Danielse Van 
Antwerpen. 

(I I) Arent, son of Harmen Albertse Ved- 
der. settled on land on the south side of the 
Mohawk river, opposite Hoffman's ferry, 
which was called Vedder's ferry. He made 
his will August 10, 1746, and all his children 
were then living. He married Sara, daughter 
of Simon Groot. Children : Agnietje, born 
February 11, 1694, in Albany, married Pie- 
ter Janse Vrooman ; Rebecca, married Willem 
Brouwer ; Harnien, born 1696; Maria, bap- 
tized September i, 1699; Susanna, married 
Pieter ^labie ; Sara, married Cornells Swits ; 
Lysbeth, died young: Simon, died May 17, 
1791 ; Antje, married Pieter Clement: Lys- 

"beth (2), married Jessais Swart: Albert. 

(III) Simon, son of Arent and Sara 
(Groot) \'edder, was born October 3, 1707, 
died May 17, 1791. He lived in the "Woe- 
stine." He married, January 16, 1735, Maria 
Truax, widow of Simon Groot. Children : 
Arent, see forward ; Philip, baptized July 9, 
1737: Harmanus, baptized March 4, 1739: 
Neeltje, December 6, 1741, married Johannes 
Van Pelten : Sarah, Alay 13, 1744, married 
Myndert Wemple : Annatje, September 14, 
1746: Maria, October 15, 1749: Agnieltje, 
April 5, 1752, married Nicolas Swart : Susan- 
na, May 18, 1755: Anna, March 12, 1758, 
married Johannes Myndertse. 

(IV) Arent (2), son of Simon and Maria 
(Truax) (Groot) Vedder, was born August 
25, 1735, in Mt. Hope, town of Niskayuna. 
"He was a farmer. He married (first) De- 
cember 10, 1768, Jannetje, born November, 
1744. died April 10, 1780, daughter of Johan- 
nes Truax. He married (second), February 
23, 1782, Annatje Bancker, died July 14, 1813, 



aged seventy-two years, daughter of Willem 
Bancker. Arent Vedder made his will Sep- 
tember 3. 181 r. died November 11. 181 1. His 
second wife was then living, also children, 
Simon A., John B., Maria and .Alida. 

(V) Simon A., son of Arent (2) and Jan- 
netje (Truax) Vedder, was born Septeniber 

1, 1772, died in Niskayuna, December 22, 
1844. He married (first) November 14. 1807, 
Mary Bassett, died January 17, 1823, aged 
forty-one years. He married (second) De- 
cember 7, 1824, Elizabeth Gates, died in Sche- 
nectady, 1870, aged sixty-eight years, and is 
buried in Vale cemetery. Children by first 
wife: I. Ann, born August 24, 1808, died 
August 25, 1871 ; married Richard J. Pearse. 

2. Aaron, see forward. 3. Michael Bassett, 
September 20, 181 1, died April 7, 1882: mar- 
ried (first) Agnes Vedder, no issue; married 
(second) Catherine Swart, no issue. 4. Corne- 
lius, see forward. 5. John, born May 26, 1816, 
died July 27, 1883 : married Margaret \>oo- 
man. Children: i. M. Margaret, married 
Rev. William H. Phraner, and has a daugh- 
ter Olive, of Hempstead, Long Island ; ii. M, 
Katherine, unmarried, resides at Hempstead. 
6. Maria. November 17, 1818, died November 
23, 1868 ; married Stephen P. Hill, of Massa- 
chusetts, no issue. 

(\T) Aaron, son of Simon A. and Mary 
(Bassett) Vedder, was born at the Niska- 
yuna farm, Schenectady county, New York, 
December 27, 1809, died there October 7. 
1886. He was a prosperous farmer, and a man 
of influence. He was a member of the Re- 
formed church, and a Whig and Republican 
in politics. He married, January 12, 1843, 
in Niskayuna, Elizabeth B. Spaun, born in 
the town of Bethlehem, Albany county. New 
York, in 1819, died in Niskayuna, June 16, 
1903. Children : Mary, married .\lbert \'an 
\'oast : DeWitt Frank, see forward. 

(VII) De Witt Frank, son of Aaron and 
Elizabeth B. (Spaun) Vedder, was born in 
Niskayuna, Schenectady county, New York, 
on the farm he now occupies, September 12, 
1852. He was educated in the public schools 
and grew up on the home farm. He later 
became owner of one-half the homestead farm. 
He is a prosperous farmer and a highly re- 
garded citizen. He is a Republican, following 
the political faith of his family. He is 
active in town affairs, and has held several 
local offices. He married, in Schenectady, 
Etta, daughter of Aaron and Maria (Haight) 
Putnam, residents of Schenectadv county, 
town of Duanesburg, married in Schenectady 
village where they died, he at the age of sixty- 
three, she at seventy-one. Aaron Putnam was 
the son of Matthew Putnam, ex-sheriff of 



274 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Schenectady county, who died in Fultonville, 
New York, aged eighty years. He married 
Nancy Veeder, who died in FuUonville, New 
York, aged eighty-two. Children of De Witt 
Frank and Etta (Putnam) Vedder: EHzabeth, 
born September 12, 1885, married Vincent 
Westerveh, D.D.S.. of Schenectady ; Myra, 
February 10, 1889: William, INIarch 7, i8go. 

(VI) Cornelius, son of Simon A. and Mary 
(Bassett) \'edder, was born in Niskayuna, 
Schenectady county. New York, March 15, 
1813, died there July 30, 1889. He was a 
farmer all his years, prosperous and respected. 
He adhered to the religious faith of his fa- 
thers — the Dutch Reformed — and was a Whig 
and Republican in politics, which was the po- 
litical faith of the \'edders for generations. 
He married at Lisha's Kill, Albany county, 
March 3, 1836, Maria A., born in Albany 
county, New York, November 28. 1815, died 
November 21, 1890, daughter of Abraham Ver 
Planck and Helena (Groot) Lansing, both of 
Albany county, and granddaughter of John 
V. A. and Harriet (Ver Planck) Lansing, de- 
scendants of the old Dutch Lansings of the 
first settlements. Children of Cornelius and 
Maria A. (Lansing) Vedder: i. Abraham, 
born May 9, 1837, died June 12, 1887; he 
was a prosperous farmer of Niskayuna ; mar- 
ried Mary Vrooman, born September 3, 1841. 
died August 4, 1896; children: Cornelius, died 
young; John N. V., born November 28, 1873, 
unmarried; Henry S., October 18, 1876. died 
July, 1906. unmarried ; Alice, August 4, 1879, 
married George G. Jones, and has a son 
George Vedder, born .August 25, 1907. 2. 
Mary A., March 30, 1840, died September i, 
1908, unmarried. 3. Helen, October 17, 1842; 
resides with her brother in Ni.skayuna. unmar- 
ried. 4. Simon H., see forward. 5. Dr. Lan- 
sing T., born September 22, 1859, died May 
12, 1900; a graduate of Albany Medical Col- 
lege, and for many years a well-known and 
skillful practitioner of medicine in Schenec- 
tady ; he married Susana Smith, of Roches- 
ter, New York, who survives him, a resident 
of Los Angeles, California. Children : Annie 
M., born 1885, died 1899; Cornelius L, July 
19, 1887. 

(VH) Simon H., son of Cornelius and Ma- 
ria A. (Lansing) Vedder, was born on the 
Niskayuna farm, Schenectady county, New 
York, April 2, 1847. He was educated in 
the public schools and at Schenectady high 
school. He is one of the successful, substan- 
tial farmers of Niskayuna, a member of the 
Reformed church and a Republican. He is a 
justice of the peace, and interested in all that 
pertains to the welfare of his town. He mar- 
ried, February 11, 1891, Ariet, born Novem- 



ber 15, 1864, daughter of William and .\nrt 
E. (Palmer) Steers, and granddaughter of 
Cornelius Steers, of Albany county, a farmer 
and contractor. William Steers was a farmer 
of Niskayuna, where he died aged eighty-three 
years. His wife, Ann E., died aged sixty- 
eight years. They were the parents of five 
children, i. William, married Juliana Lan- 
sing. 2. Cornelius, a business man of New 
York City, married Margaret Bruce, deceased. 
3. Ariet, married Simon H. Vedder. 4. Isa- 
bella, unmarried. 5. Eva, married John M. 
Ketchum, a farmer of Niskayuna ; children : 
Herbert, and Helen (twins) : Isabel. Children 
of Simon H. and Ariet (Steers) \'edder: Mi- 
riam, born February i, 1895, student at Sche- 
nectady high school ; Lansing S., July 10. 1897 
Chester D., November 15, 1899; Palmer W., 
twin of Chester D. 



(II) lohannes, son of Harmen 
VEDDER Albertse Vedder (q. v.). was 

carried away to Canada by the 
French and Indians, February 9, 1690, and 
died .August 14. 1748. He married (first) 
Maria, daughter of Johannes Fort (Van Der 
Vort) July 8, 1705; (second) Engeltje, 
daughter of Gerrit Symonse \'eeder, Novem- 
ber 25, 1732. Children: Harmen, born April 
14, 1706: Angelietje Hermanns; Margarita; 
Anna; Johannes; Arent ; Maretje; Abraham; 
Albert ; Catherina ; Maria ; Anna, born July 
8. 1737; the last three were by his second 
wife. 

(III) Albert, youngest son of Johannes and 
Maria (Fort) Vedder, was born in 1729. and 
died November 18, 1805. He married, Octo- 
ber 30. 1756, Hester, died May 12, 1813, in 
her eightieth year, daughter of Frans Van 
Der Bogart. Children : Johannes, of whom 
further; Maria; Maria (2); Hester; Frans 
Van Der Bogart; Barber; Neeltje; Engeltje; 
Claas : Annetje. born May 12, 1776. 

(IV) Johannes, eldest son of Albert and 
Hester (Van Der Bogart) Vedder, was bap^ 
tized May 15, 1757. (A John A. Vedder, 
elder of the church, died between December 
3, 1 80S, and April 6, 1809. who is believed 
to have been Johannes Albertse — Johannes, 
son of Albert.) He married, August 22, 1779', 
Eva, daughter of Jacob Clute. Children, with 
dates of baptism: Albert, April 23, 1780; Eliz- 
abeth, September 29, 1782; Esther, January 
23, 1785; Johannes, January 15, 1787; Eliza^ 
heth (2(1), born March 18, 1790; Francis B., 
of whom further. There was a son Jacob and 
a daughter Tina whose births or hajitisms are 
not recorded. 

(V) Francis B., son of Johannes and Eva 
(Clute) Vedder, was born in Schenectady, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



275 



New York, March 28, 1801, died May 27, 
1873. He married, February 26, 1824, Maria 
Newkirk, a descendant of the Mohawk Val- 
ley pioneer Newkirk family ; she was born 
in the town of Florida, April 3, 1804, died 
in April, 1884. Children: i. John, born April 
8, 1826, died unmarried, March 8, 1898. He 
inherited the old Vedder farm settled by his 
grandfather, Johannes \'edder. over a cen- 
tur>' ago, in the town of Glen, and now owned 
by John J. Vedder (1910). 2. Francis F., 
born October 28, 1826; married; no issue. 3. 
Eva E.. born February 26, 183 1, died in Den- 
ver, Colorado, December, 1905 ; married John 
F. Drevendorf, (deceased), and had Fannie, 
married Anson Snow, of Denver, and has 
Anson and Eva Snow. 4. Maud, born March 
7, 1833, deceased ; married Jan \'an Evera 
(deceased), and had Myra. married Theo- 
dore Clark. 5. Peter, married Emma \'an 
Evera, and has daughter Ella. 6. David F. ; 
see forward. 7. Jasper, born October i, 1837; 
resides in Ovid, New York. 

(\'I) David F.. seventh child of Francis 
B. and Maria (Newkirk) Vedder, was born 
on the Glen homestead farm. May 12, 1835, 
died January 22, 1897. He cultivated the 
farm on which he was born, and resided there 
all the active years of his life. He married, 
in Glen, Mary E. Shelp. born in Glen, Feb- 
ruary II, 1841, died at the Vedder homestead. 
May 12. 1887, daughter of James Nelson and 
Elizabeth (Mount) Shelp. Children: i. Fran- 
cis B., born February 29, i860; farmer of 
Mohawk ; married, March 2, i860, Margaret 
Bellinger; children: Mary N., Charles D., 
and Bertha, died in infancy. 2. Nelson, born 
March 21, 1863, died December 6, 1891 ; mar- 
ried. December 10, 1885, Nettie Ingersoll, 
born August 28, 1862. He was a farmer of 
Glen, children: i. Leland N., born Decem- 
ber 24, 1886: ii. Earl Ingersoll, born October 
12, 1888; now (1910) employed in Puget 
Sound National Bank, Seattle, Washington : 
iii. Zerah, born October 3, 1890. 3. John J. ; 
see forward. 4. Anna AI.. born March 11. 
1871 ; married Charles Carpenter, and has is- 
sue. 

(VH) John J., third son of David F. and 
Marv E. (Shelp) \'edder, was born May 12, 
1867. He inherited the old Vedder homestead 
from his uncle John. He is well known in 
the town, and honored for his sterling char- 
acter and kindly characteristics. He is pub- 
lic spirited, and in his administration of the 
offices he has held has shown that he has the 
interest of his town at heart. He was com- 
missioner of highways, and is now superin- 
tendent of the entire road system of the town. 

Those interested in this feature of local 



government appreciate the work done for the 
cause of good roads, and hold him 
in the highest esteem. Politically he is a 
Democrat, and with his family attends 
the Dutch Reformed Church. He be- 
longs to Fultonville Lodge, No. 521, F. and 
A. \[. ; Johnstown Chapter, No. 78, R. A. M. ; 
Tribe No. 121, 1. O. R. M.; and Fultonville 
Lodge No. 340, K. P. He married (first) in 
Mohawk, October 5, 1887, Gertrude Hanson, 
born March 11, 1870, died December 23, 1903, 
daughter of Henry D. Hanson, born May 11, 
1838, and his wife, Sarah M. Lotridge, born 
August 7, 1846, both present residents of 
?ilohawk. Mr. Vedder married (second) in 
Mohawk, February i, 1905, Bertha M. Han- 
son, sister of his first wife. Children by first 
marriage : David H., born September 2, 1888 ; 
Bertha M., February 18. 1891. Children by 
second marriage: John D., born May 5, 1907; 
Sarah E., April 29, 1909. 



The ancestor of all the Ved- 
VEDDER ders of Schenectady county. 

New York, was Harman AI- 
bertse \'edder, who settled in Schenectady in 
1633. He was a trader in Beverwyck in 

1657- 

The family in Schenectady, herein recorded, 
descend from the founder through his 
second son Arent and his wife Sara Groot, 
their son Simon and his wife Maria Truax, 
widow of Simon Groot. Their son Harmanus 
married Annatjie Vedder, November 10, 1770. 
He made his will, October 14, 1813, proved 
May 14, 1816. Their son Simon, born July 
II' ^773> died before his father, leaving chil- 
dren : Harmanus, John, Aaron, Philip. Ger- 
trude and Annatjie. 

(VI) Philip, son of Simon \'edder. was 
born in Rotterdam, Schenectady county. New 
York, at the homestead at German Flats, near 
the old fort that was built on the original 
Schermerhorn farm. He died at the age of 
thirty-eight years. He married Nellie Scher- 
merhorn, born in Rotterdam, on the adjoining 
farm. Children: i. John D., see forward. 2. 
James V., a farmer of Rotterdam ; married 
Jane Ann Sprigg, of Dutch ancestry, and had 
sons, Simon and William, both of Rotterdam. 
3. Mary, married (first) Albert Walker; no 
issue; married (second) S. A. Wilder. 4. 
Catherine, married Alonzo French ; she died 
in Chicago. Illinois. 5. Jane, married Byron 
Knight ; they both died in .Amsterdam, New 
York, leaving Nellie, now the widow of Wil- 
liam Chism ; children : John, Jeannette and 
Eva Chism. 

(\TI) John D., eldest son of Philip and 
Nellie (Schermerhorn) \'edder. was born in 



276 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Rotterdam, Schenectady county, New York, 
in 1832, died there 1906. He was a farmer 
all his active years, but passed his latter years 
retired from all business cares. He was a 
member of the Second Reformed Church, and 
a Democrat politically. He married Marga- 
ret E. Sprigg, sister of Jane A., wife of 
James V. Vedder. She survives her husband. 
and resides in Schenectady with her daughter. 
She is seventy-five years of age. She and her 
husband were members and co-workers in 
the same church, the Second Reformed. Chil- 
dren, all born in Rotterdam: i. Daniel, died 
in childhood. 2. Warren W., see forward. 3. 
Albert, died in infancy. 4. Mary, married 
Charles Plumly, of Wolcott, Warren county. 
New York, and has Maude, who married and 
has a daughter Mary. 5. John D. (2), a 
grocer of Belle View, a suburb of Schenec- 
tady, he married Sarah Ward ; children : 
Charles, Edison and John D. (3). 6. x^nna, 
married Charles Russell, of Wolcott, New 
York ; deceased and has no living issue. 7. 
Margaret, for twenty years has been cashier 
of one of the leading mercantile houses of 
Schenectady ; unmarried. 8. Emma, died in 
girlhood. 

(VHI) Warren W., son of John D. and 
Margaret E. (Sprigg) Vedder, was born on 
the Rotterdam Vedder homestead, January 22, 
1856. He was reared on the farm, and edu- 
cated in the public schools. In early life he 
worked on the Erie canal, and was captain 
of one of the state boats, "Captain Curtis." 
He spent several years on the canal, and 
owned his own boat, which he had running 
as a freighter. In 1880 he settled in Sche- 
nectady, where he engaged in the lumber 
trade ; later he conducted a grocery store, and 
still later was proprietor of a hotel. In 1895 
he retired from active business life, having 
acquired a com])etency. He was active in city 
politics, often representing his ward in party 
conventions and was always a loyal Repub- 
lican. He was an active member of St. Paul's 
Lodge, No. 17, Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. He married, in Schenectady, Mary 
E. Lockwood, born in Rotterdam, New York, 
in i860, and was a resident of Schenectady 
before her marriage. She is a daughter of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Bond) Lockwood, both 
born in Rotterdam, but now residents of 
Schenectady. Children: i. Mary E., mar- 
ried Warren W. Vedder. 2. Eliza, married 
William H. I-'ogarty, and has a daughter Bes- 
sie, who married William Putnam, and has 
a daughter Leona. 3. Caroline, married Harry 
Dixon, of Schenectady, New York ; children : 
Maude, Sidney, Harry (2) and William. 4. 
Dora, married (fir.st) William Cluett ; no is- 



sue; married (second) Augustus Westfall, 
and has a daughter Anna. 5. Alonzo, died un- 
married. Children of Warren W. and Mary 
E. (Lockwood) Vedder: Pearl, married 
George A. Stone, of Sacketts Harbor, New 
York, and has a son Warren ; Hattie, un- 
married ; Blanche, unmarried ; Jacob, unmar- 
ried; Florence; Carlisle, died in infancy. 



The name Wilson is a familiar 
WILSON and universal one, and of the 

thousands of the name in the 
United States, few comparatively have a com- 
mon American ancestor or are so near of kin 
as to have a common ancestor as late as 1630. 
Genealogical dictionaries dealing with the pe- 
riod previous to 1700 give long lists of Wil- 
sons who settled in this country, few of whom 
are mentioned as being even distantly re- 
lated. They came from England, Scotland 
and Ireland. The particular Wilson family 
of Cohoes trace their ancestor to Scotland. 
In 1740 two brothers came to America, one 
settling in Massachusetts, and one coming 
north to Saratoga county. New York. The 
first record is of Esau Wilson, son of the 
Scotch emigrant, who was a farmer of Sara- 
toga county, married and had a family. 

(II) James Sanborn, son of Esau Wilson, 
was born in Saratoga county. New York, in 
1818, died in Cohoes, New York, in 1893. 
He learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1847, 
after he married, removed to Lowell, Wis- 
consin, where he was a leading contractor and 
builder. In 1854 he returned to Saratoga 
county, and took up his residence at Clifton 
Park, removed to Cohoes in 1868, where he 
died. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and a Republican in poli- 
tics. He married, in 1835, at Half Moon, 
Saratoga county. New York, Cynthia Mary 
Husted, daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth 
Wickes Husted, and a descendant of Scotch 
ancestors. She died in 1891, aged seventy- 
four years. Children : Ira AI., Elizabeth, Win- 
field S., Mary J., William H., Jeremiah, James 
Henry, see forward ; Julia, Ida M., Lola, 
Isaac C. 

(III) James Henry, son of James Sanborn 
and Cynthia Mary (Husted) Wilson, was 
born in Lowell, Wisconsin, July 22, 1854. 
Shortly after his birth, his parents returned 
to their old home, Saratoga coimty. New 
York, where he attended the public schools. 
When he was fourteen they removed to Co- 
hoes (or Waterford) where his education was 
completed. After his school days were ended, 
he worked with his father for a time, then for 
three years clerked in a grocery, and in 1878 
began working in the J. C. Sanford box fac- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



277 



tory. In 1880 the plant was sold to John Leg- 
gett, who in 1881 appointed Mr. Wilson his 
superintendent. In 1885, in Cohoes, with A. 
D. Wait, he purchased the business from Mr. 
Leggett and in 1886 became sole owner, Mr. 
Wait retiring. The business was successfully 
prosecuted under the sole direction and own- 
ership of Mr. Wilson until 1893, when he 
admitted two young men who were in his em- 
ploy, William McCreedy and Jacob W. Ma- 
yot, and as J. H. Wilson & Company the firm 
still continues. They own the Empire Paper 
Box Comjiany, of Cohoes, which manufacture 
besides their large variety of paper boxes, the 
Empire band cutting and folding machines. 
This is only one of the activities in which Mr. 
Wilson is prominently engaged. In 1892 he 
organized and incorporated the Continental 
Knitting Company, and was president the first 
two years of its corporate existence, and now 
a director. They are manufacturers of Egyp- 
tian and Colonial balbriggan underwear, and 
are rated a highly successful enterprise. In 
1896 he was one of the organizers of the Hud- 
son River Coal and Ice Company, and is the 
present treasurer. This is a very large and 
prosperous company, owning private railroad 
switch grounds of three acres and four hun- 
dred feet of river front. Politically Mr. Wil- 
son is a Republican. In 1882 he was elected 
school commissioner of Cohoes, and in 1884 
re-elected; in 1894 he was appointed and in 
1895 elected to the same office, serving until 
1898, when he was elected president of the 
board of education, and in 1900 re-elected ; in 
1903 he was elected mayor of the city, serving 
one term. He has given years to the schools 
of Cohoes, which is the best evidence of his 
great interest in the cause of education. Dur- 
ing his long term of service his greatest am- 
bition has been to raise the standard of ef- 
ficiency and secure the best possible results 
from the public school system of the city. 
In 1889 he was one of thirty who organized 
and established the Cohoes Hospital Associa- 
tion, and for several years served as director. 
He is also a director of the Young Men's 
Christian Association of the city, and an in- 
terested, helpful member. In church work he 
is equally interested and energetic. He is a 
member of the Baptist church, and has served 
as trustee fourteen years, and for twelve years 
was superintendent of the Sunday school. In 
1889, when the Island Mission was organized, 
he was one of those who assisted and was the 
first superintendent of the Mission Sunday 
school. His fraternal affiliations are with Co- 
hoes Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Co- 
hoes City Lodge, Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and D. J. Johnson Lodge, Temple 



of Honor. His life has touched every branch 
of the life of his city, civil, religious, com- 
mercial and benevolent. In all his business 
undertakings he has been successful ; in his 
official positions, energetic and faithful, and in 
his church and benevolent work, willing and 
helpful. There have been few itlle days in 
his fifty-six years, and in taking a retrospec- 
tive view of his life he can surely find some 
cause for satisfaction. 

He married (first) in May, 1875, Adelaide 
Delanoy, of Cohoes, New York, who died 
June 3, 1898. Children: i. Francis D., born 
August, 1876, died April 10, 1892. 2. Wil- 
liam James, born July 10, 1887, in Cohoes ; 
graduate of Cohoes high school ; now asso- 
ciated with his father in business ; married, 
July II, 1906, Charlotte M. Nuttall, of Co- 
hoes ; children : William, died in infancy, and 
Helen Frances, born November, 1910. He 
married (second) March 19, 1900, Hannah 
Ophelia, the daughter of James Teach- 
out and Mary Bailey, of Saratoga county, and 
granddaughter of John Teachout (1769) and 
Hannah Swartwout ( 1777), who were born in 
Dutchess county, and whose forefathers came 
to America from Holland. Mary Bailey 
Teachout was the daughter of Major Henry 
Bailey and Eleanor Andrews, and grand- 
daughter of Lieutenant Henry Bailey and 
Margaret Losee. On her mother's side she 
was a descendant of Captain Alichael Dunning. 

The ancestors of Henry Bailey are said to 
have fled from England to Holland to es- 
cape persecution, and early in the seventeenth 
century they came to America. The Dun- 
nings were early settlers of Fairfield, Con- 
necticut. 



The Rath- 
RATHBONE-RATHBUN bone family 

of England is 
an old and honorable one. For three hun- 
dred years a wealthy branch has resided in 
the city of Liverpool. The family is of Sax- 
on origin in England, where they have been 
a distinct family for five hundred years. 
Transplanted to America, they have been 
honored citizens. The blazon of arms for 
the name Rathbone as given in "Burke's Gen- 
eral Armory" is : Argent, three doves, azure. 
Crest : a dove with an olive branch in the 
beak all proper. The arms of the Liverpool 
family are : Ermine, on a fess, azure, between 
two roses in chief gules, barbed and seeded 
proper, and the Roman fasces fessvvays in 
front of a lion's head proper, gorged with a 
collar argent, charged with two roses gules. 
Motto: Suaz^tcr ct fortitcr — mildly but firmly. 
While Richard Rathbone (1574) seems to be 



278 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the first of the line in America, his son (1610) 
probabl)- coming at the same time, the real 
history of the family begins with John, of 
Block Island (1634). He is identified with 
the early history of that island, of which he 
was one of the purchasers from Massachu- 
setts, and one of the first sixteen settlers who 
landed on the island in 1662. 

(I) Richard Rathbone, born about 1574, 
so far as the records show, was the first of 
this family to settle in America. He mar- 
ried Marion Whipple, sister of Captain John 
Whipple, who mentioned her in his will, made 
at Ipswich, Essex county, Massachusetts, De- 
cember 19, 1616. They had four sons, none 
of whom left issue (so far as learned) ex- 
cept John (see forward). The eldest son. 
Rev. William Rathbone, resided and preached 
in Vermont in 1630. He is spoken of in a 
work published in 1630 and reprinted in "His- 
torical Collections of Massachusetts." The 
sons mentioned were : William, Joseph, Thom- 
as and John. 

( II ) John (i ), son of Richard and Marion 
(Whipple) Rathbone, was born about 1610, 
in England most probably. He is said to have 
come from England to America in the ship 
"Speedwell," a vessel accompanying the 
"Alayflower" in 1620, and to have settled in 
Rhode Island. (Livermore's "History of 
Block Island.") He married about 1633. and 
had a son John, perhaps others. 

(III) John Rathbone (2), son of John 
(i), was born about 1634. He was one of 
those who on August 17, 1660, met at the 
house of John Alcock, M.D., in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, to confer on the purchase of 
Block Island. He bought a sixteenth of the 
island in 1660, and settled there in 1662. His 
was one of the names presented to the Rhode 
Island general assembly in 1664, by Captain 
James Sand and Joseph Kent, in behalf of 
Block Island, for admission as freeman. In 
1683 lie was a representative from Block Isl- 
and to the Rhode Island general assembly ; 
June 16, 1686. he signed with others, a pe- 
tition to the King of Great Britain in re- 
gard to the writ of "Quo Warranto," ac- 
knowledging full and free submission and res- 
ignation of the powers given in the charter. 
and asking to be discharged from all liens 
and contributions which the assembly would 
impose upon them in sending an agent to Eng- 
land, to which action the petitioners were op- 
posed. 

In 1688 he was a member of the grand 
jury of Rhode Island. He married Marga- 
ret, daughter of Tristram Dodge. Their is- 
sue was: Thomas, John (3), see forward; 
Sarah, wife of (first), Samuel George, (sec- 



ond), John Ball) : \\'illiam, Joseph and Sam- 
uel. 

{IX) John (3), son of John (2) and Mar- 
garet (Dodge) Rathbone, was born in Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, about 1658. He was 
made a freeman of Rhode Island, and the 
same year was appointed a deputy to the gen- 
eral court from New Shoreham, Block Isl- 
and, Rhode Island. He was deputy from 1681 
to 1684, and surveyor of highways in 1686. 
Just before his marriage he received a deed 
from his father to sixty acres of land, the 
consideration being "One barrel of pork." 
From some old records we find that "Great 
James and his wife" (Indians) bound their 
daughter Betsey to John Rathbone and his 
wife Ann, as an indentured servant, for 
a term of eighteen years, the considera- 
tion being "one gallon of rum, one 
blanket in hand, and five years afterward one 
gallon of rum yearly thereafter, and if she 
remains five years the said Rathbone to pay 
four blankets every third year thereafter." 
He testified April 28, 17 17, in relation to a 
seizure by the pirate Paulgrove Williams, of 
three men who were with him in a boat on 
the bay at the time of the seizure. He was 
twice married, (first) June 20, 1680, to 

, (second) November 11, 1686, to Ann 

Dodge. His children were: Mercy, Jona- 
than, John, Joshua (see forward), Benjamin, 
Anna, Nathaniel and Thomas. 

( \^ ) Rev. Joshua Rathbone, son of John 
(3) and Ann (Dodge) Rathbone. was born 
at Newport colony, of Rhode Island. He 
was twice married. He married (first) No- 
vember 30, 1 72 1, Martha Card, born April 6, 
1699, daughter of Job and Martha (Acres) 
Card. She bore him a son Joshua. He mar- 
ried (second) February 17. 1724, Mary, 
daughter of Rev. \'alentine Wightman, of 
(iroton, Connecticut, the first Baptist minis- 
ter in Connecticut. By his second wife Rev. 
Joshua was the father of twelve children: 
Joshua (see forward) ; Valentine W., Mar- 
tha, John, Daniel, Jacob, Job, Martha, Amos, 
Anna, Susannah and Wait. These children 
were born between May 17, 1722, the birth 
date of Joshua, and August 18, 1744. the 
birthday of the youngest. John (5) became 
a minister of the gospel, preaching at Sara- 
toga, New York, at the age of ninety-five. 
He died from the eflfects of a fall. He was 
a ])atriot of the revolution, a member of the 
Stnnington committee of corres])on(lcnce and 
inspector, and signer of the memorial to the 
Connecticut Assembly, praying for cannon to 
jirotect the town of Stonington against British 
attack. 

(VII) Joshua (2), son of Rev. Joshua (i) 




rD a YJ 



Ar^ //r&y/// 






'^/^C^i^i^<^^^^ 




V^>^^-^^T_^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \^'\LLEYS 



279 



and Martha (Cord) Rathbone. was born on 
Block Island, May 17, 1724, and died at Ston- 
ington, Connecticut, August 14, 1801. He 
was known as "Joshua of the wind mill", he 
being the owner of a grist mill run by wind 
jiovver at Stonington Point. He was a good and 
pious man, belonging to the Society of 
Friends. In an old yellow-leafed Bible, in 
which the records of Joshua's family were 
kept, is the following, written in a good hand 
with many flourishes : "Stonington, January 
the 27th day, A. D., 1755. This as an ac- 
count of the age of my wife and children: i. 
Joshua Rathbone Jr., was born upon Block 
Island in the year of our Lord 1724." Some 
genealogists give his birthplace as Stoning- 
ton, and the year as 1722 ; his own written 
testimony ought to be conclusive. Joshua 
(2) married, March 4, 1742, Dorcas, born at 
South Kingston, September 17, 1721, died 
April 5, 1809, daughter of James Wells, of 
Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Children born of 
Joshua (2) and Dorcas Wells: Joshua (see 
forward), Martha, Dorcas Wells, Acors, 
Sarah, Alary, Anna. 

(V'll) Joshua (3), son of Joshua (2) and 
Dorcas (Wells) Rathbone, was born at West- 
erly, Rhode Island. August 11, 1743, and 
•<lied November 23, 1773, at sea. He mar- 
ried, October 30, 1766, in Friends' meeting 
liouse, Sarah, born December 27, 1748, daugh- 
ter of Abraham and Martha (Bagnal) Bor- 
den. Their childreti were : Joshua, Abraham, 
Borden, Acors (see forward) ; and Benjamin 
Bagnal. Joshua's widow, Sarah, married a 
•Quaker minister, Peter Hoxie, whose widow 
she was at her death, March 29, 1828. 

(VIII) Acors, third of the four sons of 
Joshua (3) and Sarah (Borden) Rathbone, 
was born in Stonington, Connecticut, January 
25, 1772. It was in this generation that the 
spelling of the name became Rathbun. He was 
the founder of Rathbunville, Oneida county, 
JNew York. 

He was married, February 12. 1794, to 
Sarah, born in South Kingston, November 28, 
1777, died May 22, 1859, daughter of Wil- 
liam an<l Mercy Peckham. They removed 
after their marriage to Richmond, Rhode 
Island, and in the winter of 1802 to Verona, 
■Oneida county. New York, making the jour- 
ney in an emigrant wagon. Their children 
were fourteen in number, born between No- 
vember 24. 1794, and May 4. 1820; the first 
six were born in Rhode Island. .Among them 
were: Joshua: William; Sarah Ann (mar- 
ried James Hallock) ; Dorcas, married (first) 
Tiichard Searing, (second) Henry Thomas; 
Perry: Benjamin; Mary Ann, married John 
IB. Barr ; Rowland and James. Acors Rath- 



bone's name is incorrectly given in Oneida 
county. New York, histories as Achus. 

(IX) Solomon, son of Acors and Sarah 
(Peckham) Rathbun, was born in Rhode Is- 
land, June 30, 1799, and died in Springfield, 
Mass., November 9, 1861. He married, in New 
York state, Hannah, died in New York City, 
December 3, 1891, daughter of Daniel and 
Henrietta Quimby. of New York. Children: 
I. Acors (see forward). 2. Daniel, born 
June 21, 1829, died September 8, 1862; mar- 
ried, September 9, 1851, Duclanna Wheeler, 
of Rome, New York. 3. Emily, born Sep- 
tember 26, 183 1 ; married John L, Kipp, of 
New York City. 4. Henry, born December 
30, 1833, died December 24, 1852, in \'erona, 
New York. 5. Edward, born April 14, 1838; 
married, September 2, 1865, Maria Warner, 
of Verona, New York. 6. George Jay, born 
September 6, 1840, died February 22, i860. 
7. Milton, born August 3, 1844 : married. Feb- 
ruary 5, 1873, Harriet Lee Eales, of Belmont, 
New York. 8. Frank, born January 23, 1847; 
married, October 17, 1877, Charlotte N. Nims, 
of Troy, New York, 9. Alice Naomi, born 
November 16, 1850; married Josiah Lombard, 
of New York City (Harlem). Solomon 
Rathbun was a very prominent man in Rath- 
bunville, Oneida county, New York, settled 
by his father, Acors (Achus), in 1802. The 
town is now Verona Mills. Solomon owned 
a flourishing mill, woolen factory and a store. 
Wells, anothei son of Acors, lived to be the 
oldest inhabitant of the town. 

(X) .\cors. eldest son of Solomon and 
Hannah (Quimby) Rathbun, was born in 
Rathbunville, now Verona Mills, Oneida 
county. New York, August 29, 1827. The 
town was founded by his grandfather Acors 
(i) Rathbun in 1802. He received a good 
education, and was trained to habits of in- 
dustry and thrift by his father, and gained in 
his store and other business enterprises the 
experience that was to make him in later 
years the successful business man he was. 
He came to Albany, where he entered the em- 
ploy of his uncle Joshua Rathbun, then one 
of the largest hardware dealers in the lum- 
ber district of Albany. He was later ad- 
mitted a partner, and on the death of Joshua 
succeeded him in the business, remaining the 
active and capable head until 1900, when he 
retired from active effort. He was a director 
of the Mechanics National Bank, the .Albany 
Savings Bank, the Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company, and was interested in other cor- 
porations and business enterprises of the city. 
He belonged to the Fort Orange Club, and 
was a warm friend of the various church and 
philanthropic bodies for the betterment of his 



280 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



fellows. He was a good citizen, and left the 
impress of his commendable character upon 
his associates and friends. He was presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the Second 
Presbyterian Church of Albany, and for 
forty-four years worshipped with his wife at 
that church, occupying the same pew during 
that long period. His love of all things good 
and beautiful, his cultured mind and great 
desire to use his wealth fairly and justly, 
were prominent traits of his character. The 
fpijolutions and memorials adopted by the 
vfin'nijs boards of directors and trustees of 
which he was a member show that he was 
held in the very highest esteem as a capable 
man of business, a wise counselor, a faithful 
friend, and a courteous gentleman. 

He married, August 19, 1857, Eliza C. Bur- 
rell, of Little Falls, Herkimer county. New 
York (see Burrell), who survives him, a resi- 
dent of Albany. They had one child, Or- 
menda Burrell, born July 13, 1858, died Jan- 
uary 21, 1901, married, June 4, 1892, in Al- 
bany, New York, Joseph Yates Page, son of 
Joseph C. Page, of Albany, and great-grand- 
son of Governor Yates, of New York. They 
located in Washington, D. C, where Mr. 
Page was connected with the comptroller's 
office under Secretary of the Treasury Eccles, 
later were of Seattle, Washington, then re- 
turned to Albany, where Mr. Page died Jan- 
uary 13, 1901, followed one week later by 
his wife. Mrs. Page was an accomplished, 
cultured lady, possessed of every womanly at- 
tribute, and was deeply regretted. Their 
daughter, L. Eliza Rathbun Page, born in 
Seattle, Washington, March 16, 1892, is a 
senior of Wellesley Hall, Massachuetts 
(1909). She is the companion of Mrs. Acors 
Rathbun in her Albany home and on her 
tours of Europe and Alaska. 

Eliza C. (Burrell) Rathbun was educated 
in Packer Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and 
Utica Female Seminary. She resided in Al- 
bany, New York, where they had a beautiful 
home on Willett street, where hospitality was 
unbounded. Chief executives were entertained 
on many occasions, and a circle of friends of 
kindred tastes made welcome. Always of 
charitable impulses, since the death of her 
husband, daughter, and son-in-law, Mrs. 
Rathbun has devoted her life to good works 
along j)hilanthropic and charitable lines, not 
alone with her wealth, but with constant per- 
sonal work. Every Thursday evening she 
teaches a class of three hundred and fifty at 
the Rensselaer Mission ; for seventeen years 
she has taught in the Sunday school, starting 
with four, the class now numbering seventy- 
five. There is no public or private charity in 



the city that has not been substantially aided 
by her — missions, schools, hospitals, churches^ 
none are turned away ; the need has onlv to< 
be shown and the response is ready. In all 
this work there is one that lies nearest her 
heart, the Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciation. In 1888 it was brought to her notice 
that young women temporarily in the city, and 
self-sustaining girls, should have a home pro- 
vided them where they would be sheltered and' 
cared for under good influences, yet at a 
price within their means. Meeting with cor- 
dial sympathy and material support from her 
husband, she launched the Young Women's. 
Christian Association in two rooms, April 20,. 
1888. The association was incorporated in 
1890; larger quarters very soon were needed, 
again and again, until now they are quartered 
in a building of their own at the corner of 
Lodge and Steuben streets, with spacious par- 
lors, reading rooms, restaurant, bedrooms for 
temporary and permanent guests, a library of 
2,209 volumes, seven instructors, two secre- 
taries, and a corps of able helpers in every 
department. Classes for instruction are main- 
tained, each with a capable specialist to in- 
struct in Bible study, vocal music, domestic 
science, plain sewing, millinery, embroidery, 
and physical education. The association 
(1909) has six hundred members, fifty-one of 
whom are sustaining, three hundred and 
ninety-six active, and one hundred and fifty- 
three associate members, drawn from every 
church denomination. The government in- 
cludes the executive officers, a board of thirty 
managers, with an executive committee, ad- 
visory board, and a board of trustees. With 
the exception of the advisory board, these 
officers are all women. For twenty-three years 
Mrs. Rathbun has been president, and to her 
untiring energy and generosity success may be 
ascribed. In 1907 she caused to be erected, 
adjoining the Home, a gymnasium, in honor 
of her late husband's memory. This is said 
to be the very best equipped ladies' gymna- 
sium in existence anywhere. No feature of 
the equiiiment of a modern gymnasium is 
omitted. The association is affiliated with the 
National Young Women's Christian Associa- 
tion organizations, which assures members 
the added benefits of similar advantages when 
away from home. To the development of this 
and other undertakings Mrs. Rathbun de- 
votes her life and finds her greatest enjoy- 
ment. Every hour of the day is occupied, as 
she holds official connection with many or- 
ganizations. In earlier years she traveled ex- 
tensively, visiting every country of Europe, 
as well as thoroughly touring the United 
States, Alaska and part of South .America. 




/^ 



t'/yU- C/du^i^/^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



281 



Her acquaintance with men and women of 
philantliropic and literary fame extends to 
many lands, among whom her noble philan- 
thropies are recognized and approved. After 
the death of her husband she gave up the 
Willett street mansion, and resides in apart- 
ments at 355 State street, Albany. 

(The Burrell Line), 

The family of Burrell settled in Herkimer 
county, New York, in the year 1804, when 
Jonathan Burrell located at what was then 
called "Yankee Corners," a point that was 
the business center of the town of Salisbury. 
He came with his family from Sheffield, 
Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and carried 
on various branches of business. The village 
became known as "Burrells Corners," and is 
still so called, although there is little to dis- 
tinguish it now from the surrounding coun- 
try. One of his sons, \\'. F. Burrell, who was 
born there in 1818, became the proprietor of 
Burrell's Mills, and was extensively engaged 
in the manufacture of cheese boxes, broom 
handles, lumber, etc. He was supervisor of 
the town in 1872-73. Jonathan Burrell mar- 
ried Lucinda Kellogg and had several chil- 
dren. 

(H) Harry, son of Jonathan and Lucinda 
(Kellogg) Burrell, was born in Sheffield, Mas- 
sachusetts, November 28, 1797, and died at 
Little Falls, New York, March 5, 1879. He 
was part of the family who emigrated from 
Massachusetts to the town of Salisbury, Her- 
kimer county, New York, in 1804. He was 
engaged in farming and in business with his 
father until the death of the latter, when he 
succeeded to possession of the old homestead, 
known as the Hackley farm. When he was 
not yet of legal age his neighbors solicited 
him to take charge of and sell their dairy 
products, which were drawn to Albany on 
wagons and thence transported to New York 
City in sloops. He began the purchase of 
cheese and other dairy products, and from 
this beginning became the largest buyer and 
shipper in the country. As his business in- 
creased, he established a house on Front street. 
New York City, under the firm name of H. 
Burrell & Company. His acquaintance with 
Erastus Corning and other prominent men 
of the day brought forth the suggestion of 
exporting dairy products. Mr. Burrell em- 
braced the idea and began the business of 
exporting cheese, formed strong connections 
with foreign houses, and was probably the 
first shipper of dairy products to foreign mar- 
kets from the United States. His domestic 
and foreign business was very extensive, and 
in the country and city demanded the constant 



attention of himself and sons, who as they 
grew up were all taken into the business. He 
continued a large buyer and shipper until near 
the close of his long, busy, useful life of 
eighty-two years. He was one of the best of 
men, and his name was the synonym for 
honesty and integrity, and his bond was no 
better than his word. He was the adviser and 
friend of every man in the community, and 
was trusted implicitly. He was very wealthy,^ 
owning seventeen farms. Charitable and gen- 
erous, he was the chief pillar of the Presby- 
terian Church at both Salisbury and Little 
Falls, where he built a handsome residence 
and removed in 1852. He was president of 
the church board of trustees, and of Little 
Falls Academy. He died at Little Falls, and 
while his remains lay in the family vault, 
some desperate villains, hoping for a large 
reward, stole the body and secreted it. They 
were, however, run down, captured, and the 
body recovered. Two of the gang were sen- 
tenced to prison for ten years and five for 
seven years at hard labor. 

He married Ormenda, daughter of Colonel 
Carr, of the war of 1812, and his wife, Han- 
nah Hakes, the latter bearing the title of the 
"smartest woman in the country." Children : 
I. Seymour, deceased. 2. Malvin, deceased. 
3. Isaac, deceased. 4. Hannah, wife of 
Stephen Millar, of Constableville, Lewis 
county. New York ; Nancy, wife of Dr. 
Humphrey, a physician and missionary, whom 
she accompanied to India and remained for 
five years. The doctor was also a minister, 
and preached in Hindoostanee. They now 
live a retired life at Little Falls, New York. 
5. Eliza, of further mention. 6.' Harry (2). 
The sons were all associated in business with 
their father, and continued in it after his 
death, although not upon the same extensive 
scale. 

(HI) Eliza, sixth child of Harry and Or- 
menda (Carr) Burrell, was born in Herkimer 
county. New York, June 6, 1833. She mar- 
ried Acors Rathbun, and was the mother of 
one daughter, Ormenda (2) (see Rathbun). 



The Little family so strongly 
LITTLE represented in the present gen- 
eration at Johnstown, New 
York, descend from Lawrence Little, a Mont- 
gomery county farmer, located in the town of 
Charleston, Montgomery county. New York. 
(I) Lawrence Little died 1832; married 
Eliza Fellows, who died 1829. Children, born 
in Charleston, New York: i. Mary, born 
1819. died January 31, 1885; married Hiram 
Campbell, a soldier of the civil war, killed at 
the battle of the Wilderness. They had eight 



282 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



children : i. Eliza, married Hezekiah Carey 
and had four children, a. Eva, married John 
Lincoln and had Elizabeth and Willis ; b. Kate, 
married Charles Shafer and had one child, 
Allison : c. Mack, married Elsie Young and 
had five children : d. Albert, married Phoebe 
\\'agner and had six children, ii. Hiram, 
married Jane Orr and had three children: 
Irving, Estelle and V^ernon. iii. R. Elmira, 
born November 15, 1840, married. May i, 
1870, Ebenezer Eckerson, born October 25, 
1839, and had one child. Ford Blaine, born 
September 11, 1880, married, June 25, 1909, 
Ruth Calkin, iv. Hamilton H., married Isa- 
belle Warner, and had one son, Louis, v. 
Amanda, married John R. \'an Patten and 
had four children : a. Milo, married Dora 
Ten Eyck and had Anna, married Herbert 
\'an Wie, Cora and Otto ; b. Mark, married 
a Miss Young and had five children ; c. Renilo, 
married Maurice Stanton ; d. Bessie, married 
Chauncy King and had Mabel and Everett, 
vi. Robie, married Munro ShaiTer and had 
four children : a. John : b. Stanton, married 
Josie Scrum ; c. George, married Lizzie 
Smith; d. Durward, married Irene Scrum and 
liad Orville, Marion, Dudley, married Fanny 
MacDougal, and Blanche, vii. William, mar- 
ried Estelle Tratts and had Harry and Nellie, 
■viii. Elmore, married Maria Brown and had 
Donella, married J. Frank Alartin. 2. Hiram, 
married Mary Jane Mickel. 3. Betsey, mar- 
ried Rev. Jacob Drake and had four or five 
children. 4. John Calvin, of whom further. 
5. James, married Eliza Talmadge. 6. 
Nathaniel. 

(II) John Calvin, son of Lawrence Little, 
was born in Charleston, Montgomery county, 
New York, December 19, 1823, died at Car- 
lisle, New York, August 25, 1874. He was 
left an orphan at five years of age and was 
brought up by a neighbor, Charles Gordon, 
and grew up to the occupation of a farmer. 
After his marriage he removed to Carlisle, 
where he engaged in farming on his own ac- 
count. He was a quiet, industrious, energetic 
man and devoted his entire life to his business 
and family. He was a member of the Dutch 
Reformed church and in politics he was a 
Democrat. 

He married at Cherry Valley, New York, 
February 22, 1849, Elizabeth Van Valken- 
berg, born July 14, 1831, at Springfield, New 
York, died October 7, 1898, at Johnstown, 
■daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Wood) Van 
Valkenbcrg, who were the parents of five 
children: i. Elizabeth, married John Calvin 
Little. 2. Abbie, married Nicholas Brouthers. 
3. Isaac, died in infancy. 4. Henry, married 
■Georgiana Platner. 5. Sarah, married Sam- 



uel Hancock. Children of John Calvin and 
Elizabeth Little : 

1. Jacob Henry, born March 19, 1850, died 
January 5. 1853. 

2. George Francis, born April 21, 1851; 
married (first) February 24, 1875, Clarisa 
Shafifer, who died December 31, 1884; mar- 
ried (second) January 5, 1886, Anna Kiem; 
children: Arthur, born December 13, 1887; 
Elizabeth, April 11, 1889. George Francis 
Little resides in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
where he is a carpenter and builder. 

3. Sarah Eliza, born September 21, 1852, 
married, November 2, 1871, Edwin Hillsinger, 
a farmer of Carlisle, Schoharie county. New 
York; children: i. Oliin, born April 19, 1873, 
married, December 31, 1904, Charles Niles, 
and has a son Charles (2), born February, 
1907; ii. Grace, born September 19, 1875, 
married, October 25, 1894, ^Villard Kilts, and 
their daughter Ruth, born September 4. 1896, 
died January 2, 1900. 

4. Naaman, born May 25, 1854 ; educated in 
the public schools, and until 1892 owned and 
cultivated a farm of one hundred and twenty 
acres at Cobleskill ; in the year mentioned he 
removed to Johnstown, New York, where he 
is employed as a cutter with the Johnstown 
Knitting Mills Company ; he is a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
an Independent in politics ; he is a member of 
the Dutch Reformed church and clerk of the 
board of trustees ; he married, November 8, 
1876, Sarah Elizabeth Mickel, born March 27, 
1853; children: i. Bertha Elizabeth, born 
August 29, 1877, married, November 25, 
1897, Abraham GraiT; children: Edith B., 
born August 6, 1904 : Sylvia M., born August 
16, 1907, died March 6, 1910; Esther Ruth, 
born October 8, 1910: ii. Martha, born Feb- 
ruary 13, 1880. married. February 6, 1901, 
Arthur ITnderwood, and has Arthur I'rancis, 
born Se])tember 19, 1904; Raymond, born Feb- 
ruary 7. 1907 ; iii. Sylvia, born May 28, 1881 ; 
iv. Henrietta, born November 3, 1883, died 
February 23, 1894. Sarah Elizabeth Mickel, 
wife of Naaman Little, is a daughter of Henry 
Mickel, born May 12, 1804, died July 9, 1895; 
he married Henrietta Springer, born Decem- 
ber 18, 1809. died April 2. 1850, a daughter 
of Jacob and Sarah (Howe) Springer. Sarah 
Elizabeth was the youngest of five children. 

5. Abbie Jane, horn February 9. 1856. died 
May 4, 1902 ; married Llewellyn D. Cyphers, 
both deceased, had no children. 

6. John, born May 26, 1857; connected with 
the glove business at Johnstown in the Nor- 
thup Glove Company ; he married Martha Jane, 
born November 24, 1857, daughter of Peter 
Snook, born April 20, 1827, died March 5, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



283 



1905; he married. October 8, 1851, Alida \'an 
Nest, born May 20, 1831. They had five 
children. Children of John Little: Frank, 
born Febniarv 11, 1886; Earnest, June 19, 
1888. 

7. David \\'., born June 15. 1858; engaged 
in the sewing machine business at Glovers- 
ville : he married, December 17, 1879, Maggie 
Van Nest; children: i. Elinore (Ella), born 
October 19, 1880; ii. Elizabeth, born January 
23, 1882. married Emerson Van Duesen. 

8. Seth, of whom further. 

9. Henry, of whom further. 

10. Charles, born November 13, 1863; a 
farmer of Johnstown; married, December i, 
1886, Mary Dorn ; children : i. Grace M., 
born September 19, 1887, died April 10, 1907; 
ii. Olive, born April 14, 1894, died May 2j, 
1894; iii. Charles Warren, born July 31, 1899. 

11. Mary, born May 25, 1865; married, 
April 16, 1891, Clarence Hoyt ; children: 
i. Marshall, born May 13, 1892; ii. Clayton, 
December 16, 1894: iii. Ruth, June 11, 1903. 

12. ;\Iartha, born January 25, 1867; resides 
in Troy. 

13. Elmer, of whom further. 

14. Elvie E., born February 18, 1873 ; mar- 
ried, August 9, 1900, Fred Hollis, of Troy, 
New York ; children : i. Edith Mae, born 
August 22, 1901 ; ii. Florence, born Decem- 
ber 31, 1903; iii. Frederick, born May 7, 
1905 ; iv. James Walter, born November 20, 
1910. 

(HI) Seth, eighth child and sixth son of 
John Calvin and Elizabctii (Van Valkenberg) 
Little, was born February 7, i860. He was 
educated in the public school and became an 
accountant. He is now associated with his 
brothers in glove manufacture in Johnstown. 
He is prominent in the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, is past noble grand of Johnstown 
Lodge and present district deputy. He is 
also a Knight of Pythias. In the years 1900- 
05 he was a member of the board of education. 
He is a Republican in politics. He married, 
June II, 1885. Ella, born March 6, 1864, 
daughter of Levi S. and Elizabeth (\'osburg) 
Dygert, and granddaughter of George Dygert. 
Elizabeth Vosburg was a daughter of \'ictor 
and Mary (Putnam) Vosburg. Levi S. Dy- 
gert married (first) — Hotaling; child, 

Phoebe, married John \'an Nostrand and had 
one child, Clarence; he married (second) 
Elizabeth X'osburg: children: i. Emma, born 
November 24, 1856. married Berry \'an 
Deusen and had four children : Nellie ; Ed- 
ward, married Lulu Lair ; William ; Clarence. 
2. Arvilla, born April 20, 1858, married 
Charles Putnam ; children : Levi, Earl, Jay 
and Floyd. 3. George, born September 10, 



i860, married Matie Foote ; children : Lewis, 
Frank, Francis, George Jr. 4. Ella, married 
Seth Little. 5. Anna, born May 2, 1866, mar- 
ried William Grimes and had one child, 
George, married Grace Lottridge. 6. William, 
born .April 3, 1868, married Augusta Henry. 
7. Elizabeth, born December 24, 1870, mar- 
ried Brayton Grinnell. Children of Seth and 
Ella Little: i. Blanche Elizabeth, born March 
28, 1886; married, November 4, 1906, Archi- 
bald A. Grafif. 2. Edna M., born October 16, 
1888. 3. Nina B., born June 7, 1893. 

(Ill) Henry, son of John Calvin and Eliza- 
beth (Van Valkenberg) Little, was born in 
Carlisle. New York, February 13, 1862. He 
was educated in the public school and is now 
engaged with his brother in glove manufac- 
ture. He is a member of Johnstown Lodge, 
No. 808, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
and is past noble grand and past district 
deputy. Is an attendant of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. He resides in the city of 
Johnstown. He married, September 30, 1886, 
Ada, born June 23, 1862, daughter of Peter 
and Alida (\'an Nest) Snook. Peter Snook 
was born April 20, 1827, died March 5, 1905 ; 
married, October 8, 185 1, Alida Van Nest, 
born May 20. 1831. Alida was the daughter 
of Andrew and Catherine (\'osburgh) \'an 
Nest. Andrew \'an Nest was the son of 
Henry \'an Nest, born 1793, died 1864. Cath- 
erine \'osburgh, wife of Andrew \'an Nest, 
born 1800, died 1866; children: Myndert, 
Maria, Henry, Joseph, Jane Ann, Barney, 
Alida, married Peter Snook ; Catherine, Sarah, 
Harriet, Michael, John. Children of Peter 
and Alida Snook: i. Catherine, born Sep- 
tember 8, 1853, married, February 24. 1874, 
Charles Argersinger, born March 22, 1852; 
children : i. Laura, born June 12, 1876, died 
F'ebruary 20, 1901, married, November 14, 
1896, George De Witt ; left Florence, born 
August 8, 1899: ii. Bertha, born July 30, 
1878, married, October, 1907, Fred Seism ; 
iii. Earl D.. born June 19, 1880, died July 18, 
1903; iv. Evertt, born IVfarch 15, 1882: v. 
Floyd, born June 17, 1884. 2. An infant, 
born and died August. 1856. 3. Martha Jane, 
married John Little. 4. Ada. married Flenry 
Little. 5. John D., married Matie Schoen- 
felt. December 26, 1889 ; children : i. Carl 
Delbert, born June 9. 1891 ; ii. Clayton P., 
born September 27, 1895. 6. Jay, born June 
2, 1868. Children of Henry and Ada Little : 
I. Jessie A., born December 25, 1887. 2. lona 
H., April 27. 1894. 3. Ruth, born April 20, 
1899. 

(Ill) Elmer, son of John Calvin and Ehza- 
beth (Van Valkenberg) Little, was born No- 
vember I, 1868, in Carlisle, Schoharie county, 



284 



HUDSON AND I\IOHAWK \^\LLEYS 



New York. He was educated in the public 
school, and in 1876 went to live in Johnstown. 
He entered business life with Mason, Camp- 
bell & Company, continuing until 1893. In 
that year, in company with George S. Pitman, 
and as Pitman & Little, he began the manu- 
facture of gloves. They made a fine grade of 
men and women's gloves and continued in suc- 
cessful operation together until the death of 
Air. Pitman, since which time Mr. Little has 
continued the business. He is now serving his 
third term on the board of water commission- 
ers : he is past grand of Johnstown Lodge, 
No. 808, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
a charter member of the Improved Order of 
Red Men and a member of the Colonial Club. 
He is interested in the work of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, which he sup- 
ports by membership, and attends the Dutch 
Reformed church. He married, June 12, 
1889, Clara M., born April 8, 1869, daughter 
of Benjamin Ellis, born September 13, 1832, 
died April 4, 1903, son of Arnold and Polly 
(Lathrop) Ellis. Benjamin Ellis married, 
October 30, 1854, Mary C. Argersinger, born 
August 15, 1836, died May 21, 1903, daugh- 
ter of Baltus and Clarissa ( Mason ) .Arger- 
singer. Benjamin and Mary C. Ellis had six 
children: i. David B., born October 10, 1859; 
married. December 11, 1883, Annie Bulger; 
children: i. John, born May 30, 1885, died 
May 19, 1909; ii. Bessie, born May 31, 1887, 
married Veeder Scott, September 28, 19 10. 
2. Alida C, born September 15, 1861 ; mar- 
ried Jacob S. Warren ; children : i. Leona 
May, married William W. Stone and had 
Clara and Franklin ; ii. George B. : iii. Clara, 
died in childhood. Children of Elmer and 
Clara M. Little : Alida M., born March 29, 
1893, and Elmer E., January 23, 1895. 



The family of Shepard herein 
SHEPARD considered descend from Rev. 

Thomas Shepard, of Eng- 
land and Cambridge, Massachusetts, of whom 
one writer said : "That gratious svveete Heav- 
enly minded and soule-ravishing minister Mr. 
Thomas Shepheard in whose soule the Lord 
shed abroade his love so abundantly that 
thousands of souls have come to blesse God 
for him * *" and of whom Cotton Mather 
said : "Let the reader now go with me and 
I will show him one of the happiest men that 
ever we saw ; as great a converter of souls as 
has ordinarily been known in our days," and 
once more he says : "It was with a respect 
unto the enlightening and jxjwerful ministry 
of Mr. Shepard that when the foundation of 
a College was to be laid, Cambridge, rather 
than any other place, was pitched upon to be 



the seat of that happy seminary." He was-, 
one of the foremost in rearing the structure- 
which John Harvard made possible. While- 
little is known of his English ancestry, it is. 
certain that he came from the family of Shep- 
ard whose heraldic description is here given. 
Arms: Ermine on a chief sable: three pole- 
axes argent. Crest: On a mont vert, a stag" 
courant regardant proper attired argent. 
Motto : Xec timeo, nee spero. We give his 
English parentage only. 

(I) William Shepard in the "little poore* 
towne" of Fosscut, near Towcester, North- 
amptonshire, England, was early apprenticed' 
to a helmet maker. Bland, in the same town. 
After finishing his years of apprenticeship he- 
removed to Towcester, where he resided sev- 
eral years. "There being no good ministry 
in town," he removed to Banbury, in O.x- 
fordshire, "under a stirring ministry, hav- 
ing bought a house there for that end." There' 

he died in 1615. He married (first) 

Bland, a daughter of his first employer. She' 
died in 1609. revered and beloved. He mar- 
ried (second) in Towcester a woman, name 
unknown. Of her Rev. Thomas wrote in! 
his autobiography, "Who did let me see the 
difference between my own mother and a 
stepmother ; she did seeme not to love me- 
but tried to incense my father against me."' 
Of his father he says, "A wise, prudent man, 
the peacemaker of the place, and toward his 
latter end much blessed of God in his estate' 
and in his soule." Of his mother he says,. 
"My mother was a woman much afflicted,, 
sometimes even to distraction of mind, yet 
was sweetly recovered agayne before she died. 
I, being the youngest, she did beare exceed- 
ing great love to me and made many prayers- 
for me and died when I was about four years- 
old." He had children by both marriages. 

(II) Rev. Thomas Shepard, son of Willianr 

and (Bland) Shepard, was born in 

Towcester, England, November 5, 1605, and 
as he states it, "the powder treason day, and' 
that very houre of the day wherein the Parlia- 
ment should have bin blown up by Papist 
priests, I was borne, which occasioned my 
father to give me the name Thomas because^ 
he sayd, I would hardly believe that ever any 
such wickedness should be attempted by men 
agaynst so religious and good Parlament."* 
His first schcxiling was under the tutorship of 
a Mr. Rice, of whom he writes, "Exceedingly 
curst and cruel and would deale roughly with 
me and .so discouraged me wholly from de- 
sire of learning, that I wished oftentimes 
myselfe in any condition to keepe hogs or 
beasts rather than to goe to schoole and 
learne." At the age of fifteen he considered 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



285 



Iliimself "ripe tor the University," and was 
: admitted to Emanuel College. In 1623 he 
took his bachelor degree, and in 1625 he fin- 
ished his course and was graduated with the 
honors of the university. In 1627 the de- 
gree of A.M. was conferred upon him. His 
:first parish was at Earles Cole, where he 
•preached three and one-half years, receiving 
forty pounds yearly salary. His fame now 
attracted the attention of the church authori- 
ities (he being a non-Conformist), and De- 
cember 30, 1630, was ordered to appear be- 
fore Bishop Land in London, "closely cate- 
chized" and threatened with punishment un- 
'less he ceased his "heretical preaching." He 
preached privately, but was greatly persecuted, 
until August 10, 1635, when he sailed for 
America, having previously, in 1634, secretly 
and in disguise embarked for the same desti- 
•nation in a ship driven back by a storm and 
narrowly escaped wreck and death. .After 
eleven weeks' passage in the ship "Defence," 
he landed in Boston, October 3, 1635. On 
'October 5, same year, he settled in Newtown 
(now Cambridge), which was ever after his 
home, the site of his house now being part 
of the university grounds. In January, 1635- 
36, the first parish church was formed, and 
Februarv i, following, he was ordained its 
first pastor, in which ofifice he continued until 
his death, August 25, 1649. He married 
(first) in England, 1632, Margaret Toute- 
ville. a kinswoman of Sir Richard Derby, 
Knight, born in England. 1604, died in Cam- 
bridge, Mas.'^chusetts, February, 1635-36, of 
consumption contracted by a severe cold on 
her voyage to America. She is named a 
passenger on the "Defence," July 2, 1635, 
aged thirty-one years. He married (second) 
Joanna, daughter of his friend. Rev. Thomas 
Hooker, buried .-Xpril 28, 1646. He married 
(third) September 8, 1647, Margaret Rore- 
dale, who survived him and married (second) 
November 19, 1650, Rev. Jonathan (2), son 
of Rev. Jonathan (i) Mitchell, who came to 
New England in 1635. Rev. Jonathan (2) 
Mitchell graduated from Harvard College in 
1647, and succeeded Rev. Thomas Shepard 
as pastor of the first church. He became an 
eminent preacher and was elected a fellow of 
Harvard College in 1650, and died July 9. 
1668, aged forty-three. Mr. Shepard was the 
author of several religious books and left an 
extensive library replete with valuable works. 
By bis first wife IMargaret he had a son 
Thomas (2), born in Yarmouth. England, 
who died in infancy, and Thomas (3). By 
his second wife Joanna he had children, all of 
whom died young except Samuel. By his 
third wife Margaret he had one son Jeremiah, 



see forward. Thomas (3) graduated from 
Harvard College in 1653, and was ordained 
to the ministry in 1650. He settled as col- 
league with Zachariah Lymmes, at Charles- 
town, and remained in the ministry until his 
decease in 1667, aged forty-two years. Sam- 
uel graduated from Harvard College in 1658, 
and was settled as the third minister at Row- 
ley. Massachusetts, 1665, as colleague with 
Rev. Samuel Phillips. He lived three years 
and continued with the Rowley church until 
his death in 1668. All the sons of Rev. 
Thomas Shepard ( i ) that lived to maturity 
embraced the ministry as a profession. 

(Ill) Rev. Jeremiah Shepard, youngest son 
and only child of Rev. Tliomas She])ard and 
his third wife, was born in Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts, August II, 1648, died at Lynn, 
Massachusetts, June 3, 1720. He was a grad- 
uate of Harvard College in 1669, and was 
regularly fitted for the ministry, although for 
several years he entered into no communion 
with any particular church, nor made any 
public profession of religion. After the early 
decease of his brother Samuel he was called to 
preach at Rowley, where he continued three 
years. At the end of that period an effort was 
made for his ordination and permanent settle- 
ment, to which proposition there was strong 
objection made on the ground that not having 
been identified with the church by member- 
ship he could not be legally qualified for or 
elected to so holy an ofifice. This led to seri- 
ous trouble, lawsuits and an appeal to the gen- 
eral court. Finally he removed to Lynn, 
where October 6, 1680. he was ordained as 
the successor of Rev. Samuel Whiting, with 
Joseph Whiting, son of Rev. Samuel, as 
teacher. In this church he labored with great 
acceptance for forty years. His temperament 
was in strong contrast to his fatlier and 
brothers. He was impetuous and impatient. 
His sermons were full of melancholy, por- 
traying in dark shadows always the hideous 
side of humanity. Newhall says "He was one 
of those plain, honest men who adorn their 
station by spotless purity of character, and he 
left a name to which no one can anne.x an 
anecdote of mirth and which no one attempts 
to sully by a breath of evil." In 1689 he was 
chosen representative for Lynn. He married 
Mary, born 1667, died March 28, 1710, 
daughter of Francis (2) and Philippa Wain- 
wright, of Ipswich, who bore him ten chil- 
dren. 

(IV) Nathaniel, son of Rev. Jeremiah and 
Mary (Wainwright) Shepard, was born in 
Lynn, Massachusetts, June 16, 1681, died in 
Boston, November 30, 1728. He was a saddler 
and made several changes of residence. He 



286 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



married. May 5, 1703. Elizabeth, born in Ips- 
wich, August 7, 1681, daughter of Thomas 
and EHzabeth (Cogswell) Wade, of Ipswich. 
Thomas Wade was one of the most promi- 
nent men of that town. He was town clerk, 
justice of the court of general sessions, cap- 
tain of a military company, and colonel of 
the Middle Essex Regiment, with authority to 
call out his men against the French and In- 
dians as occasion might require. Nathaniel 
and Elizabeth (Wade) Shepard were the par- 
ents of eight children. 

(V) Thomas (2). son of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth (Wade) Shepard. was baptized in 
the Second Church, Boston, September 18, 
1709. He was an inn holder. He married 
(first) January 16, 1735, Hannah Bolter, of 
Boston; (second) October i, 1747, Susanna, 
widow of Joseph Hood, and daughter of 
Richard and Elizabeth (Orms) Pike, baptized 
in First Church, Salem, May 17, 17 19, died 
prior to December 8, 1759. She survived him 
and married (second) John Wright, of Bos- 
ton. By his first wife Thomas Shepard had 
five children : by second wife three. 

(VI) Jeremiah (2), youngest son of Thom- 
as (2) and Susanna (Pike) (Hood) Shepard, 
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 175 1, died 
August II, 1817. He removed early to Salem, 
where he was a hat manufacturer, and in 1802 
was in the grocery business. He married, 
January i, 1775. Elizabeth, born in Salem, 
Massachusetts, September 15, 1747, died Sep- 
tember, 1830, daughter of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth (Saunders) Webb. They had eight chil- 
dren. 

(\TI) Stephen Webb, youngest child of 
Jeremiah (2) and Elizabeth (Webb) Shep- 
ard, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1790, died December 6, 1856. He 
married (first) September 5, 1813, Elizabeth 
Rea, born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 
14, 1792, died February, 1820. He married 
(second) Ajjril 12, 1821, Elizabeth Tucker 
Mansfield, born April 8, 1799. died December 
31, 1873. By his first wife he had children: 
Stephen Osgood, of later mention ; Sarah Rea, 
married Captain Daniel H. Mansfield; Edward 
Wheelock, died aged twenty-six years. Chil- 
dren by second wife: Daniel Mansfield, born 
April 12, 1822: Elizabeth Tucker, died aged 
sixteen years: Ruth Webl), born .April 11, 
1825; Martha Tucker, April 6, 1827; Michael, 
May 5, 1831. 

(VIII) Stephen Osgood, son of Stephen 
Webb and I'-lizabeth (Rea) Shepard, was born 
at Salem, Massachusetts, August 14, 1816, 
died at Albany, New York, March 2, 1897. 
He was a prominent lawyer of Albany and 
interested in many business enterprises. He 



married, in 1847, Lucinda, daughter of Fred- 
erick W. Harris, of Preble, Cortland county,. 
New York (see Harris). Children: Osgood 
H., see forward; John Rathboen, born De- 
cember 9, 1850, at Albany, New York ; edu- 
cated at the Boys Academy, and until i880' 
prominently identified with the lumber in- 
dustry as a dealer; in 1900 he removed his 
residence to Ballston Spa, New York ; he is 
a member of several clubs, among them being 
the Utopian, of Ballston; he is a Republican 
in politics. 

(IX) Osgood H., eldest son of Stephen Os- 
good and Lucinda (Harris) Shepard, was 
born in Albany. New York, October 26, 1848. 
His early and preparatory education was ob- 
tained at the Boys Academy, Albany, after" 
which he entered Brown Laiiversity. where 
he was graduated A.B., class of 1869. He 
decided upon the profession of law, and en- 
tered Albany Law School, where he was 
graduated LL.B., class of 187 1. He is a suc- 
cessful and well-known practitioner, now a 
resident of Ballston Spa, New York. His- 
college fraternity is Chi Psi ; his clubs, the 
Fort Orange of Albany, Troy of Troy. Sara- 
toga Golf of Saratoga Springs, and the Uto- 
pian of Ballston Spa. 

(The Harris Line). 

Lucinda (Harris) Shepard, mother of Os- 
good H. Shepard, was a daughter of Fred- 
erick Waterman and Lucy (Hamilton) Har- 
ris. Frederick W. Harris was a farmer of 
Charleston, Montgomery county. New York. 
In 1808 he removed to Cortland county. New 
York, and settled in the town of Preble, where 
he became a prosperous farmer and one of 
the large land owners of the county. His 
daughter Lucinda married Stephen Osgood" 
Shepard, and his two sons became distin- 
guished lawyers and prominent public men of 
Albany, New York. 

Judge Ira Harris, the elder of the sons of 
Frederick Waterman Harris, was born ia- 
Charleston, Montgomery county. New York, 
May 31, 1802, and removed with his parents 
in 1808 to Cortland county. He was edu-- 
cated at Homer Academy, and in September, 
1822, entered the junior class in Union Col- 
lege, whence he was graduated in 1824. He- 
at once began the study of law ; first in 
Homer, then with Judge Ambrose Spencer, of 
Albany. He was admitted to the bar in 1827,- 
and formed a partnershi]) with Salem Dutcher, 
of Albany, that existed until 1842. He then- 
associated with Julius Rhoades. In 1844 he- 
was elected to the assembly from Albany- 
county, and re-elected in 1845. In 1846 he- 
was a delegate to the constitutional convene- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



287 



tion, and elected to the state senate, resigning 
after having been elected a justice of the 
supreme court, serving in tliat high judicial 
office twelve years. In 1861 he was elected 
United States senator from New York in 
opposition to Horace Greeley and William M. 
Evarts. He became the intimate and trusted 
friend of President Lincoln, and at the end 
of his term retired to private life, having won 
the distinction of being a wise, useful Amer- 
ican statesman. He was connected with Al- 
bany Law School from its organization in 
1850, and lectured to the students as duty 
permitted. He now accepted the call to the 
chair of equity jurisprudence, and devoting 
himself to that work until his death, Decem- 
ber 2, 1852. He was president of the board 
of trustees of Union College : president of 
Albany Medical College ; trustee of Vassar 
College ; one of the founders of Rochester 
University ; its first and only chancellor ; 
deacon of Emmanuel Church of Albany, and 
president of the American Baptist Missionary 
Union. He left a widow, two sons and four 
daughters. Colonel William Hamilton Har- 
ris, the eldest son, served thirteen years in the 
United States army as captain. Ira Harris, 
the youngest son, served ten years in the 
United States navy. 

Hamilton Harris, youngest of the two sons 
of Frederick Waterman Harris, was born in 
the town of Preble, Cortland county. New 
York, May i, 1820. He was educated at 
I Homer Academy, Albany Academy, and en- 
tered Union College, graduating in 1841. He 
entered the office of his brother, Judge Ira 
Harris, where he prepared for the profession 
, of law, being admitted to the bar in 1845. He 
I began practice in Albany, and formed a part- 
i nership with Hooper C. \'an Vorst, in 1848, 
which existed until 1853. Later he was asso- 
ciated with Samuel G. Courtney, and in 1857 
, became a partner with Clark B. Cochrane and 
( John H. Reynolds, which continued until 
! severed by the deaths of his partners. Later 
i he admitted his son, Frederick Harris, and 
' William P. Rudd. In 1853 he was elected 
district attorney of Albany county, serving 
with great honor until January i, 1857. He 
was the chief attorney for Judge Westbrook, 
who was tried for malfeasana in office on 
charges presented by Governor Roosevelt. 
Judge Westbrook was acquitted and the press 
of the day of both parties favorably remarked 
upon Mr. Harris' argument in vindication of 
his client. He was prominent in politics : was 
one of the founders of the Republican party ; 
was chairman of state executive committee ; 
member of the assembly : state senator 1875, 
re-elected 1877 ; president of the board of 



capitol commissions, and is called the "Father" 
of the measure providing for the erection of 
the new state capitol. He was a most elo 
quent and convincing speaker, was of fine 
literary tastes, his home abounding in the 
best books, a strong friend of higher popular 
education, and was regent of the University 
of the State of New York. He married, in 
1850, in Bufifalo, Lucy Moody Rogers. Their 
son Frederick became his father's law part- 
ner. They had an only daughter, Lucy Ham- 
ilton Harris. 



An examination of the records 
PEDDIE and registers in Prince street, 
Edinburg, Scotland, reveal some . 
interesting facts concerning the Peddie fam- 
ily whose descendants are many and promi- 
nent in the United States. The records show 
that they are an ancient Scottish family whcv 
were formerly called McDougald : that they 
rebelled against state authority : that they 
possessed a claim to noble blood and had a 
coat-of-arms granted them, and other inter- 
esting facts. Tradition says the name was 
changed to Peddie to avoid banishment from 
Scotland for their rebellious acts against the 
laws that oppressed them. In the United 
States a notable member of the family was 
Hon. Thomas B. Peddie, whose monument in 
the city of Newark, New Jersey, is Peddie 
Memorial Baptist Church on Broad street, one 
of the most magnificent churches in that city. 
.Another prominent representative of the fam- 
ily is Rev. John Peddie. of Philadelphia. Penn- 
sylvania. These families trace from the same 
ancestry as the Peddies of Montgomery- 
county, New York. The family was founded 
in the Mohawk Valley after the revolution 
and the first settlement made in the town of 
Perth, Fulton county, where the Scotch emi- 
grants sought the rough and heavily timbered 
lands rather than the meadow land along the 
streams that attracted the Dutch to the town 
of Palatine. Montgomery county. .Amid the 
surroundings more in keeping w'ith the soil 
and conditions of the land they had left the 
Scotch emigrants throve and prospered and 
left a posterity that are the hardy, substan- 
tial citizens of that locality. Among the emi- 
grants to Perth was William Peddie, the 
founder. 

( I ) \\'illiam Peddie was born in Perthshire, 
Scotland, about 1767. He grew up in his 
native shire, where he married Nelly Mc- 
Intyre, of an old Perth county family. Shortly 
after their marriage they joined the tide of 
emigration that w'as even then beginning to 
flow to the United States, wdiose independence 
recently gained was the talk and wonder of 



288 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the whole Eastern world. They came on a 
slow sailing vessel with other Scotch emi- 
grants and settled in Fulton county, New 
York, where they named their home in the 
New World— Perth — after the Scotch home 
they had left. William and his wife pos- 
sessed those admirable Scotch traits, industry 
and frugality, therefore it is not strange that 
they soon had a home on a cleared farm to 
which each year a new field was added, liter- 
ally "wrested from the wilderness." They 
lived to be old people and to see their three 
sons and two daughters settled in homes of 
their own. Children: i. James, studied law 
after a boy and youthful manhood passed on 
. the farm. He became a well-known and 
prosperous lawyer of Palmyra, New York, 
where he died unmarried in 1892, at the age 
of seventy-eight years. 2. Duncan, who left 
the farm and settled in New York City, where 
he was superintendent of the Crystal Palace 
during the exhibition held there and after- 
wards. He married and left a daughter Liz- 
zie, now married. 3. Eliza, born as early as 
1820 ; married William Fisher, and died with- 
out issue. 4. Helen, died unmarried, at the 
age of eighty-nine years. 5. Daniel, see for- 
ward. 

(H) Daniel, son of Wilham Peddie, was 
born on the Perth homestead farm in Fulton 
county, in 1822, died in April, 1896, is buried 
with others of the family in Perth cemetery. 
He was of the same industrious, thrifty habits 
as his ancestors and was known as a good 
and just man. He followed the soil all his 
years and accumulated a goodly estate. He 
married (first) Mary Barker, daughter of 
parents who were members of the Society of 
Friends who had made a settlement of mem- 
bers of that faith at Granville. Mary Barker 
was reared to the faith and always dressed 
"plain," until the day of her marriage, when 
she laid aside the outward garb of her re- 
ligion, but the admirable traits of the Quaker 
character were always hers. She died at the 
early age of twenty-nine, in 1866. Children: 
I. Dr. William J., see forward. 2. Ella Jean- 
nette, born in i860; married George Nash, of 
the leather firm of Lynk & Nash, Albany, 
New York : child, Lydia, wife of Francis Hol- 
lister, an electrician of Schenectady, New 
York. 3. Charles, born in 1868 ; graduate 
pharmacist of Glens Falls, New York, mem- 
ber of the drug firm of Leggett & Peddie ; 
married Jeannette MacFarland ; child, Roy. 
Daniel Peddie married (second) Mary F. 
Lent, who survives him. Children of second 
marriage: 4. Edgar L., a sketch of whom 
follows. 5. Sydney Fisher, born 1871 ; fore- 
man of a knitting mill department in Amster- 



dam ; married Freelove Sprung, of Amster- 
dam ; children : Edgar C, Roy, Gladys and 
Ethel. 6. Holley ^Marvin, born December 24, 
1874 ; married Sarah Welch, of Waterville, 
New York. 

(HI) Dr. William J., eldest son of Daniel 
and Mary (Barker) Peddie, was born Jan- 
uary 7, 1858. He was reared on the farm in 
Perth, where he remained until after the 
death of his mother and his father's second 
marriage. He was ambitious and desired to 
become a physician. He entered Amsterdam 
Academy, where he completed his academical 
studies. He made the acquaintance of Dr. 
Albert Vander \'eer, of Albany, who, learning 
the boy's ambition and limited means, became 
very much interested in him. He gave him 
an introduction to Hon. Webster Wagner, 
then state senator, who was so impressed with 
his earnestness and determination to win his 
profession that he stood security for his edu- 
cation at the Albany Medical College, from 
which he was graduated Doctor of Medicine 
in March, 1882. He never forgot the kind- 
ness of Senator Wagner, whom he reimbursed 
for the money expended on his education, and 
always retained as his friend. On the advice 
of Dr. \'ander \'eer. Dr. Peddie located his 
office in Fultonville, where he began his won- 
derfully successful professional career that 
continues to the present day. His skill is 
well known to a large clientele. 

Dr. Peddie married (first) in Albany, New 
York. April 26, 1883, Ella Gardner, born in 
1864, died November 13, 1885. He married 
(second) in Perth Center, New York, Carrie 
Mclntyre, born in Perth, October, 1868, 
daughter of John D. and Sarah (Ferguson) . 
Mclntyre. born in Perth, of Scotch ancestors 
who settled in the county one hundred and 
fifty years ago, with the first Scotch settlers 
from Perth. The Mclntyre family have al- 
ways been represented in the county, where 
they are prominent and numerous. Carrie 
Mclntyre was educated at Amsterdam and 
later at Utica Academy, taking special courses 
in music. Dr. and Mrs. Peddie are prominent 
in the social and public life of the village, 
where he has always taken a special interest 
in local aflfairs. He has served as village 
president and member for several years of 
the board of education. He is a member of 
the .American Medical .Association : the State 
Medical Society, and the .Amsterdam Medical 
Club. He has been L^nited States pension ex- 
aminer for sixteen years, and for several 
years coroner of Montgomery county. He is 
a Republican politically. He is past master 
of Fultonville Lodge, Free and .Accepted 
Masons ; member of Johnstown Chapter, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



289 



Royal Arch Masons: Lenton Lodge, Knights 
of Pythias ; Fonda Lodge, Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows, and of the Red Men. 

Child of first wife : Burton G., graduate of 
Troy Business College and an expert machin- 
ist, residing in Cohoes, New York, married 
Catherine Lent, and has a son, Lewis W. 
Children of second wife: Jay Mclntyre, born 
December 12, 1887, graduate of the Business 
College, now department city clerk of Glovers- 
ville. New York; Edith, born June 26, 1889, 
married, September 22, 1910, Jessie R. Rick- 
ard, of Schenectady, of the firm of J. Rickard 
& Co., wholesale and retail dealers in sport- 
ing goods, Schenectady ; Harold C, born 
1891, died at the age of four years; Don- 
ald D., born June, 1897. 

(in) Edgar Lent, son of Daniel and ]\lary 
F. (Lent) Peddie, was born in Broadalbin, 
Fulton county, New York, December 21, 
i'869. He was educated in the public schools, 
and after completing his education was taken 
into his father's store, where he remained for 
three years ; then was employed in a knitting 
mill for four years, followed by a year in the 
Cloversville Glove Factory and two years in 
the Amsterdam Knitting Mills. He finally 
settled in Cohoes, where he entered the em- 
ploy of the Victor ]\Iills Company, where he 
is foreman of a department. Since coming to 
Cohoes he has been active in the Republican 
party organization, and in 1900 was elected 
alderman from the sixth ward. His course in 
■council received the endorsement of his ward 
and he was four times re-elected, serving eight 
jears. In 1909 he was elected from the sixth 
■ward as their representative on the board of 
supervisors. He was chosen leader of the 
first district, sixth ward, in 1905, at the prim- 
ary elections, and still continues the choice of 
"his district. He served in the common coun- 
•cil of Cohoes with great ability, and was chair- 
man of the committee on streets for seven 
years and member of the finance, jjoor, lamps 
and gas, sidewalks and parks committees. He 
attends the Presbyterian church, but is not 
actively connected with it. He is a member 
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
Knights of Pythias, Cascade Hose Company, 
No. 3, and the East Side Social Club. Mr. 
Peddie married. May 14, 1895, ^Mary Led- 
"with, born in Crescent, Saratoga county, New 
York, daughter of Michael and Katherine 
(Kane) Ledwilh. natives of Ireland. Michael 
Ledwith was engaged in the stone quarry 
"business with his father, resigning to enter 
the employ of the state in canal work ; he was 
an active Republican ; he died June 23. 1908. 
Children of Edgar Lent and Mary (Ledwith) 
Peddie: Alma H. and Alice M. 



The Troy, New York, family 
MURPHY of Murphy, whose record fol- 
lows, was founded in that city 
by Edward Murphy, a native of Ireland. He 
came to the United States by way of Canada 
in 1832, located in Troy in 1833, where he 
established a brewery and prospered. He was 
a Democrat in politics and a member of the 
Roman Catholic church. He married, in Ire- 
land, Mary Murphy, lx)rn in Queens county, 
died in Troy, New York. Children : Two 
who died in infancy; Edward (2), see for- 
ward. 

(II) Edward (2), son of Edward (i) and 
Mary (Murphy) Murphy, was born in Troy, 
New York, December 15, 1834. He was 
early educated in the Troy schools, entered 
St. John's College, Fordham, New York, 
where he was graduated, class of 1859. 
Returning to Troy from college, he became 
his father's business assistant and was of 
great value to the enterprise not yet well 
established. After several years his father 
retired and Edward (2) entered into a part- 
nership with William Kennedy (also a brew- 
er) and established the firm of Kennedy & 
IMtn-phy, later the Kennedy, ]\Iurphy Malting 
Company, of which Mr. Murphy was vice- 
president and treasurer. The company became 
one of the large concerns of Troy and did 
an extensive business, and Mr. Murphy re- 
tained an active interest in the company until 
1903. His outside business interests have 
been important. In 1889 several small gas 
companies of Troy and vicinity consolidated. 
He was chosen the first president of the new 
corporation — the Troy Gas Company — and 
continues in that ofifice. He is vice-president 
of the Manufacturers' National Bank, with 
which he has been connected officially since 
its establishment as a national bank. He is 
heavily interested in real estate and in Troy 
improved and unimproved property. His es- 
tate at Elberon, New Jersey, is situated di- 
rectly on the ocean front and has been his 
summer home since 1875. 

He entered public political life at an early 
age. When but twenty-five he was a dele- 
gate to the Democratic state convention that 
nominated William Kelly for governor, and 
was a delegate to most of his party conven- 
tions ever afterward until the retirement from 
active public life. His political career was 
one of unbroken success, and he served his 
city and state well. In 1864 he was elected 
a member of the board of aldermen of Troy, 
serving in that body continuously until 1874, 
when he was elected fire commissioner. He 
had always been interested in that department 
and was a member of one of the volunteer 



290 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



fire companies. In 1875 he was elected mayor 
of Troy and re-elected in 1877-79-81. He was 
again nominated, but declined a fifth term. 
In the mayor's chair he gained a reputation 
for wise executive ability and courage that 
was fairly earned. Under him the new city 
hall was built at a cost of $18,000, without 
the appropriation. He gave the city a good 
system of granite pavement, improved the 
water supply, and left the city a smaller bond- 
ed indebtedness than any city of similar size 
in the United States. When he took ofiice 
the bonds of the city were below par. When 
he retired from office they were at a premium. 
During the eight years he served as mayor 
he did not draw his salary of $2,000 for him- 
self, but at Christmas time distributed it among 
the charitable institutions of Troy, regardless 
of creed. While mayor he came to the res- 
cue of a leading bank of Troy and saved it 
from ruin. During his absence from the city 
a run was started on the Manufacturers' Bank 
and he was telegraphed to return. By pledg- 
ing his private fortune in addition to the se- 
curities the bank had, and aided by his friends, 
George P. Ide and William Earl, the collar 
manufacturers, he obtained a quarter of a mil- 
lion dollars from the other banks. He carried 
in this vast sum and deposited it in sight of 
the frightened depositors, who were convinced 
that their deposits were safe, stopped the run 
and saved the bank. He also showed the 
quality of his physical courage during his 
term of ofiice. Rensselaer county had in its 
population a large body of Protestant and 
Catholic Irishmen. As far back as 1840 these 
two bodies often clashed over the Orange 
parades, and for years there had been none. 
In 1876, the year of the Nation's Centennial, 
it was decided to have an Orange parade. 
The Catholic body withdrew from the pro- 
posed centennial parade, and threats were 
made that there would be bloodshed if the 
Orangemen persisted in marching. Ordering 
out the entire police force. Mayor Murphy 
placed himself at their head and in command 
led the Orange line. Neither insult nor out- 
rage was offered the paraders. He was a 
member of the New York delegation to many 
national Democratic conventions. He was an 
ardent supporter of Samuel J. Tilden in the 
warfare upon the celebrated "Canal Ring," 
and was a delegate to the St. Louis conven- 
tion that nominated Mr. Tilden for president. 
In 1880 he was a delegate to the National 
Democratic convention that nominated Gen- 
eral Winfield S. Hancock for president, al- 
though Mr. Murphy favored the nomination 
of Samuel J. Tilden, whom he believed had 
been defrauded of the presidential chair by 



the electoral commission who awarded it to 
Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1882, in the state 
convention, he was in favor first of Erastus 
Corning for governor, but later cast his vote 
for the Rensselaer county delegation for 
Grover Cleveland, which completed his ma- 
jority in the convention, his nomination being 
at once announced. At the convention of 
1884 he favored Roswell P. Flower for presi- 
dent. In 1888 at the St. Louis National Con- 
vention he supported President Cleveland for 
renomination. In 1892 he was one of the 
four delegates-at-large from New York to 
the National Convention which met at Chi- 
cago. He favored the nomination of David 
B. Hill, but acquiesced loyally in the nomina- 
tion of ex-President Cleveland. In 1887 he 
became chairman of the Democratic state 
committee and held that office until 1894. In 
1887, when he became chairman, both branches 
of the New York legislature were Republican. 
After his taking the reins this party never 
elected its candidates on the state ticket and' 
when he retired both branches of the legis- 
lature were Democratic. This exemplifies his 
skill as a political leader in a most remark- 
able manner. In 1892, when it was found 
the Democratic party would have a majority 
in the legislature, a general demand arose in 
the party in favor of the election of Mr. 
Murphy to succeed Frank Hiscock as United 
States senator from New York. In the caucus 
following the assembling of the legislature 
Mr. Murphy was chosen, elected by the joint 
session and took his seat as United States 
senator at the extra session of congress in 
March, 1893. In addition to membership on 
other committees he was chairman of com- 
mittee on relations with Canada. His term 
expired in 1899, when he returned to Troy^ 
retired from active political life and devoted 
himself to his business affairs, never, how- 
ever, losing his interest in politics, retaining^ 
his influence and ix)pularity to the present 
day. He is now (191 1) a resident of Troy, 
alert, active and as full of courage and de- 
termination as of yore. He is a member of 
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church and of 
various social clubs and organizations of 
Troy, .\lbany and New York City. His ca- 
reer as a public man deserves commendation.. 
As a citizen he has been true to his obliga- 
tions, and as a friend and neighbor he is-| 
kindly, courteous, generous and sympathetic I 
A characteristic trait that has shone forth , 
in every station he has filled is a scrupulous . 
regard for his given word, "always keeping 
his promises." 

He married, in Troy, Julia Delehanty,. 
daughter of one of Albany's prominent mer- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



291 



chants and public men, Michael Delehanty, 
who was born in Ireland, was a wholesale 
dealer in stoves and house furnishing goods 
in Albany, active in public affairs, superin- 
tendent of public buildings of the state of 
New York under Governor Roswell P. Flow- 
er. He married i\Iary Quinn, born in Albany 
in 1823, died 1907. They had eleven chil- 
dren, of whom Julia was the eldest. Children 
of Edward and Julia (Delehanty) Murphy: 
I. Mary, born March 21, 1868, died 1892; 
graduate of Sacred Heart Convent, Ken- 
wood, New York. 2. Edward, born in Troy, 
April 13, 1870; educated at Troy Academy; 
was graduated from Georgetown University, 
Washington, D. C, A.B., 1890; Albany Law 
School (Union University) LL.B., 1892: ad- 
mitted to the bar 1892; began practice in 
Troy as member of the firm of Shaw, Bailey 
& Murphy, general legal practitioners ; he is 
a director of the Manufacturers' National 
Bank, and of the Security Safe Deposit Com- 
pany, both of Troy ; he served in the New 
York National Guard, 1890- 1900. In 1898 
he enlisted for the war against Spain and 
served in the Phillipines in Company A, Sec- 
ond Regiment New York Infantry ; was ap- 
pointed captain and assistant adjutant-general, 
May 25, 1898, served until 1899, mustered out 
January 16. 1899; '^^ is an active Democrat; a 
member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic 
Church, the Troy Pafraet Dael, Saratoga 
Turf. St. Bernard Fish and Game clubs, of 
Alexis Du Mont, Canada. He married, June 
7, 1899, at Albany, New York, Helen, daugh- 
ter of Henry Townsend and Lydia (Lush) 
Martin; one child, Helen (2). 3. Julia, grad- 
uate of Sacred Heart Convent ; married Hugh 
J. Grant, of New York City ; children : Julia, 
Edna, Hugh J. (2). Hon. Hugh J. Grant, 
a prominent lawyer and politician, was born 
1855, graduate of Manhattan College, 1871 : 
Columbia Law School LL.B., 1877; practiced 
law and operated extensively in real estate ; 
received Democratic nomination for alderman 
of nineteenth district. New York City, 1882, 
and was elected ; re-elected in 1883 to the 
"Boodle Board,"' where his straightforward 
and honorable course was in marked contrast 
to the crooked acts of most of his fellow 
members, whom he was largely instrumental 
in exposing and punishing ; nominated for 
mayor of New York, 1884, but was defeated 
by William R. Grace in a close contest ; nomi- 
nated for sheriff in 1885 and elected ; nomi- 
nated for mayor, 1888. and elected ; re-elected 
1890; nominated for third term, but was de- 
feated by William L. Strong ; since retiring 
from the mayor's office devoted his attention 
to management of his large real estate in- 



terests ; served as receiver of the St. Nicholas 
Bank, Brooklyn Wharf and Warehouse Com- 
pany, and Third Avenue Railroad ; he is now 
deceased. 4. William E., born May 4, 1874; 
educated at Georgetown University ; not in 
active business ; is a great traveler. 5. John 
J., born 1876; president and treasurer of 
Murphy Construction Company, New York 
City. 6. Joseph J., twin of John J. ; treasurer 
of United Waste Manufacturing Company of 
Troy; president of National Textile I^Ianu- 
facturing Company of Troy and Cohoes ; 
treasurer of Hudson River Terminal Ware- 
house Company of Troy. 7. Jane Lodge, 
graduate of Sacred Heart Convent. 8. Rich- 
ard C, born 1880; educated at Georgetown 
University ; dry goods commission merchant 
of New York City ; married Elizabeth War- 
ren, daughter of Isaac McConihe, a noted 
political leader of Troy ; prior to Mr. Mur- 
phy was mayor of the city ; one child, Eliza- 
beth. 9. Helen, educated at Sacred Heart 
Academy. 



This family is of English descent 
CASS and is found in the records of New 

England at as early a date as 1644. 
Joseph Cass, son of the founder, was the 
grandfather of Hon. Lewis Cass, general in 
the United States army, secretary of war 
under President Jackson, governor of Michi- 
gan ; minister to France, and secretary of 
state under President Buchanan. The fam- 
ily in Albany are also lineal descendants of 
John and Joseph Cass. 

( I ) John Cass emigrated to America and 
settled at Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1644; 
best evidence proves that he came from St. 
Albans, England. He was a farmer, planter, 
herdsman, selectman. Died at Hampton, New 
Hampshire, April 7, 1675. He married Mar- 
tha Philbrick, born in England in 1633, who 
bore him eight children: i. Martha, born Oc- 
tober 4, 1649; rnarried John Redman. 2. Jo- 
seph, mentioned below. 3. Samuel, born July 
13, 1659; married Mercy Sanborn. 4. Jona- 
than, born September 13, 1663. 5. Elizabeth. 
6. Mercy. 7. Ebenezer. 8. Abigail. Martha 
Philbrick was the seventh child of Thomas 
and Elizabeth Philbrick (or Philbrook), who 
came from England in 1630. 

( II) Joseph, son of John and Martha (Phil- 
brick) Cass, was born October 5, 1656. He 
was of Exeter, New Hampshire. He mar- 
ried (first) Mary, daughter of Morris Hobbs ; 
(second) a widow. Airs. Elizabeth Chase, 
daughter of Henry Green. Children, first 
four by first wife: i. John, born August 21, 
1680, died young. 2. Joseph (2), died at the 
age of two years. 3. Mary, born February 26, 



292 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



1687; married Ichabod Robie. 4. John, born 
August 19, 1689. 5. Joel, mentioned below. 

(HI) Joel, only child of Joseph and his 
second wife, Elizabeth (Chase) Cass, was born 
in 1723. He removed from New Hampshire 
at an early date and was one of the pioneer 
settlers of Otsego county. New York. He 
was of the town of Decatur, that county. He 
married and among his children was a son 
Elkanah. 

(IV) Elkanah, son of Joel Cass, was born 
March 5, 1771, died May 12, 1813. He mar- 
ried Sarah Thurber, born March 13, 1770, 
died November 28, 1846. Children: i. Lu- 
vina, born November 7, 1790, died September 

20, 1830; married Clark. 2. Sally, 

born April 28, 1792, died February 21, 1830; 

married Houck. 3. Levi, see forward. 

4. Benjamin, born September 18, 1795, died 
February i, 1832. 5. Mary, born June 25. 
1798. 6. Samuel, born INIarch 4, 1802, died 
October 28, 1868; married, December 14, 
1822, Lois Boardman. 7. Joseph, born March 
23, 1804, died October i, 1839. 8. Rachel, 
born August 8, 1809, died June i, 1838; 
married Finch. 

(V) Levi, son of Elkanah and Sarah 
(Thurber) Cass, was born in Decatur, Otsego 
county. New York, September 12, 1793, died 
February 28, 1832. He married Martha 
Shaw, born July 21, 1797, died April 4, 1867. 
Children: i. Lilbern Allen; see forward. 2. 
Mary Ann, born December 5, 1819; married, 
February 12, 1843, Matthew Kniskern. 3. 
Marinda, born June 27, 1822, died September 
4, 1892 ; married Matthew Ward. 4. Lavan- 
tia, born May 4, 1824, died March 19, 1885 ; 
married Cornelius Pitcher. 5. Matilda, born 
May 13, 1826; married Jacob Livingston. 6. 
Levi (2d), see forward. 7. Amos Alden, see 
forward. 

(VI) Lilbern Allen, eldest child of Levi 
and Martha (Shaw) Cass, was born Decem- 
ber 12, 1816, at Decatur, Otsego county, New 
York, died November 9, 1865. Upon the 
death of his father he found himself at the age 
of sixteen the mainstay of his mother with 
her seven children, aged from sixteen to two 
years. He shirked no responsibility, but went 
manfully to work, cultivating the farm in 
summer and teaching school in winter, and by 
studious application to the few books he was 
able to purchase, he became the leading edu- 
cator of his time in the county. He was for 
many years one of the county commissioners 
of schools for his native county. He was 
deeply interested in religious work, a lay 
preacher of great force and ability, and for 
many years a deacon in the First Baptist 
Church of Worcester. He was one of the 



foremost citizens of the county. His services 
as a speaker were ever in demand at educa- 
tional and religious gatherings. In politics 
he was a Democrat. He married, June 27, 
1838, at Cobleskill, New York, Sarah ^lac- 
Donald, born October 5, 1817, died Novem- 
ber 6, 1863. Children: i. Ploratio G., born 
March 18, 1841 ; married (first) February 8, 
1866, ;\Iary J. Babcock ; one child, Carlton 
B., born July 9, 1867. He married (sec- 
ond) Mary A. Rowland. 2. Monroe, born 
July 10, 1843 ; married, June 9, 1863, Julia 
Richmond. 3. Orsamus W., born February 
9, 1846; married. March 12, 1867, Mary J. 
Crippen : children : Clarence D., born Octo- 
ber 29, 1868, Melvin J., June 20, 1870, H. 
Deverre, February 16, 1872, Florence E. 4. 
\'olney, born February 27, 1848; married, 
October 7, 1885, Lillian E. Fulkerson ; daugh- 
ter Edith, born September 27, 1886. 5. 
Thaddeus G., see forward. 6. Lewis, see 
forward. 7. Frances P., born September 5, 
1856: married, June 12, 1878, Joseph W. 
Cowell ; children : i. Walter A., born April 5, 
1879, married Violet A. Parrish, and has 
daughter, Ruth Frances : ii. Thaddeus G.. born 
May 4, 1881 ; iii. Grace M., born April 30, 
1884. 8. Levi, born October 9, i860; mar- 
ried Ada Griffin, and has daughter Helen 
Rose, born April 15, 1900. 

(VII) Thaddeus G., son of Lilbern Allen 
and Sarah (MacDonald) Cass, was born No- 
vember 17, 1850. He was educated in the 
public schools of Otsego. In 1870 he became 
a partner in the mercantile business with his 
brother. The call to the ministry came too 
strong to be resisted, and he sold out his in- 
terest and took up the studies for his life 
work. He graduated from Colgate Academy 
in 1874 and Colgate University in 1880. His 
first charge was at Maiden, Massachusetts, 
his last in Olean, New York. During the 
twenty-six years of his ministerial life he 
filled some of the best pulpits in New Hamp- 
shire and New York states. An eloquent 
speaker and a deep thinker, his services and 
advice were sought for by denominational 
leaders at state and national conventions. 
Failing health of a member of his family 
obliged him to change climate. He is now 
the proprietor of an e.xtensive fruit plantation 
in Porto Rico, and at the same time engaged 
in evangelistic work. He married, June 25, 
1878, Cornelia Swart; children: Helen Eaton 
and Thaddeus G. (2d.) 

(\TI) Lewis, son of Lilbern Allen and Sa- 
rah (MacDonald) Cass, was born at Decatur, 
Otsego county. New York, December 30, 
1853. He was educated in the public schools; 
.Albany State Normal School, class of 1871 j 



i 



/<^l ^ds. 



ar* 




<^^ i>Z-^c^ ^-^ '■ 



^^^<:^-<^ 




"^/(ij. 5^ ^« 



HUDSON AND :\IOHAWK VALLEYS 



293 



Colgate Academy, Hamilton, New York, class 
of 1874; entered Union College in the class 
of 1878. These years of study were prepara- 
tory to that of the law. His reading was with 
Smith. Bancroft & Aloak, an eminent legal 
firm of Albany, and he was admitted to the 
bar in 1880. In January, 1881, he opened an 
office, and began the pratice of his profession, 
which he has continued with marked success 
to the present time. For years he was as- 
sociated in practice with the late Judge Clute, 
county judge of Albany county. He is a law- 
yer of high standing, well versed in the law, 
a wise and safe counselor. He has had a 
leading connection with many of the most im- 
portant cases before the different courts of 
the city, county and state, notably the "Trum- 
bull will case'' in Albany county, and The Peo- 
ple ex rcl. vs. The Hudson & Manhattan Rail- 
road Company. He was assigned by Attorney 
General Jackson (a Democrat) to represent 
the state board of tax commissioners, and his 
services were so satisfactory that he was re- 
tained by the Republican attorney general, 
Mr. O'Malley ; the sum at issue was $6,900,- 
000, and many intricate questions of law were 
involved. Mr. Cass was attorney for the state 
dairy commission, and for seven years for the 
agricultural commission of the state, also for 
the State ^'eterinary Medical Society. He 
has labored industriously and efficiently for 
municipal improvements, and advocated the 
construction of Beaver Park in Albany as 
much needed improvement on the South Side. 
He is a well known public speaker and lec- 
turer, and has been much in demand on bnth 
platform and stump. His early farm life im- 
planted in him a love of the beauties and won- 
ders of nature, which still abides, and is mani- 
fested in his interest in flowers and their cul- 
ture. Plis carefully selected library shows his 
wide range of reading, and e.\])lains his versa- 
tility of mind and familiar acquaintance with 
the world's choicest literature. A lifelong 
Democrat and keenly alive to his re- 
sponsibilities as a citizen, his services as 
a speaker have been of great value to 
his party, are in frequent demand, and 
cheerfully rendered. He is a member 
of the l-jumanuel Baptist Church of Al- 
bany, a Knight of Pythias, and a Knight of 
Malta. He married, February 3, 1886, Kate, 
daughter of Judge Judson S. and Emily 
(Pierce) Landon, of Schenectady, New York. 
(See Landon.) Children: i. Frances Lan- 
don, born August 20, 1890, died December 7, 
1894. 2. Helen Landon, Ixirn December 20, 
1897. 3- Allan Landon, born November 7, 
1900. 

(VI) Levi (2), son of Levi (i) and Mar- 



tha (Shaw) Cass, was born in Decatur, Ot- 
sego county. New York, February i, 1828. He 
received his early education in the ]niblic 
schools of Decatur, his academic course in 
the Cherry Valley Academy, and prepared at 
the Albany State Normal School for what 
was to be his life work. He devoted his en- 
tire life to the training of the young, and as 
an earnest and faithful educator will forever 
live in the educational history of Albany, and 
in the hearts and lives of the thousands who 
have passed through the schools over which 
he presided. His professional career began 
in the schools of LaGrange, New York, suc- 
ceeded by three efficient years as an instructor 
in the Albany Academy. His reputation was 
greatly overstepping local bounds, and he next 
accepted a call from Jamesville, Wisconsin, 
where he was made superintendent of schools 
and principal of the high school. He effected 
an entire reorganization of the schools, and 
placed them upon a more effective basis than 
ever before known. In 1861 he returned to 
Albany and was for seven years principal and 
proprietor of the State Street high school. In 
1868 he began his work in the public schools 
of Albany that was to continue without in- 
terruption for the remarkable period of forty 
years. Three years were spent as principal of 
Public School No. 2. In 1872 he was placed 
in charge of School No. 15, then and for many 
years thereafter the largest and most import- 
ant of the city's preparatory schools. Here 
his peculiar talents had ample scope, and in 
the thirty-eight years of his service as its 
head, its standard of excellence was steadily 
advanced. His skill in organization was won- 
derful, and his faculty of imparting to his as- 
sociate teachers his own earnestness and en- 
thusiasm was constantly displayed, while his 
power of control over children was equally re- 
markable. He kept in close touch with mod- 
ern progress in educational methods, and in 
every way strove to increase the usefulness of 
the school. Teaching was with him a life 
work, his chosen profession, not merely a 
stepping stone to another. His sole ambition 
was to be a good teacher, and to make No. 
15 a model public school. On his retirement 
from active work on May 8, 1908, it could be 
truthfully said that he had fully realized both 
these ambitions. His relations with his assist- 
ants, his contemporaries of other schools, and 
his neighbors, were most cordial and happy. 
He was widely known in the eflucational 
world at large through his membership in the 
various educational associations and through 
the educational press. He labored and spoke 
for the cause of education, and accomplished 
great and lasting good not revealed by school 



294 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



reports. In 1873 Hamilton College conferred 
upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Pro- 
fessor Cass is a member of the First Metho- 
dist Church, Albany, and in politics is a Re- 
publican. He married, April 20, 1853, Cath- 
erine E., born February 28, 1826, died Janu- 
ary 12, 1899, daughter of Leonard L. and 
Elizabeth Pells. To them was born one child, 
Herbert Page Cass, October 4, 1859, died No- 
vember 3. 1870. Since his retirement from 
his profession, Professor Cass has continued 
his residence in Albany, New York. 

(\'I) Amos Alden. son of Levi (I) and 
Martha (Shaw) Cass, was born in Decatur. 
Otsego county. New York, March 10, 1830. 
He received his early education in the public 
schools of Decatur, his academic course at 
Charlotteville Academy. He entered upon his 
life work at West Troy, New York, and such 
was his success that in two years he was 
called as instructor in the Albany Boys' Acad- 
emy, where he taught for a number of years. 
He afterwards was owner and principal of 
the Grand Street Institute and Division Street 
Academy, private schools. He possessed in 
unusual degree the ability to gain the confi- 
dence and love of his pupils. Among the 
graduates of his school may be found the lead- 
ing men of the city in the professions, in busi- 
ness life and in politics. Failing health 
obliged him to discontinue indoor life, and he 
retired to his fruit farm on the banks of the 
Hudson river, where he died February, 1901. 
He married Matilda M. Lansing, who bore 
him a daughter, Martha J., who became the 
wife of Arthur J- Johnson. 



The American ancestor of Judge 
YATES Austin A. Yates is Joseph Yates, 

an English soldier, who came 
over with Colonel Nichols, commander of the 
English forces to whom Stuyvesant, the Dutch 
director general of New Amsterdam, was 
compelled to surrender. The family is an old 
and honored one in England, and Joseph is 
the progenitor of a numerous race, yet sur- 
viving in Albany, Montgomery and Schenec- 
tady counties and from thence scattered all 
over the United States. Joseph Yates appears 
in Albany in 1664. died there in 1730. He 
was in receipt of a pension as a soldier of 
the King and seems to have been purveyor 
of Fort Orange, as he makes a most earnest 
plea for pay for his wood furnished to Fort 
Orange. He married Hubertje Marselis, bur- 
ied July 13, 1730, daughter of Marselis Janse 
Van Bommel. In 1693 he had seven children 
living and in 1713 lived on the east corner 
of Green and Beaver streets, Albany. He 
was buried July 13, 1730. Children baptized 



in Albany: i. Christoflfel, of further mention. 
2. Robert, born November 4, 1688, settled in 
Schenectady in 1711 ; he was a merchant and 
owned a tan yard; he married, February 15, 
1712, Margaret, daughter of Claas DeGraff; 
his descendants became famous in the revolu- 
tionary war and after history of New York, 
one, John Van Ness Yates, being secretary 
of state from 18 18 to 1826. 3. Selia, baptized 
May 7, 1693. 4. Joseph, born March 17, 1695, 
married Hedrikje Hooghkeck, May 28, 1719; 
buried in Albany, January 19, 1750. 5. Sara, 
born March 6, 1698. 6. Abraham, born March 
I, 1704; married Hester Drinkwater in New 
York, September 10, 1726. 

fll) Christoffel, eldest son of Joseph and 
Hubertje M. (Van Bommel) Yates, was bap- 
tized in x\lbany, April 16, 1684, buried Feb- 
ruary 26, 1754. He married, July 12, 1706, 
Cataleyntje Winne. Children baptized in Al- 
bany : I. Joseph, of further mention. 2. 
Adam, baptized August 15, 1708; married, 
June 2, 1733, Anna Gerritse. 3. Catalina, bap- 
tized October 7, 1711. 4. Catalyna, baptized 
October 19, 1712. 5. Hubertje, baptized No- 
vember 7, 1714. 6. Johannes, baptized Octo- 
ber 14, 1716; married, November 28, 1737, 
Rebecca Waldron. 7. Anneke, baptized Octo- 
ber 5, 1718. 8. Maria, baptized April 29, 
1722. 9. Abraham, baptized August 23, 1724, 
died June 30, 1796, he was mayor of Albany, 
appointed by Governor George Clinton and 
served from 1790 to 1796 ; was sheriff of Al- 
bany county from 1754 to 1755 ; deputy to 
provincial convention. New York, 1775 ; presi- 
dent pro tem of first provincial congress, 1775 ; 
deputy to second and third provincial con- 
gresses ; member of council of appointment in 
1777 and council of safety from 1777 to 1778, 
state senator, first to thirteenth sessions in- 
clusive. 1777 to 1792: city receiver from 1778 
to 1779; first postmaster of Albany, 1783, and 
delegate to continental congress, 1781 to 1788. 
He married Antje De Redder. He is buried 
in Albany Rural cemetery. 10. Peter, bap- 
tized January 8. 1727; married Sarah Van 
Alsteyn. 

(HI) Joseph (2), eldest son of Christofifel 
and Cataleyntje (Winne) Yates, was baptized 
in Albany, April 20, 1707, and about 1734 set- 
tled in Schenectady, where he owned a planta- 
tion reaching from Aesplaus creek to Free- 
mans bridge, and was the largest slave own- 
er in the county. He married, January 17, 
1730, Eva, daughter of Jellis Fonda. Chil- 
dren: I. Catalyna, baptized January 17, 1731, 
in Albany : married Cornelis Peek. 2. Rachel, 
baptized May 7, 1733, in Albany; married 
Cornelis Barheit. 3. Huybertje, baptized June 
15. 1735; married Samuel S. Bratt. 4. Chris- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



295 



topher (colonel), of further mention. 5. Ta- 
rineke, baptized April 29, 1739; married Col- 
onel Cornelis Van Dyck. 6. Eva, baptized 
October 4. 1741 ; married Johannes H. Peek 
(2). 7. Gillis (Jellis), baptized April 22, 
1744: married Ariantje Bratt, March 16, 1768. 
8. Annatje, baptized October 5, 1746. 

(IV) Christopher, commonly called "Col- 
onel Stoeffel." eldest son of Joseph (2) and 
Eva (Fonda) Yates, was born July 8, 1737. 
He was a surveyor by profession, served as 
captain under Sir William Johnson and was 
wounded, was lieutenant-colonel of Second 
Regiment, New York troops, under Colonel 
Abraham Wemple, was detached as assistant- 
deputy-quartermaster-general under General 
Philip Schuyler and as a member of his staff 
with him at Saratoga, when Gates took com- 
mand, and "one of the best informed and 
most efficient patriots of the Mohawk Val- 
ley."' He was a member of the provincial 
congress of the committee of public safety 
and of the first board of state regents. He 
married, October 16, 1760, Jannetje, daughter 
of Andries Bratt. Children: i. Eva, bap- 
tized February 14, 1762. 2. Elisabeth, bap- 
tized May 7, 1763 ; married Jillis Fonda. 3. 
Eva, baptized January 13, 1764: married Wil- 
liam Johnson Butler, of Niagara. 4. Helena, 
baptized November 16, 1766: married Colonel 
]\IcDonald, of the British army. 5. Joseph, 
born November 9, 1768, died March 19, 1837, 
full of honors and with a state wide reputa- 
tion for industry and integrity ; he was an at- 
tomey-at-law with an extensive practice ; was 
the first mayor of Schenectady, a state sena- 
tor in 1807, judge of the supreme court in 
1808 and governor of New York from 1823 to 
1824; he married (first) September 30, 1791, 
Ann, widow of James Ellice ; (second) Maria, 
daughter of John Kane, of Schenectady ; 
(third) Elizabeth, daughter of John De Lan- 
cey, of Westchester county. He had no male 
issue but daughters, Helen Maria, married 
John Keyes Paize ; Anna Alida, married John 
D. Watkins, of the state of Georgia ; Jane 
Josepha, married Samuel Neil, of New York. 
6. Henderieus (Henry), born October 7, 1770. 
died in Albany, March 20, 1854: he was an 
attorney-at-law, several times state senator, 
member of the council of appointment ; he 
married, October 24, 1791, Catharine, daugh- 
ter of Johannes Mynderse; she died in New 
York, September 28, 1841, aged sixty-nine 
years. Children: Henry Christopher, Edward, 
Stephen, Charles, all graduates of Union Col- 
lege, and Mary and Jane Anne. 7. Anreas 
(Andrew), of further mention. 8. Annatje, 
baptized March 12, 1775, died April 17, 1851, 
unmarried. 9. Catarina, baptized October 12, 



1777. 10. Jillis, baptized February i, 1784. 
II. Johannes (John), baptized February i, 
1784: was a graduate of Union College 
( 1802), lawyer, captain of a company of horse 
artillery in war of 1812, aide-de-camp on staff 
of Governor Tompkins, member of fourteenth 
congress, 1815 to 1816, from Schenectady 
district ; he settled in and practiced law at Uti- 
ca, New York, and later at Chittenango, and 
was appointed by Governor Tompkins 
sales manager of the "Literature Lotteries" 
of the state of New York, and removed to 
New York City, remaining until 1825, when 
he returned to Chittenango where he owned 
two thousand acres of land, with flour mills, 
saw mills, lime and plaster mills, woollen fac- 
tory, dry dock and yards for building and re- 
pairing boats, polytechnic school and many 
residences and buildings. He was deeply in- 
terested in the building of the Welland canal 
and by a large investment and his great per- 
sonal influence and exertions carried it into 
successful operation. In this he was largely 
aided in England by the Duke of Wellington. 
He was an early and devoted friend of the 
Erie canal and all enterprises devoted to pub- 
lic purposes. He served for many years as 
county judge of Madison county, and at his 
death was judge and member of the New 
York assembly. 

(V) Rev. Andrew, son of Colonel Christo- 
pher and Jannetje (Bratt) Yates, was born 
January 17, 1773, died at Day, Saratoga 
county. New York, October 14, 1844. He 
was highly educated and continued the pro- 
fession of an educator with that of the min- 
istry, being a man of much study and lit- 
erary attainments. He was a minister of the 
Dutch Reformed church, possessed of eminent 
piety and a true friend of feeble church or- 
ganizations. Without great sensational elo- 
quence he was a sound divine and preached 
with great power. He was a graduate of 
Yale College (1793) and studied theology 
under Professor John H. Livingston, 
D.D.S.T. He was Professor of Latin and 
Greek in Union College from 1797 to 1801, 
and pastor of the East Hartford Congrega- 
tional Church from 1801 to 1814. Professor 
of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Union 
College from 1814 to 1825, and principal of 
the Polytechnic in Chittenango from 1825 to 
1836. He married (first) Mary Austin; (sec- 
ond) Hannah A. Hocker, who died October 
22, 1859, aged seventy-six years. Children 
of first wife: i. Christopher, born August 3, 
1798, died young. 2. John Austin, of further 
mention. 3. Andrew J., graduate of Union 
College, died August 8, 1856. Children of 
second wife: 4. James Hooper, born October 



296 



HUDSON AND :\IOHAWK \^\LLEYS 



9; 1815, graduate of Union College, died 1861. 
5. Christopher, February 12, 1818. 6. Helena, 
September i, 1819. 7. Joseph, May 20, 1821. 
8. Ann Elizabeth, baptized August 18, 1822. 

(VI) John Austin, son of Rev. Andrew 
and Mary (Austin) Yates, was born May 
31, 1801, died August 27, 1849. He was a 
graduate of Union College, class of 1821, and 
from 1823 until the time of his death was pro- 
fessor of Oriental Literature in that institu- 
tion. He was a man of fine qualities and a 
noted orator. He married Henrietta Cobb. 
Children: i. Mary A., married John De Lan- 
cey \^'atk:ins. 2. John B., born 1834, died 
October 13, 1899; colonel of First ^lichigan 
Engineers under General William T. 
Sherman, superintendent of railroads in Ten- 
nessee under President Andrew Johnson, and 
division engineer of New York state canals. 3. 
Austin A., of furtlier mention. 4. Arthur R., 
born October 20. 1838. died November 4, 1891, 
within a short time of being raised a rear ad- 
miral and aide to Admiral Farragut, and by 
him favorably mentioned in his report : as a 
result he received the thanks of congress for 
delivering messages to the admiral : he was a 
captain in the United States navy. 

^Vn) Judge .A.ustin A. Yates, son of Pro- 
fessor John Austin and Henrietta (Cobb) 
Yates, was born in Schenectady, New York, 
March 24, 1836. After a preparatory educa- 
tion he entered Union College, and was grad- 
uated from that historic institution, class of 
1854, with the degree of A.B. He embraced 
the profession of law and after thorough prep- 
aration was admitted to the bar in 1857. He 
at once began the practice of his profession 
in Schenectady and has since continued except 
when engaged in public duty. For a time he 
was editor of the Schenectady Dally Nc-a's. 
During the civil war he raised and commanded 
a company, and at the close of the war was 
breveted major for "gallant and meritorius 
conduct." He was in command of the com- 
pany upon whom devolved the duty of hang- 
ing the assassins engaged in the plot to mur- 
der President Lincoln and his principal cabi- 
net officers. This company was Companv l*". 
Fourteenth Regiment, United States \'olun- 
teer Reserves. In 1867 Major Yates was 
elected district attorney of Schenectady 
county and re-elected in 1871, but resigned in 
1873 after his election to the office of county 
judge. In 1879 lie received the appointment 
of attorney to the insurance department In- 
the state superintendent of insurance. In 
1887 and 1889 he was a member of the New 
York house of assembly. When the war with 
Spain was beginning ^Iajor Yates went to the 
front with the second Regiment, New York 



Volunteer Infantry, serving until the regiment 
was mustered out. In 1900 he retired from 
office upon his own application. He is learned 
in the law and stands high in the estimation 
of his brethren of the bar. Different state 
departments have retained him as attorney in 
important cases, while as county judge he re- 
ceived high commendation. He is well-known 
as a strong writer and speaker, a close stu- 
dent of history, and has written much of the 
early days and is the author of a "History of 
Schenectady" (1902). He is now living a 
practically retired life in Schenectadx . 



The Hopkins familv of Cat- 
HOPKINS skill. New York,' descend 

from Stephen Hopkins, of 
Coventry, England. "Stephen Hopkins and 
Elizabeth, his wife, and two children called,, 
Giles (Gyles) and Constanta, a daughter, both 
by a former wife, and two more by this wife,, 
called Damaris and Oceanus, (the last was- 
born at sea) and two servants, Edward Doty 
and Edward Lister." Stephen had made pre- 
vious voyages and suffered shipwreck. He 
was always fond of the sea and of adven- 
ture. .A.fter the landing at Plymouth he was 
of the first company sent out to explore and' 
report. He always held a leading position in 
the colony, filling important public office. He 
did not bend easily to the harsh rulings of the 
Puritans and was several times before the 
court charged with trifling offenses. He was 
thrifty and seems to have prospered. The 
first wife of Stephen is unknown. His second' 
wife was Elizabeth Fisher. There will al- 
ways be discussion over the parentage of John 
Hoijkins, of Hartford, whether or not he was 
the son of Stephen. The line of descent here 
followed is that of Giles, eldest son of the 
unknown mother. The office holding of Ste- 
phen Hopkins was continuous. He was a 
member of the governor's council from Ply- 
mouth, 1623-24-25-26. In 1637 he was one 
of the volunteers in aid of Massachusetts Bay 
Colony and Connecticut with their war with 
the Pequots, and in 1642 was chosen to the 
council of war from Plymouth. His chil- 
dren : I. Giles, (q.v.) 2. Constance (Con- 
stanta), only_ daughter of first wife, born 
in England, came with her father in the "May- 
flower" ; married, in 1627, Nicholas Snow, one 
of the founders of Eastiiam, Massachusetts, 
who came over in the ".'Xnn." Children of 
second wife: 3. Damaris, born in England, 
married, in 1646, Jacob, son of Francis Cook, 
of the "^layflower" ; she died after 1666. 4. 
Oceanus, born at sea on board the "May- 
flower" about October, 1620, died before 1627. 
5. Deborah, the first child of her parents born 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



297 



at Plymoutli, 1622, married, in 1646, Andrew 
/King, of Plymouth. 6. Caleb, born in Ply- 
month ; bore arms in 1633 and following his 
father's instructions followed the sea, died at 
Barbadoes, probably unmarried ; he was the 
executor of his father's will ; his mother's in- 
fluence probably securing his preference over 
Stephen's first born, Giles. 7. Ruth. 8. Eliza- 
beth. Stephen Hopkins died in 1644, Eliza- 
beth, his wife, between 1640 and 1644. 

(II) Giles, son of Stephen Hopkins and 
his first wife, was born in England, died at 
Eastham, Massachusetts, about 1690. He 
came with his father in the "Mayflower" and 
his first home was with them at Plymouth. 
He then removed to Mattachuse. In 1642 he 
was the surveyor of Yarmouth, and until 1662 
a surveyor of Yarmouth and Eastham. In 
1655 he was one of the list of freemen of 
Eastham. He married, October 9, 1639, Cath- 
erine, daughter of Gabriel Whelden. Chil- 
dren: Mary, born 1640; Stephen, September 
1642 : John, born and died 1643 • Abigail, born 
October, 1644, married. May 23, 1661, Wil- 
liam Merrick; Deborah, June, 1648; Caleb, 
January, 1651, of whom further; Ruth, June, 
1653 ; Joshua, June, 1657 ; W^illiam, January 
9, 1661 ; Eliza, 1664, died young. The last 
six children were all born at Eastham. 

(III) Caleb, son of Giles and Catherine 
(Whelden) Hopkins, was born at Eastham, 
Massachusetts, removed to Truso, where he 
died in 1728. He married and had children: 
Caleb, Nathaniel, Thomas, Thankful. 

(I\') Caleb (2), son of Caleb (i) Hopkins, 
removed to Middletown, Connecticut, where 
he married and probably died. 

(V) James, son of Caleb (2) Hopkins, was 
born in 1736. He resided at Middletown, 
Connecticut, where his children were born. 
He married Mehitable Freeman, of the Cape 
Cod family of that name. Children : Free- 
man, Mehitable, Caleb, James, Samuel. 

(VI) Caleb (3), son of James and Mehit- 
able (Freeman) Hopkins, was born at Mid- 
dletown, Connecticut, died at Catskill, New 
York, in 1852. He was educated in the 
schools of Middletown, Connecticut, and at an 
early age removed to New York City and 
for many years was engaged in the iron busi- 
ness with Pierson & Company. "In 1830, ow- 
ing to failing health, he settled in Catskill, 
New York, where he lived the life of a re- 
tired country gentleman until his death. He 
married Ketnrah, born in Saybrook, Connec- 
ticut, daughter of Hyland Hill. Children : 
Charles, deceased : Mary, married W. H. Van 
Orden, of Catskill ; Louise, married J. A. 
Cook, of Catskill: John, Henry, Francis, 
James, Jane \'ernon, ; .Frederick, Josephine. 



Keturah (Hill) Hopkins was a granddaughter 
of Peleg Hill, born at Saybrook, resided in 
Essex county. New York. He married and 
had children : Hyland, of whom further ; 
James, removed to Vermont; Peleg (2), re- 
moved to \'ermont ; Sarah, married 

Bishop, of Guilford, Connecticut ; Annie, mar- 
ried Timothy Lee, of Williston, Vermont. Hy- 
land, son of Peleg Hill, removed to Catskill, 
Greene county. New York. He married Ke- 
turah \'\'aterhouse, and Keturah, their daugh- 
ter, married Caleb (3) Hopkins. 

(VTI) Henry, son of Caleb (3) and Ke- 
turah (Hill) Hopkins, was born in New York- 
City, October 22, 1820, died October 3, 1873, 
at Catskill. He was educated at Catskill and 
Albany, New York, private schools. His en- 
tire business life was spent in the iron trade. 
He married, April 16, 1857, Mary Elizabeth, 
daughter of Samuel M. Cornell, of New York 
City. Children : Samuel Cornell, of further 
mention ; Emmeline Cornell, born November 
26, 1859, married Herman Livingston; Henry 
Caleb, December 11, 1862, died at Ridgefield, 
Connecticut, September 8, 1908; Charles Ver- 
non, of whom further. 

(VIII) Samuel Cornell, son of Henry and 
Mary Elizabeth (Cornell) Hopkins, was born 
in New York City, February 19, 1858. He 
was educated at St. Paul's school. Concord, 
New Hampshire, entered Yale University, 
where he was graduated in class of 1882. His 
residence is at Catskill, New York, where his 
life has been passed. He is a director of 
the Catskill National Bank. He married, Au- 
gust 21, 1897, Mary Howland, daughter of 
John Howland and Caroline (Hyatt) Pell 
(see Pell X). Children: Samuel Cornell, Jr., 
born October 21, 1899; Howland Pell, Octo- 
ber II, 1906. 

(\'III) Charles ^'ernon, son of Heiu-y and 
Mary Elizabeth (Cornell) Hopkins, was born 
in Catskill. New York, December 11, 1872. 
He was educated at St. Paul's school. Con- 
cord, New Hampshire, entered Yale Univer- 
sity, where he was graduated in the class of 
1896. His residence is at Catskill. New York, 
but much of his time is spent in travel at 
home and abroad. 

(The Pell Line). 
The Pells of New York trace to a remote 
English ancestry from the ancient family of 
that name in Lincolnshire. Rev. John Pell, 
rector of Southwick, Sussex. England, mar- • 
ried Mary Holland and had sons Thomas and 
John. The manor of Pelham, New York, 
containing nine thousand one hundred and 
sixty-six acres of land was so constituted in 
favor of "Thomas Pell, Gentleman." In 1687 



298 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the estate at Pelham was more fully made 
into a manor by Governor Dongan in favor 
of John Pell, nephew and heir of Thomas, 
and son of Dr. John Pell, of London. 

(H) Rev. John (2) Pell, son of Rev. John 
(i) and jMary (Howland) Pell, and brother 
of Thomas, First Lord of the Manor, was 
born at Southwyck in Sussex, England, 161 1, 
died 1685. He was Cromwell's minister of 
Switzerland ; was a famous linguist and math- 
ematician, invented the sign for division ; was 
domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury ; he was a Doctor of Divinity and a 
Fellow of the Royal Society. He married, 
1632, Ithmaria (Tamar or Athama) Regi- 
noilles. 

(HI) Major John (3) Pell, only son of 
Rev. John (2) and Ithmaria (Reginoilles) 
Pell, was born in London, Middlesex county, 
England, February 3, 1643. By the will of 
his Uncle Thomas he became proprietor of 
Pelham and Second Lord of the Manor. He 
arrived in Boston in 1670 with a letter of in- 
troduction to Governor Winthrop from Lord 
Brereton. He took possession of the estate 
which on October 20, 1687, was changed to 
■'■'The Lordship and Manor of Pelham" by 
Governor Dongan of New York. He was a 
member of the provincial assembly for West- 
chester county, New York. 1691-95 : captain 
of horse, 1684: major in 1692. in the French 
and Indian war, and judge of the court of 
common pleas for the county. He is said to 
have been cast away and drowned in his pleas- 
ure boat which foundered in a gale off City 
Point sometime in 1702. He died intestate. 
He married, 1684-85, Rachel, daughter of 
Philip Pinckney, one of the first ten proprie- 
tors of East Chester and a lineal descendant 
of the Pinckneys of Pinckney Manor. Nor- 
folkshire, England. He had two sons and 
two daughters. 

(IV) Thomas, son of Major John (3) and 
Rachel (Pinckney) Pell, was born at Pel- 
ham Manor, New York, in 1686, died at the 
Manor house, 1739. He was the Third Lord 
of the i\lanor, and became invested with the 
inheritance and legal rights of his father. He 

married Anna . Children mentioned in 

will after "my beloved wife, Anna Pell," are 
Ann Broadhurst, Joseph. John, Thomas, 
Joshua, Philip, Caleb, Mary Sands, Sarah 
Palmer, Beersheba. His eldest son, Joseph, 
Fourth Lord of the Manor, died in 1776, leav- 

• ing five sons who died without issue, save 
John, who had six sons who died without is- 
sue, the last being Richard Moore Pell, who 
died at the Manor in 1868. 

(V) Joshua, fourth son of Thomas and 
Anna Pell, was born at Pelham Manor, New 



York, about 1710, died 1781. He married 
Phoebe Palmer. Among their children are 
Joshua (2), Benjamin, of whom further. 

(VI) Benjamin, son of Joshua and Phoebe 
(Palmer) Pell, was born at Pelham Manor, 
New York, about 1750, died in New York 
City, March 4, 1828. He was a merchant of 
New York City. He married, November 25, 
1778, Mary Ann, daughter of John Ferris, 
of Grove Farm, Westchester county, New 
York. He had several sons. His daughter 
Maria married Jacob Treadwell Walden. 

(\TI) William Ferris, son of Benjamin and 
Mary Ann (Ferris) Pell, was born at Pel- 
ham Manor, New York, 1780, died in New 
York City, October 28, 1840. He was a mer- 
chant of New York. 1808-40, and founded 
the famous auction firm of Pell & Company. 
He purchased the "Garrison" ground estate 
at Ticonderoga. He married, November 17, 
1802, Mary, born in London, England, 1783, 
died in New York. October 3, 1848, daughter 
of Morris and Ann Shipley, of England. He 
had sons: Clarence, Duncan. Morris, of whom 
further; \\'alden, Alfred Sands, and James 
K. They succeeded their father in business 
and were remarkable as a family for their 
fine physical development, three of them 
standing six feet tall, and were well propor- 
tioned. Duncan Pell was lieutenant-governor 
of Rhode Island, and his son Duncan was 
a colonel of the civil war on the staff of Gen- 
eral Burnside. Alfred Sands Pell married 
Adelia, daughter of Colonel James Duane, 
first mayor of New York City after the rev- 
olution and a judge of the United States su- 
preme court. 

(\ III) Morris, son of ^^'illiam Ferris and 
Mary (Shipley) Pell, was born in New York 
City, 1 8 10, died in Flushing, Long Island, 
1 88 1. He was associated with Pell & Com- 
pany and made his home in Flushing. He 
married, March 12, 1830, Mary R., daughter 
of John H. Howland, born 1774, died 1849, 
a prominent shipping merchant of New York 
City: he married Sarah, born 1781, died 1847 
daughter of Thomas and .Anna (Rodman) 
Hazard, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, 

(IX) John Howland, son of Morris and 
Mary R. (Howland) Pell, was born in New 
York, December 23, 1830, died at Yonkers, 
New York. He was mustered into the Uni- 
ted States service as second lieutenant. Com- 
pany K, Fourth Regiment, New York Vol- 
unteer Infantry, August 17, 1861, promoted 
first lieutenant. May 3, 1862, captain of Com- 
pany A. (same regiment), October 14, 1862; 
resigned January 2, 1863. He married Caro- 
line Hyatt. 

(X) Mary Howland, daughter of John 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



299 



"Howland and Caroline (Hyatt) Pell, married 
:Samuel C. Hopkins (see Hopkins VHI). 



The Kennedy family of 
KENNEDY Johnstown, who are herein 

recorded, descend from 
Thomas Kennedy, who was born in the county 
of Down. Ireland, and came to America prior 
to the war of the revolution, settling at Ball- 
ston. Saratoga county. New York, where he 
took up and improved a farm. He suffered 
from the ravages of the Indians, and was once 
captured and taken prisoner by the Indians 
to Canada. They also captured his wife and 
babies, but finding them troublesome left them 
by the roadside. The mother and children 
found their way back home, and later the 
family was reunited. Thomas Kennedy was 
the father of eight children. He died Alarch 
14, i^^S' '" 'I's o"s hundred and first year. 

(II) James, youngest son of Thomas Ken- 
nedy, was born on the Saratoga county home- 
stead farm, August 11, 1704, died in West 
( ialway, Saratoga county, hebruary 7, 1875. 
He was a farmer by occupation. He was a 
jirominent citizen, represented his district in 
the state legislature, and served as an officer 
in the \yar of 1812. He married Lucinda Grin- 
ncll. of Saratoga county, New York, born 
17(^4, died December 8, 1877. Children: i. 
Ezra Thomas, born June 19, 1817, died De- 
cember 23, 1885. 2. Lauren O., born Janu- 
ary 18, 1818, died December 22, 1891 ; was 
a lumberman and merchant ; married Caro- 
line Cook, born 1821, died 1896; children: 
IVIary, deceased : Stewart D., deceased ; James, 
deceased : Madison B., of Chicago, Illinois : 
Edward C, of New York City ; Harvey L., of 
New York City : Jane Elizabeth, deceased. 3. 
Lucinda, born October 12, 1821, died Septem- 
ber 8, 1905; married Daniel Stuart. 4. James 
C, born 1822, died 1873. 5. Harvey, born 

1826. died 1889. 6. IMartin, born 1829, died 
1904 : married Elizabeth Ann Clark. 7. Wil- 
liam Logan, mentioned below. 

(III) William Logan, youngest child of 
James and Lucinda (Grinnell) Kennedy, was 
born in Saratoga county. New York, October 
25, 1838, died in New York City, March 28, 
1893. He was a member of the New York 
Stock Exchange for many years, associated 
with his brother Harvey : his business life was 
spent in Wall street. He married Margaretta 

"Edwards, born in Johnstown, New York, Oc- 
tober, 1840, died in Brooklyn, New York, 
July, 1890. Children: i. William Logan, 
mentioned below. 2. Harvey Edwards, mar- 
ried (first") Elizabeth Miller; (second) Kath- 

•erine Van Sicklin ; (third) Mrs. Elizabeth A. 
(Ray) Stevenson. 3. Daniel Edwards, mar- 



ried Elizabeth Lord ; children : Daniel Ed- 
wards, and Elizabeth Lord. 

(IV) William Logan (2), son of William 
Logan (i) and Margaretta (Edwards) Ken- 
nedy, was born in Johnstown, New York, Jan- 
uary 12, 1867. He attended the Anthon gram- 
mar school in New York City, and afterwards 
Johnstown Academy, remaining three years, 
where he prepared for college. He entered 
L^nion College, graduating therefrom with the 
degree of A.B., class of 1888. After leaving 
college he settled in New York City, where 
in the offices of his uncle, Harvey Kennedy, 
he mastered the details of stock and bond 
brokerage. .\t the age of twenty-three years 
he became a member of the New York Stock 
Exchange, and since 1890 represented himself 
on the floor of the exchange. He is also a 
member of the New York Produce Exchange. 
He is a successful man of affairs. He is an 
inde]jendent Democrat in politics, and a mem- 
ber of the National Democratic Club of New 
York. He is a member of the Presbyterian 
church of Johnstown, of the Colonial and Ant- 
lers clubs, and of the Delta Upsilon frater- 
nity. He married, October 3, 1893, Margaret 
Elizabeth Smith; children: i. William Lo- 
gan, born March 26, 1895. 2. Edwin Oliver, 
January 31, 1900. Mr. Kennedy and family 
reside at 142 West Seventy-fourth street. 
New York City, but maintain a summer home 
at his birthplace, Johnstown, New York. 

(The Smith Line). 

Margaret Elizabeth (Smith) Kennedy is a 
daughter of Horace Edwin Smith, LL.D., and 
granddaughter of Dr. Roger Smith, born of 
English parents in Massachusetts, removed 
to Mt. \'ernon. New Hampshire, where he 
studied and practiced medicine until he re- 
moved to Greenbush, New York, where he 
was hospital surgeon at the General Hospital 
at Greenbush Cantonment appointed in 1812 
by President Madison. After the war was 
over he located in Weston, Vermont, where 
he practiced his profession until his death. He 
was a cultured, educated gentleman, and emi- 
nent in his profession. He married Sallie 
Dodge, of English and Welsh parentage, and 
on the paternal side of the same ancestry 
as the well-known philanthropist, William E. 
Dodge. She bore him two sons and three 
daughters. Asa D. Smith. D.D.. LL.D., the 
eldest son, was for twenty-nine years pastor 
of a Presbyterian church in New York City, 
and for thirteen years president of Dartmouth 
College. 

(II) Horace Edwin Smith, youngest son 
of Dr. Roger and Sallie (Dodge) Smith, ob- 
tained his early education in the public schools 



300 



HT'DSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



and in private academies in \^ermont and 
Massachusetts. He taught school while pur- 
suing his studies, and later read law at Broad- 
albin, New York, gaining admission to the 
New York bar, January 12, 1844. He rose 
rapidly in his profession, and in quick suc- 
cession was admitted to the superior and su- 
preme courts of New York, and to all state 
and federal courts in both New York and 
Massachusetts. Later he was admitted to 
practice in the supreme court of the United 
States. He retained his Fulton county pri- 
vate practice, which was both lucrative and 
extensive, until 1847, when he removed to 
Boston and entered into partnership with 
Henry B. Stanton, whose wife, Elizabeth Cady 
Stanton, was a daughter of Judge Daniel 
Cady, the eminent lawyer of Johnstown, New 
York, and a warm personal friend of Mr. 
Smith. After a few months Mr. Stanton's 
health failed, and his extensive practice fell 
to Mr. Smith. While in Boston he won some 
notable legal battles, one in particular bring- 
ing him added fame as a great lawyer. In 
tliis case he was opposed by Rufus Choate, 
and after a three weeks' battle won his case. 
He became prominent in politics and sat in 
the Massachusetts legislature in 1851-52. In 
the latter year he declined a nomination to 
congress. In 1854 he removed to New York 
City, where his first wife died in i860. In 
1861 he returned to Johnstown. New York. 
He was a member of the constitutional con- 
vention of New York, held in Albany in 1867- 
68, and was one of the corporators of the 
"Centennial Board of Finance" appointed in 
connection with the Pliiladelphia Centennial 
E.xposition. held in 1876. He resumed the 
practice of law in Johnstown, and in the sum- 
mer of 1879 was elected dean of the Albany 
Law School, succeeding Professor Isaac 
Edwards. He held the position of dean 
for ten years, and in those years en- 
larged the buildings and added to the 
general tone of the college, which ranks 
among the oldest and best institutions of its 
kind in the United Slates. As dean of the 
faculty the management devolved upon him, 
and in addition he lectured on the law of per- 
sonal proj)erty, contracts, commercial law, 
common law. jileading, torts and medical jur- 
isprudence, and other special lectures. In 
June, 1880. Dartmouth College conferred upon 
him the degree of LL.D. He has written 
and lectured considerably upon legal and kin- 
dred topics. He was interested in many 
things outside his profession, which he 
adorned. He was first jiresidcnt of the John- 
stown Historical Society, was an elder of the 
Presbyterian church, and high in the councils 



of the general assembly. He used tongue and 
pen in behalf of improved reformatory meas- 
ures, for benevolent enterprises and in the 
great political contests of his day. He stood 
second at the Fulton county bar only to the 
noted Judge Daniel Cady. He died in 1902. 
Horace Edwin Smith married (first) a 
daughter of George Mills, of Broadalbin, 
Fulton county. New York, who bore him a 
son and three daughters. He married (sec- J 
ond ) Agnes, daughter of George Davidson, 
of Johnstown, New York, who bore him one 
son. He married (third) Jeanie Oliver, 
daughter of Richard Davidson, of New York, 
and Margaret Oliver (Amos) Davidson. 
Jeanie Oliver (Davidson) Smith was born 
at Troy, New York; is a contributor to Brit- 
ish and American periodicals and author of 
several works of poetry and fiction ; is a mem- 
ber of the Society of American Authors and 
the Aldine Literary Society of Johnstown. 
She is the mother of two daughters : Agnes 
Temple (Mrs. Charles Sidney Robbins), of 
Johnstown, New York, and Margaret Eliza- 
beth (Mrs. William Logan Kennedy). 



The Ludlows of Columbia 
LUDLOW county. New York, spring 
from Gabriel Ludlow, of Eng- 
lish birth and ancient lineage, son of Ga- 
briel and grandson of Thomas Ludlow. Ga- 
briel Ludlow, the ancestor, was born at Cas- 
tle Cary, November 2, 1663. He came to 
New Netherland in 1694, and became promi- 
nent in business and public life. He was an 
early merchant of New York City and in 1699 
clerk of tlie colonial assembly. He was an 
active churchman, vestryman of Trinity Epis- 
cojial Clnirch. He married, April 5, 1697, Sa- 
rah, daughter of Rev. Hanmer, one of the 
first rectors of Trinity Church. They had 
twelve children, anK)ng whom tiiree sons : 
Henry, of further mention ; Gabriel, married 
(first) r^rances Duncan, (second) Elizabeth 
Crommelin ; William, married Mary, daugh- 
ter of Captain George Duncan. 

(II ) Henry, son of (labriel, the founder, 
and Sarah (Hanmer) Ludlow, was born in 
New York City, where he was educated and 
spent his active business life. He was a well- 
known merchant of that city. After his re- 
tirement from business he removed to Clav- 
erack, where he died. He married and had 
issue. 

(HI) William Henry, son of Henry Lud- 
low, was born in New York City in 1740, 
died at Claverack, Columbia county. New 
York, 1803. He was associated with his 
father as a merchant of New York, later suc- 
ceeding him. He invested in lands in west- 





c^'^^:^^:^^^^^-^ 




HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



301 



crn New York, and also purchased a lars^je 
tract at Claverack on which he built, in 1786, 
a large colonial mansion, where he resided un- 
til his death. He was a man of wealth and 
influence. He married and had several chil- 
dren, two only surviving him, William 
Uroughton, of further mention; and Maria, 
married James Flemming. 

n\) \\illiam Broughton, son of William 
Henry Ludlow, was born at the Claverack 
Mansion, Columbia county, New York, in 
1788. died there in 1865. He was well-educa- 
ted and grew to manhood on the homestead 
to which he succeeded after his father's death. 
He was the owner of eight hundred acres at 
Claverack and also agent for the Livingston 
estate. He lived the Cjuiet life of a wealthy 
ciiuntry gentleman, his greatest passion prob- 
alilv being the breeding and development of 
hiirses. He married, about 1807, Julia r^lor- 
ris. grandniece of Lewis Morris, signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. They had ten 
children. Lewis Morris, born in Morrisania, 
Westchester county. New York, 1726, a grad- 
uate of Yale College in 1746, interested in ag- 
ricultural pursuits, elected to congress in 
1773, member of the committee to devise 
means for supplying the colonies with the 
munitions of war, sent west to influence the 
Indians to leave the British and make com- 
mon cause with the colonists, resumed his 
^eat in congress in 1776, afterwards served in 
the state legislature. He died in his native 
town, January 22, 1798. 

(\') Robert Morris, son of William 
Broughton and Julia (Morris) Ludlow, was 
born at Claverack, Columbia county. New 
York, June, 181 2, died in 1892 at his Claver- 
ack home. He lived on the Ludlow homestead 
farm but spent most of his business life in 
New York City, where he was engaged in 
business. He founded Ludlow's Express, the 
first baggage express company in the city. He 
was a man of large interests, railroad, ex- 
press and mercantile. He was a Democrat 
and a member of the Episcopal church. He 
married, in 1845, Mary Livingston, born 1813, 
died 1861, youngest daughter of Robert and 
Harriet (Livingston) Fulton (see Fulton 11). 
Child, Robert Fulton, of further mention. 

(\T) Robert Fulton, son of Robert ]\Ior- 
ris and Mary Livingston (Fulton) Ludlow, 
was born June 25, 1846, in New York City. 
He was educated in the schools of Claverack, 
New York City, and at Hudson Academy. He 
was employed for a time in a bank in Wall 
street, but he was not partial to a business 
career. He possessed artistic talent which he 
developed under the best masters, including 
William Morgan, the famous artist of New 



York City. He is a well-known portrait and 
landscape artist, and has done many master- 
pieces that have been exhibited and won com- 
mendation from connoisseurs in art. Among 
his best known paintings are, "Sunnyside," the 
home of Washington Irving as he built it. 
This was exhibited at the Academy of Design 
in 1889. "Mt. \'ernon," the home of Wash- 
ington; "Washington's Headquarters at New- 
burg"; "Birthplace of Robert Fulton" at Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania ; "The Clermont," Ful- 
ton's first steamboat ; (the latter two pictures, 
together with the compass used by Fulton on 
his first trip, were exhibited at the Maritime 
Exhibition at Bordeaux, France, in 1907, held 
in honor of Robert Fulton), and many others 
of high artistic value. Among the handsome 
decorations of the palatial Hudson river 
steamboat "Robert Fulton" are six portraits 
of famous men, painted by Mr. Ludlow. He 
is an untiring worker and entirely devoted to 
his art. His home at Claverack is a fine 
mansion of colonial style, built by his great- 
grandfather, William Henry Ludlow. It is 
surrounded by tall pines and fine locusts, some 
of them having been there long before the 
mansion was built. It contains priceless relics 
of the ancestor whose name he bears, includ- 
ing the original painting of Robert Fulton. 
There are also many of Fulton's paintings 
and sketches done while in London a student 
under the great artist, Benjamin West, and 
later while a miniature portrait artist in the 
same city. Mr. Ludlow is a member of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, 
and other professional societies and clubs in- 
cluding the Columbia County Association of 
New York City. He has been a member of 
Trinity Episcopal Church of Claverack, and 
since 1890 senior warden. He is a Democrat 
in politics. 

He married, February 23, 1893, Catalina, 
daughter of Abraham Fonda Philip, born at 
Claverack, New York, 1825, died there Octo- 
ber 22. 1888, a farmer of Claverack, where 
he owned a large tract of land. He was an 
active Republican, but a great admirer of 
President Cleveland, whom he supported with 
vote and influence in all his political battles. 
He was an elder of the Dutch Reformed 
church and superintendent of the Sunday 
school. He married Alida Rossman, born 
January 30, 1830, who survives him, a resi- 
dent of Claverack. She is a daughter of Dan- 
iel and Charlotte (Wilcox) Rossman. Chil- 
dren : Catalina, married Robert Fulton Lud- 
low ; Frances, married Frank R. Webb, of 
Hudson, .\braham Fonda Philip was a son 
of William Philip, son of George Philip, of 
Columbia county, born 1752, died 1806, served 



302 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



in the revolutionary war as captain in the 
commissary department, Albany Company 
Eighth Regiment. William Philip, son of 
Captain George Philip, was a merchant of 
Claverack, surveyor, and a woolen manufac- 
turer at Philmont ; he was born, lived and 
died at Claverack, an active Democrat, and a 
member of the Dutch Reformed church. He 
married (first) Christina Storm, born 1788, 
died 1819; married (second) Catalina Fonda, 
born 1797, died 1882, daughter of Lawrence 
(2) Fonda, a farmer of Claverack, son of 
Lawrence (i) Fonda, of Claverack. William 
and Catalina Philip had two children : Emma 
Philip ; Abraham Fonda Philip, married Alida 
Rossman. They were the parents of Catalina 
Philip, wife of Robert Fulton Ludlow. They 
have no children. Mr. Ludlow divides his 
time between his country residence at Clave- 
rack and his city home in New York. 
(The Livingston Line). 
Mary Livingston (Fulton) Ludlow, wife of 
Robert Morris Ludlow, was the youngest 
daughter of Robert Fulton, the inventor of 
the first steamboat, and his wife Harriet 
(Livingston) Fulton, who was the daughter 
of Walter Livingston, a descendant in the 
fourth generation of Robert Livingston, First 
Lord of Livingston Manor, the lordly domain 
in Columbia county, granted him by his 
sovereign. The line of descent is as follows : 
Rev. John, Robert, Philip, Robert, all of 
whom will be found elsewhere in this work. 

(V) Walter, son of Robert and Maria 
(Long) Livingston, was born November 27, 
1740, died May 14, 1797. He built and re- 
sided in his handsome mansion "Tiviotdale" 
in Columbia county. He was a member of 
the provincial congress, 1775 ; deputy com- 
missary general of northern department, 1775 ; 
member of assembly 1777-78-79: speaker of 
assembly, 1778, commissioner of the United 
States treasury, 1785. He married, 1769, Cor- 
nelia, daughter of Peter and Gertrude 
(Schuyler) Schuyler. She was baptized July 
26, 1746, died 1822. 

(VI) Harriet, daughter of Walter and Cor- 
nelia (Schuyler) Livingston, was born 1786, 
died 1824. She married Robert Fulton (see 
Fulton H). 

(VH) Mary Livingston, daughter of Rob- 
ert and Harriet (Livingston) Fulton, married 
Robert Morris Ludlow (see Ludlow V). 

(VHI) Robert Fulton, son of Robert Mor- 
ris and Mary Livingston (Fulton) Ludlow, 
married Catalina Philip. 

(The Fulton Line), 

Mary Livingston (Fulton) Ludlow was the 
youngest daughter of Robert Fulton, the 



famous inventor. The Fultons are an Irisha 
family, descendants of Scotch ancestors. The- 
American line follows Robert Fulton, whO' 
came to America from Kilmeny, Ireland. He- 
settled in the township of Little Britain, Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, in the town, now 
city, of Lancaster. Here he became promi- 
nent. He was one of the founders of the 
Presbyterian church ; charter member of the 
Juliana Library, the third library established' 
in America, and interested in all departments- 
of town life. August 23, 1759, he bought a 
brick dwelling on the northeast corner of 
Penn Square, afterward Center Square, where 
he lived until 1765. He had purchased a 
farm in 1764, containing three hundred and 
ninety-four acres, on Conawago Creek, tO' 
which he removed in 1765. He was- 
not successful as a farmer and soon 
returned to Lancaster. During the per- 
iod on the farm his afterwards famous 
son, Robert, was born. In 1844 the 
township of Little Britain was resurveyedi 
and a new township erected and called "Ful- 
ton" in honor of the inventor. Not long ago 
the present owner rebuilt the Fulton farm- 
house, but preserved some of the old features, 
the original fireplace and tlie room in which 
the inventor was born. Robert Fulton, father 
of the inventor, married Mary, daughter of 
Captain Joseph Smith, and sister of Colonelf 
Lester Smith. 

(II) Robert (2), third child of Robert (i) 
and Mary (Smith) Fulton, was born on the 
farm in Little Britain, Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, November 14, 1765, died February 
24, 1815. He was early left an orphan, his 
father dying when he was three years old. He 
early developed unusual talent and from 1782' 
until 1786 studied drawing and portrait 
painting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 
1786 he went to London where he placed 
himself under the instruction of the famous 
.American painter, lienjamin West, also a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, Chester county. Ben- 
jamin West at that time w-as president of the 
Royal Academy. After leaving Mr. West's 
studio as a pupil, he opened one of his own 
and did miniature portrait painting. In 1796 
he published a treatise on "Canal Naviga- 
tion." From 1797 to 1804 he displayed his 
ingenuity in various projects and inventions, 
lie was the proprietor of the first panorama 
exhibited in the city of Paris. He experi- 
mented on a plunging vessel and interested 
the great Napoleon in the submarine idea. He 
also was interested in torpedo experiments 
and in 1804 was invited by the British gov- 
ernment to make torpedo trials. In 1806 he 
returned to New York, where with the help 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



305 



of Robert R. Livingston he perfected his great 
project of steam navigation. In 1807 the first 
boat propelled by her own steam, the "Cler- 
mont," was launched at New York, and made 
the trip to Albany, New York, one hundred 
and fifty miles in fifteen hours. Later sev- 
eral vessels were built under his direction. He 
married Harriet, youngest daughter of Walter 
Livingston (see Livingston VI). Children: 
Robert Barlow, died unmarried ; Julia, mar- 
ried Charles Blight ; Cornelia, married Ed- 
ward Charles Crary ; Mary Livingston, mar- 
ried Robert Morris Ludlow ; their son, Robert 
Fulton Ludlow, is one of the nearest sur- 
viving relatives of the great inventor, whose 
name he bears. He inherited many of the 
valued "Fulton" heirlooms, as well as the 
artistic nature and talent of his grandsire. 



The Stearns family of Amer- 
STEARNS ica are descended from the 

Sternes of England, an 
ancient and honorably family of that king- 
dom. In Winthrop's "Journal" the name is 
written Sterne, as it is in the early town and 
county records of New England. Very few 
branches of the family in the United States 
retain the original spelling, the usual form 
being Stearns, although in the south Starns 
and Starnes are occasionally met with. The 
family in England bore arms which show 
some variation. The form generally used is 
that of the Archbishop of York. Or, a chev- 
ron between three crosses flory sable. Crest, 
a cock starting proper. The mantling is or- 
namental and a ribbon below is without 
motto. 

(I) Isaac Stearns and Mary his wife with 
two daughters, Mary and Ann, came to 
America on the ship "Arabella" sailing from 
Nayland, England, April 12, 1630. .A.mong 
the passengers on the same ship were Gov- 
ernor Winthrop, Sir Richard Saltonstall and 
Edward Garfield, emigrant ancestor of Presi- 
dent James A. Garfield. Isaac Stearns was 
made a freeman in 163 1. He settled in Wat- 
ertown, Massachusetts, where he was select- 
man for several years. He died June 19, 
1671. Mary, his wife, died April 2, 1677. 
Children: i. Mary, married Isaac Learned. 

2. Ann (Hannah), married Freeman. 

3. John (lieutenant), married (first) Sarah 
Mixer; (second) Mary Lathrop. 4. Isaac, 
married Sarah Beers. 5. Sarah, married Dea- 
con Samuel Stone. 6. Samuel, see forward. 
7. Elizabeth, married Deacon Samuel Man- 
ning. 8. Abigail, married Deacon John 
Morse. 

(II) Corporal Samuel Stearns, son of Isaac 
and Mary Stearns, was born April 24, 1638, 



and was a resident of Waltham, Massachu- 
setts. His homestead in that town descended 
to his son John, then to grandson Josiah, then, 
to a great-grandson, Captain Phineas, and 
has since been owned by descendants. He 
married, February i, 1662-63, Hannah, born 
June 21, 1642, eldest daughter of William (2)- 
and Dorothy Manning, of Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, and granddaughter of William ( i ) 
Manning, the founder of the Manning family 
in America. Children: i. Samuel, born 1664 
died in childhood. 2. Hannah, married (first) 
Thomas Biscoe ; (second) Samuel, son of Ma- 
jor-General Gookin. 3. Nathaniel, see for- 
ward. 4. Sarah, married Joseph \Vinship^ 
son of Lieutenant Edward Winship. 5. Sam- 
uel, was assessor, town clerk, selectman and 
deputy eight terms. 6. Isaac, married Mary 
Bemis. 7. John, had the homestead farm ; 
married Abigail Fiske. 8. Mary, married 
Samuel Jennison. 9. Abigail, married Benoni 
Garfield. 10. Joseph, born December 11, 
1682, died in childhood. 

(III) Nathaniel, son of Corporal Samuet 
and Hannah (Manning) Stearns, was born 
in Watertown, Massachusetts, December 13, 
1668, died August 24, 17 16. In the partition 
of his father's estate, he received the farm 
which had been the homestead of his grand- 
father, Isaac Stearns. The homestead was 
the home of four generations of his descend- 
ants bearing the name Stearns and for two. 
generations of more remote descendants. In 
1716 he was selectman of Watertown. He 
married (first) 1694, Elizabeth, born Decem- 
ber 4, 1671, died June 16, 1712, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth (Barnard) Dix. He- 
married (second) October 29, 1713, Sarah, 
born July 22, 1672, daughter of John Nevi- 
son. She survived him and married (sec- 
ond) Samuel Livermore. Children, all by 
first wife: i. Nathaniel, died in infancy. 2. 
Nathaniel (2), born January 18, 1696, died' 
1749. 3. Elizabeth, September 26, 1697, mar- 
ried (first) Jonathan Shattuck ; (second) 
Daniel Bond. 4. Hannah, 1699, died 1716. 
5. Daniel, March i, 1701, died 1747; he 
served in the revolutionary war, and was- 
with General Wayne; he married (first) An- 
na ; (second) Mercy Grant, and had 

ten children. 6. Lydia, married Nehum 
Ward, of Boston. 7. Isaac, married Mehitable 

. 8. David, died in infancy. 9. Eben- 

ezer, see forward. 10. Mercy, twin to Eben- 
ezer. 11. Deborah, married Salis- 
bury. 12. Phebe, married Josiah Greenwood. 

(IV) Ebenezer, son of Nathaniel and 
Elizabeth (Dix) Stearns, was born in Water- 
town, Massachusetts, April 22, 1708, died in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, September, 1777,. 



^04 



HUDSON AND ]MOHA\VK \'ALLEYS 



by being thrown from a horse. He was a 
clothier of Worcester, and was in business 
until his death. He married, April 12, 1737, 
Mary Spring, of Newton, who survived him, 
dying October, 1798, aged eight\'-eight years. 
Children: i. Mary, born June 24, 1739. 2. 
Ephraim, January 10, 1740, died 1808. 3. 
Ebenezer, October 3, 1741, died 1823. 4. 
Nathaniel, October 26, 1743. 5. Simeon, 
June 10, 1745, a soldier in the revolution in 
1777. 6. Joanna, April 7, 1747. 7. Betty, 
May, 1750. 8. Lucretia, July 7, 1752. 9. 
William, see forward. 

(V) Captain William Stearns, youngest 
■child of Ebenezer and Mary (Spring) Stearns, 
was born August 5, 1754, died February 13, 
1834. He was a captain in the revolutionary 
army, and his discharge, together with some 
of the continental money he received for his 
service, has been preserved in the family. 
At one time he was sheriff of Worcester 
■county, Massachusetts. He married, Septem- 
ber 16, 1775. Joanna Duncan, born February 
■8, 1757, died at Jamestown, Chautauqua 
county, New York, August 13, 1834. Chil- 
dren: I. Franklin, born April 9, 1777, died 
1849-50. 2. Betty, died in infancy. 3. Betty 
(2), married, January 25, 1800, William 
■Gates. 4. Joanna, married. May 17, 1805. 
Joel Gates. 5. William Jr., married Hannah 
Benham. 6. Lydia, married, 1803, Joseph 
Garfield, an officer of the war of 18 12. 7. 
Jonah D., died in childhood. 8. Colonel 
Simeon, born June 28, 1788; married (first) 
Irene Newcome; (second) Susan Hodges. 9. 
A child born and died March 19, 1790. 10. 
Ebenezer, born March 13, 1791. served as 
drum major in war of 1812, and spent most 
■of his life at Hoosick, New York ; he mar- 
ried Melinda Bigelow Harris. 11. Dolly, 
married Dudley Beebee and settled in Kan- 
kakee, Illinois. 12. Eleanor, married Lyman 
Tombs, and settled in North Bennington, 
Vermont. 13. Emory, married Maria De La 
Mater. 14. Mary, see forward. 15. Joseph 
H.. married (second) Anice Stowell. 

(\T) Mary, daughter and fourteenth child 
-of Captain William and Joanna (Duncan) 
Stearns, born December 12, 1798, died at 
Hoosick, June 20, 1875. She married, Jan- 
uary 22, 1826, Ebenezer H. Harris, who died 
April 3, 1837 (see Harris I). 

(The Harris Line). 
Ebenezer H. Harris, grandfather of Mary 
S. (Harris) Sheldon and Eva A. (Harris) 
(Sheldon) Durkee, died April 3, 1837. He 
married Mary, daughter of Captain William 
Stearns. They lived in Hoosick, New York. 
•Children: i. Joseph, see forward. 2. William 



H., born October i, 1828. 3. Ebenezer 
Stearns, September 4, 1834, died December, 4, 
1880; married Elizabeth Rudd. 4. Mary P., 
December 16, 1835. died February 5, 1837. 

(II) Joseph, eldest son of Ebenezer H. and 
Mary (Stearns) Harris, was born November 
9, 1826, died September 6, 1908, at Smith's 
Basin, town of Kingsbury, Washington 
county. New York. In his youth he lived 
with his uncle, Ober Harris, a farmer of 
Hartford, remaining with him several years, 
receiving as wages eleven dollars per month. 
Husbanding his resources, he was after a few 
years able to make a purchase of fifty acres 
of tillable land at Smith's Basin, upon which 
his residence later was built. He was ener- 
getic and capable, holding fast to his original 
purchase and soon adding another fifty acres. 
With great courage and industry he prose- 
cuted his business, and later added one hun- 
dred acres to his previous purchases. This 
gave him a fine farm of two hundred acres, 
which he ran as a dairy farm and prospered. 
Later he added fifty acres in the "Swamp." 
which was very productive. The state has 
recently taken nine acres of this tract for 
barge canal requirements. In addition to 
these farming operations, he was engaged in 
lumbering for ten or twelve years, furnishing 
wood, ties and lumber to the Rensselaer & 
Saratoga railroad, and to the Delaware & 
Hudson. He was a Republican in politics, 
and held several appointments under the state 
government. He was superintendent of sec- 
tion three of the Champlain canal for three 
years, and inspector of new construction at 
Daimemora prison. He received these ap- 
pointments after successfully passing a civil 
service examination, he then being past sev- 
enty-five years of age. He was a man of 
high character and strict integrity. He was 
one of the oldest members of the Masonic 
order in the county, his name standing sec- 
ond on the list of members of Sandy Hill 
Lodge. He maintained an active interest and 
membership until his death. He married, 
September 14, 1848, Elmira N., daughter of 
John Lowell and Hannah (Buttcrfield) Har- 
ris (altliough hearing the same name, no re- 
lationship existed) (see Harris Vll). Chil- 
dren: I. Mary S., born October 31, 1854, 
married Franklin Sheldon. 2. Eva A., born 
September 26, i860, married (first) George 
W. Sheldon ; both Franklin and George W. 
were sons of Henry and Selina (Cook) Shel- 
don, and grandsons of Gideon and Lydia 
(Leake) Sheldon, of Copake, Columbia 
county. New York, who were married in 
181 2. Henry, son of Gideon and Lydia Shel- 
don, married, June 2, 1836. Selina, daughter 




o-r^c 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



305 



<of Lott and Cornelia (Manchester) Cook and 
eranddaug^hter of Solomon Cook. Children : 
Eveline, born November 4, 1S37 ; Collins. July 
26, 1839: Wilson, August 16, 1841 ; Allen, 
December 12, 1842; Miranda, March 3, 1845; 
Otis, December 13, 1847 • Franklin, see for- 
ward : George W., see forward. Eva A. mar- 
ried ("second) William J. Durkee. 3. Irving 
W., born January 14, 1867. died February 26, 
i8''i7. 4. Alice E., born February 13, 1872, 
•died June 28, 1872. 

Franklin, son of Henry and Selina (Cook) 
Sheldon, was born at Copake, Columbia 
county. New York, May 13, 1849. He was 
educated in the public schools of Copake and 
finished at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, 
where he was graduated. He taught school 
for a few years, and was for a time principal 
of a school in Connecticut. He later turned 
to the soil, and purchased a farm which he 
cultivated in connection with his extensive 
business in fertilizers. He was largelv in- 
terested in live stock as a trader and breeder. 
He was a clear-headed, energetic man of 
business, and successful in his various enter- 
prises. He became one of the substantial men 
of the town and bore a name unsullied by any 
form of deceit. He was frank and engaging 
in manner, and had a wide circle of warm 
friends. He entered heartily into public life 
and affairs. He was justice of the peace for 
several years, and at the time of his death 
was deputy-sherilif of the county. He fre- 
quently served as a grand juror, and was a 
member of several local societies. His prac- 
tical common sense that made him a success- 
ful business man also made him a useful pub- 
lic official. He was a member of Fort Ann 
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. His death 
was caused by a stroke of paralysis. May 5, 
1910. He married, October g, 1873, Mary 
S., daughter of Joseph and Elmira N. (Har- 
ris) Harris, who survives him, a resident of 
Fort Ann, New York. Child, Frances E., 
born November 3, 1874, married, October 3, 
igoo, Michael J., son of John J. and Catherine 
Linchan, born x\pril 14, 1874; children: 
Franklin John, born November 3, 1901 ; Jo- 
seph A., August 14, 1903 ; John M., April 29. 
1905, died October 4, 1906; Nora Teresa, 
July 23, 1906; Mary Cecelia, June 22, 1907. 

George W., youngest son of Henry and 
Selina (Cook) Sheldon, was born at Copake, 
Columbia county. New York, October i, 185 1, 
died June 28, 1899. He married, January 9, 
1884, Eva A., daughter of Joseph and El- 
mira N. (Harris) Harris, who bore him a 
.son, Joseph Harris Sheldon, born October 12, 
1884. Mrs. Sheldon married (second) June 
20, 1901, William J. Durkee, born January 



26, 1859, .son of William E. and Maria (Wil- 
liams) Durkee. He was connected with the 
Pullman car service for nineteen years, when 
he located in Kingsbury, and purchased a 
farm of over two hundred acres, which he 
operates. 

Elmira N, (Harris) Harris descends from 
another and distinct Harris family, one that 
was planted in New England at Boston about 
the middle of the seventeenth century. 

(I) Robert Harris, an early settler of Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, where he had children 
born, was later of Boston. He lived in that 
part called Muddy River, now Brookline, 
about 1655. He married, January 24, 1642, 
Elizabeth Boughey or BofFee. Children : 
John; Eliza; both baptized August 8, 1647, 
when the family joined Rev. Elliot's church; 
Timothy ; Daniel, of further mention ; Pris- 
cilla. baptized October 9, 1653. About 1655 
he built his home in Brookline on land that 
remained in possession of one branch of his 
descendants and was occupied l)y them until 
1828. Robert and wife were married in Rox- 
bury about thirteen years previous to their 
settlement in Brookline. 

(II) Daniel, son of Robert and Elizabeth 
(Boughey) Harris, was born in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, May 14, 1652, and later was 
of Aluddy River (Brookline). He joined the 
Roxbury church, April 13, 1689. He was 
elected constable of Muddy River, March 14, 
1692-93. He died December 15, 1733. He 
married Joanna Brown. Children : Daniel, 
Priscilla, Joanna, Nathaniel, of further men- 
tion, Elizabeth, Timothy, Sarah, Robert, Me- 
hitabel, Daniel (2), Benjamin. 

(III) Nathaniel, son of Daniel and Joanna 
(Brown) Harris, was born May 2, 1692. He 
was a clothier by trade and settled first in 
Needham, where he was located at the time 
of his marriage ; soon after he removed to 
Watertown, Alassachusetts, where he was 
selectman eleven years, 1735-46; he was rep- 
resentative from Watertown, 1735-36-37 and 
justice of the peace. He held a license as 
retail dealer, 1740-49. He married, January 
30, 1717-18, Hannah Fulham. He died May 
14. 1761. After the decease of his widow an 
order was issued, July 10, 1778, to divide his 
estate "to be divided into nine shares, his 
eldest son, Thomas, to have two shares." 
Children : Thomas, of further mention ; Sarah, 
Priscilla, Nathaniel, Priscilla (2), Benjamin, 
Hannah, Stei)hen, Francis. Hannah (Ful- 
ham) Harris was a daughter of Major Fran- 
cis Fulham, justice of the peace of W'ater- 
town Farm (Weston), who married (first) 
Sarah Livermore, born February 18, 1671-72, 
died IMarch 10, 1723-24. daughter of Lieuten- 



3o6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ant John and Hannah Livermore, and grand- 
daughter of John Livermore, the emigrant 
ancestor of all the Livermores of early New 
England. He married (second) October i, 
1724, Mary, daughter of Samuel Jones. 

(I\') Thomas, son of Nathaniel and Han- 
nah (Fulham) Harris, was born at Needham, 
Massachusetts, baptized October 10, 1725. He 
married (second) in Watertown, August 22, 
1745, Lucy Pierce, born March 6, 1722, 
daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Converse) 
Pierce, granddaughter of Benjamin, son of 
Anthony, son of John Pierce, a weaver of 
Watertown, 1637. Thomas and Lucy Harris 
had four sons, who served in the revolution. 

(V) Josiah, son of Thomas and Lucy 
(Pierce) Harris, married and had issue. 

(VI) John Lowell, son of Josiah Harris, 
married Hannah Butterfield and had issue. 
He served in the war of 1812, but the New 
York state records give no particulars con- 
cerning those who served in the war except 
the "awards to soldiers and sailors." In this 
list there is a John Harris, whose residence at 
time of making application was Binghamton, 
New York. 

(VII) Elmira N., daughter of John Lowell 
and Hannah (Butterfield) Harris, married, 
September 14, 1848, Joseph Harris (see Har- 
ris II). 



The Dowling family of Al- 
DOWLING bany. New York, represented 
by Dr. Joseph I. Dowling, is 
of English origin and through maternal lines 
connected with the very earliest New Eng- 
land families, including Francis Cooke and 
Mary (Chilton) Winslow, both passengers on 
the "Mayflower" 1620. The main genealog- 
ical lines are the Seaverns, Bartholomew, 
Marshall, Simonds and Sheppard families, 
while a collateral branch includes most of the 
illustrious names of New England history. 

(I) Isaac Dowling, born about 1780 at 
Pevenzy, Essex county, England. 

(II) Rev. John Dowling, son of Isaac 
Dowling, was born at Pevenzy, Essex county, 
England, May 12, 1807. He came to the 
United States in 1832 and soon afterwards 
was ordained a minister of the Baptist church. 
In 1839 he removed to Newport, Rhode 
Island, and was pastor of the Pine Street Bap- 
tist Church, Providence, Rhode Island. In 
1844 he accepted a call to New York City, 
which was the principal scene of his labors, 
excepting a few years spent as pastor of the 
Sansom Street Baptist Church of Philadel- 
phia. In 1856 he returned to New York, 
where he was in charge of the Berean Church. 
He was an eloquent and great preacher, as 



well as a most prolific, convincing writer ; his- 
"Defense of the Protestant Scriptures" and 
his "History of Romanism" being monuments- 
to his industry, research and deep learning. 
His parents were members of the Established 
Church of England and he was reared in that 
faith, but at the age of sixteen years he was 
converted, baptized by Rev. Joseph Ivimey,. 
and united with the Eagle Street Baptist 
Church, London, England, from whence he 
came to the United States. He married,. 
March 4, 1833, Maria Sampson Perkins, born 
August 30, 1809, died August 30, 1897 (see 
Chilton X). 

(III) Joseph Ivimey, son of Rev. John- 
and Maria Sampson (Perkins) Dowling, was 
born at Providence, Rhode Island, February 
II, 1843, <:l'ed January 19, 1884. He mar- 
ried Mary Jane Sheppard, born April 6, 1845, 
daughter of George Sheppard, born at Frome, 
Somersetshire, England, 1802, died December 
I, 1857; came to the United States and settled 
at Newburg, New York, where he was known 
as George B. Sheppard, having assumed the 
middle name out of regard for an intimate 
friend. He married Ann Eliza King, born 
June 4, 1804, died April 13, 1862. 

(IV) Dr. Joseph Ivimey Dowling, son of 
Joseph Ivimey and Mary Jane (Sheppard) 
Dowling, was born in Newark (Woodside), 
New Jersey, December 22, 1872. He was- 
educated in private and public schools in- 
Brooklyn, New York : public schools in Phila- 
delphia ; graduated Philadelphia high school, 
1892 : entered Philadelphia Medico-Chirurgi- 
cal College, where he completed the first year 
course, taking the freshman faculty prize. In 
1893 he entered the New York Homeopathic 
Medical College : received his degree M.D. in 
1895; ''^s since been in the continuous prac- 
tice of his profession, specializing in diseases 
of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He has 3 
very large practice in Albany and is a most 
skillful and successful practitioner. In 1895- 
96 he was resident surgeon of Flower Hos- 
pital, New York City: 1896-98 physician of 
Five Points House of Industry : 1898-99 sur- 
geon New York Ophthalmic Hospital ; was 
medical school inspector, New York City. 
After his removal to Albany he was attending 
oculist, aurist, laryngolist and rhinologist to 
Albany Homeopathic Hospital ; president of 
Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society, 
1902-08: secretary of .Xmerican Homeopathic 
Ophthalmological, Otological and Laryngo- 
logical Society ; American Institute of Homeo- 
pathy ; member Albany Chamber of Com- 
merce, and Society of Mayflower Descend- 
ants. His clubs are the Fort Orange, Uni- 
versity and Country, all of Albany. Dr. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



307 



Dowling is the author of many papers relative 
to general and special practice, and has at- 
tained eminence in his profession. In the 
summer of 1906 he spent four months in 
European travel, taking needed recreation. 
He married, November 6, 1901, Elizabeth 
Marshall Seaverns, born July 27, 1878 (see 
Seaverns XH). Two children: Frank Seav- 
erns, born at 223 State street, Albany, New 
York October 9, 1902. and Elizabeth Thayer, 
born September 26, 1909. 

(The Seaverns Line). 
John Seaverns, of Shraw-ley, England, born 
1509. came of an ancient English family. 

(II) Thomas, son of John Seaverns, was 
born at Powick, county of Worcester, Eng- 
land, 1530; married Elizabeth Nash, of Mart- 
ley, Worcestershire, England. 

(III) John (2), son of Thomas and Eliza- 
beth (Nash) Seaverns, was born at Powick, 
England, 1588; married Mary, daughter of 
Richard Langley, of Abbey Shrewsbury. 

(IV) John (3), son of John (2) and Mary 
(Langley) Seaverns, was born in England, 
1609, and is the founder of the family in 
America. He came to Boston from Ipswich, 
England, in the ship "Elizabeth," April 30, 
1634, with his wife Abigail and her father, 
Richard Kimball. In 1636 he was a resident 
of Ipswich; in 1637 he was made a freeman; 
joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery 
Company of P)Oston in 1638 ; removed to 
Salisbury in 1640; was prudential man in 
1642; issued an order in 1643 directing that 
arms and ammunition should be carried to 
church. His will, dated .\pril 7. 1682, was 
proved May 9, 1682. Abigail, his wife, born 
1616, died June 19, 1658. 

(\') Joseph, son of John (3) and Abigail 
(Kimball) Seaverns, was born at Salisbury, 
Massachusetts, 1650. He removed to Charles- 
town, Massachusetts, but after his death his 
widow, Elizabeth, settled at Watertown. 
They were married in 1675. 

(\T) Samuel, son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
Seaverns, was born 1676, died November 10, 
1714. In 1686 he was baptized at the First 
Parish Church of Watertown, the name being 
written Severns. His daughter Elizabeth's 
name is entered on the register of the same 
church as Severins, but he wrote and spelled 
it Seaverns. December 20, 1699, he married 
Rebecca Stratton, born ]May 16, 1672. 

(VII) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (i) and 
Rebecca (Stratton) Seaverns. was born at 
Watertown, Massachusetts, July 11, 1706, died 
December 27, 1788. Will dated December 13 
of same year. He married, October 6, 1731, 
Sarah Jennison, born November 13, 171 1. 



(VIII) Samuel (3), son of Samuel (2) and 
Sarah (Jennison) Seaverns, was born at Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, September 13, 1736, died 
November 27, 1796. He married, April 11, 
1765, Lucy Smith, born March 5, 1747. 

(IX) Joel, son of Samuel (3) and Lucy 
(Smith) Seaverns, was born May 22, 1767, 
died February 12, 1827. He married, Jan- 
uary 20, 181 1, Olive Draper Gay, born Sep- 
tember 15, 1786, died August 31, 1833. 

(X) Francis, son of Joel and Olive 
Draper (Gay) Seaverns, was born March 25, 
1814, died July 13, 1880. He married, Jan- 
uary I, 1845, Nancy Bartholomew, born Oc- 
tober 12, 1817, died January 6, 1901. 

(XI) Francis (2), son of Francis (i) and 
Nancy (Bartholomew) Seaverns, was born 
February i, 1847. He married, November 20, 
1873, Caroline Augusta Marshall, born Octo- 
ber 31, 1845 (see Marshall IX). 

(XII) Elizabeth Marshall, daughter of 
Francis (2) and Caroline Augusta (Mar- 
shall) Seaverns, born July 27, 1878, married, 
November 6, 1901, Dr. Joseph Ivimey Dow- 
ling (see Dowling IV). 

(The Marshall Line). 
Captain Thomas Marshall, born 1613, came 
from England in the ship "James" in 1635 
and settled at Reading, Massachusetts, where 
he was made a freeman in 1641. He removed 
to Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was "made 
free" in 1653. He was a member of the An- 
cient and Honorable Artillery Company, 1640. 
He was representative to the general court, 
1659-60-63-64-67-68. He was always called 
"Captain." 

(II) John, son of Captain Thomas Mar- 
shall, born 1632, died November 5, 1702. He 
settled at Billerica, Massachusetts, where his 
house was on the East Road, near IMarshall 
Lane, which was named after him. He mar- 
ried, November 27, 1665, Mary Burrage, born 
May 9, 1 64 1, died October 30, 1680. 

(III) John (2), son of John (i) and Mary 
(Burrage) Marshall, born .August i, 1671, at 
Billerica, died January 25. 1713-14. He mar- 
ried. December 8, 1695, Eunice Rogers, born 
1676. 

(IV') John (3) (Sergeant), son of John 
(2) and Eunice (Rogers) Marshall, was born 
at Billerica, January 19, 1698-99; moved to 
Tewksbury, where he died October 6, 1672. 
He was sergeant of the train band or militia. 
He was married, August 10, 1722, to Abigail 
Parker. 

(V) Daniel, son of Sergeant John (3) and 
Abigail (Parker) Marshall, was born at Bil- 
lerica, Massachusetts, August 29, 1726; re- 
moved to Hudson, New Hampshire (a part of 



3o8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the town of Nottingham). He married and 
had issue. 

(VI) Elijah, son of Daniel ^Marshall, was 
born 1750 or 1759 at Hudson or Nottingham, 
New Hampshire. He married Alary . 

(\'n ) Thomas, son of Elijah and Alary 
Marshall, was born at Nottingham, New 
Hampshire, or Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
December 12, 1781. died February 15, 1808. 
He married, September 4, 1808, Huldah 
Chase Ayer, born February 6, 1778, died Alay 
21, 1863. 

(\'ni) Caleb Strong, son of Thomas and 
Huldah Chase (Ayer) Marshall, was born at 
Newburyport. Massachusetts, August 26. 
1812, died January 19, 1874. He married, 
January i, 1835, Ann Goold Simonds, born 
June 25, 1813, died March 26, 1877. 

(IX) Caroline Augusta, daughter of Caleb 
Strong and Ann Goold (Simonds) Marshall, 
born October 31, 1845, married, NoveiTiber 
20, 1873, Francis Seaverns (see Severans XI). 

(The Chilton Line). 

James Chilton, of England, born 1580, came 
to America with his wife and daughter in the 
"Mayflower," 1620 ; signer of the "Compact" : 
died in Cape Cod Harbor before the landing ; 
his wife dying a month later. 

(II) Mary, daughter of James Chilton, died 
May II, 1679. Tradition says that when the 
"Pilgrims" landed Mary Chilton was the first 
to step on the shore. She married. 1627, John, 
brother of Governor Winslow, born April 26. 
1597, died 1674. Her will is on file in the 
probate court of Boston. 

(HI) Susannah, daughter of John and 
Mary (Chilton) Winslow. born 1628-29, died 
1676-83. Her father, John Winslow, son of 
Edward and Magdalen W'inslow. was born at 
Droitwich, Worcestershire, England ; came to 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the ship "For- 
tune," 1623; removed to Boston 1657: free- 
man 1672; brother of Edward Winslow, gov- 
ernor of the Plymouth Colony (see Wins- 
low genealogy in this work). Susannah mar- 
ried, 1649, Robert Latham, died 1688. 

(IV) Sarah, daughter of Robert and 
Susannah (Winslow) Latham, married John 
(3) Howard, born April 20, 1647. 

(V) Martha, daughter of John (3) and 
Sarah (Latham) Howard, died July 14. 1735. 
She married, l-'ebruary i, 1688-89, David I'er- 
kins, born 1652, died October i, 1736. John 
(3) Howard was a son of John (2) Howard 
and a grandson of Lieutenant John ( i ) How- 
ard, born 1625, died 1700. 

(VI) Nathan, son of David and Martha 
(Howard) Perkins, married. November 9, 
1709, Martha, daughter of Soloman Leonard, 



granddaughter of Solomon Leonard and 
great-granddaughter of Samuel Leonard. 

(VII) James, son of Nathan and Martha 
(Leonard) Perkins, was born March 5, 1720. 
He married, 1742, Berthia Dimhan. 

(VIII) Deacon James (2), son of James 
(i) and Berthia (Dunhan) Perkins, was born 
April I, 1746, died August 28, 1827. He 
married, February 14, 1771, Mary Hooper, 
born 1744, daughter of James and Mary 
Johnson Hooper. James was the son of John 
and grandson of William Hooper, born 1617, 
died December 5, 1678, and Elizabeth Mar- 
shall, his wife, a daughter of Captain Thomas 
and Rebecca Alarshall. 

(IX) Rufus, son of Deacon James (2) and 
Mary (Hooper) Perkins, was born Septem- 
ber 3, 1774. He married, 1797, Rebecca 
Johnson, born 1778. 

(X) Maria Sampson, daughter of Rufus 
and Rebecca (Johnson) Perkins, was born 
August 30, 1809, died August 30, 1897. He 
married, March 4, 1833, Rev. John Dowling 
(see Dowling II). 

(The Cooke Line). 
Francis Cooke, born 1582, came from 
England to America with his son John in 
the "Mayflower," 1620. having been trans- 
ferred to her from the "Speedwell," in which 
he originally set sail. His wife, Esther or 
Hester, is believed to have been born in 
Canterbury, England, and from there went to 
Holland. She came to America in the ship 
"Ann" in 1623 with three children. They 
were married June 30, 1(503. He died April 
7, 1663, she surviving him until June 18, 
1666. 

(II) Jane, daughter of Francis and Esther 
or Hester Cooke, married, 1628, Experience 
Mitchell, born 1606, died September 4, 1689; 
came from England in the "Ann." 1623; 
settled in Du.xbury, 163 1, afterwards remov- 
ing to liridgewater, Massachusetts. 

(III) Elizabeth, daughter of Experience 
and Jane (Cooke) Mitchell, married, Decem- 
ber 6. 1645, John (2) Washburn, born in 
England in 1621, came to America with his 
mother in the ship "Elizabeth and Ann" in 
1635, son of John (i) \\'ashburn, born about 
1583, came from Evesham. England, to Plym- 
outh, Massachusetts, in 1632; settled at Dux- 
bury and afterwards removed to Bridge- 
water, and whose wife Margaret came later, 
coming from London in 1635 with their son 
John. 

(I\') John (3), son of John (2) and Eliza- 
beth Mitchell Washburn, was born at Dux- 
bury, Massachusetts, 1646: served in King 
Philips War; married, April 16, 1679, Rebecca 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



309 



Lapliam, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Til- 
den) Lapham ; married March 13, 1637. 

(V) Rebecca, daughter of John (3) and 
Rebecca (Lapham) Washburn, married, 1719, 
Captain David Johnson, son of Captain Isaac 
Johnson, born 1668, died 1735, married Abi- 
gail Leavitt. 

Captain Isaac Johnson came over from 
England with his father. Captain John John- 
son, in 1630, settling at Roxbury; was made 
a freeman 1635; member of the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery Company in 1645; 
commissioned a captain 1653; captain of 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company 
1657; was killed December 19, 1675, while 
lea<ling his company in a charge against the 
Indians at the Narragansett fort fight. The 
only entrance to the Indian stronghold was 
by means of a felled tree, bridging the swamp, 
over which but one man could pass at a time. 
Captain Johnson was shot dead on the bridge, 
while leading his men. His father. Captain 
John Johnson, came from England with Gov- 
ernor Winthrop, bringing his wife and son 
Isaac. He was one of the founders of the 
first church at Roxbury, 1632 ; deputy 1634- 
48 ; member of Ancient and Honorable Artil- 
lery Company 1638 ; held the title of "Sur- 
veyor General of all ye armies." When Ann 
Hutchinson was taken into custody, the gen- 
eral court ordered that the arms of her Rox- 
bury adherents be delivered to "goodman" 
Johnson. 

(\T) Major Isaac Johnson, son of Captain 
David and Rebecca (Washburn) Johnson, 
was born 1721 ; removed to Hingham and 
from there to Bridgewater. He was major' of 
Massachusetts troops, deputy and magistrate. 
He married, 1744. Mary Willis, born 1725, 
(laughter of Thomas and Mary (Kinsley) 
Willis, granddaughter of Benjamin and Su- 
sanna (Whitman) Willis, and great-grand- 
daughter of Deacon John Willis, born about 
1634, an original proprietor and one of the 
first settlers of Bridgewater, Massachusetts ; 
held many town offices ; deputy or represent- 
ative from that town for twenty-five years; 
married Elizabeth Hodgkins. 

(\TI ) Thomas, son of Major Isaac and 
Mary (Willis) Johnson, was born in Bridge- 
water, 1747. He married, 1771. Molly 
Lathrop, born 1775, a descendant of Mark 
Lathrop, who settled at Bridgewater as early 
as 1656. He is supposed to have descended 
from Rev. John Lathrop. His son, Samuel, 
born at Bridgewater, died 1724 ; married, 
1682, Sarah Downer. Their son Samuel (2), 
born 1685, died 1746; married, 17 10, Abial 
Lazell, born 1686. Their son. Major Daniel 
Lathrop, born 1721, married, 1744, Rhoda 



Willis. Their daughter Molly married Thom- 
as Johnson. 

(VIII) Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and 
Molly (Lathrop) Johnson, born 1778, mar- 
ried, 1797, Rufus Perkins, born 1774. 

(IX) Maria Sampson, daughter of Rufus 
and Rebecca (Johnson) Perkins, married, 
March 4, 1833, Rev. John Dowling. 

(The Bartholomew Line). 
Nancy Bartholomew, wife of Francis Seav- 
erns (see Seaverns X), is a descendant of 
William (2) Bartholomew, born 1602, died 
January 18, 1680, son of William (i) (1567), 
son of John (1528), son of John (1506). Wil- 
liam (2) was born at Burford. Oxfordshire, 
England. On account of religious persecu- 
tion he removed to London, where his house 
became headquarters for all dissenters. He 
came to Boston, Massachusetts, September 
18, 1634, in the ship "Griffith" with Ann 
Hutchinson and others. He removed to Ips- 
wich, where he was a special grand juror, 
1637, on the jury who tried Ann Hutchinson 
for heresy. He was representative in 1633- 
36-37-38-41-47-50; town clerk 1639; county 
treasurer 1654-66; established the first public 
school in Ipswich 1650. The house he built 
in 1637 was standing until a few years ago. 
He married Anna Lord, who died January 
29, 1682. 

(V) Lieutenant William (3), son of Wil- 
liam (2) and Anna (Lord) Bartholomew, was 
born at Ipswich, ^Massachusetts, 1640 ; was at 
Hatfield, September 19, 1677, and during the 
Indian raid his daughter, four years of age, 
was carried off to Canada and was only re- 
gained by the payment of a ransom of two 
hundred pounds. May 23, 1678. He removed 
to W^oodstock, Connecticut, 1687; was ensign 
1689; lieutenant 1691 ; deputy 1692. He 
married, December 17, 1663, Mary Johnson, 
born April 24, 1642, daughter of Captain 
Isaac Johnson, born 161 5, and granddaughter 
of Captain John Johnson, born 1593, died 
September 29, 1659. 

(VI) Joseph, son of Lieutenant William 
(3) and Mary (Johnson) Bartholomew, was 
born 1682. died 1697. He married, Novem- 
ber 12, 1713, Elizabeth, died October 15, 
1724, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Cut- 
ter) Sanger and granddaughter of Richard 
and Mary (Reynolds) Sanger. 

(\'II) Corporal Joseph (2), son of Joseph 
(i) and Elizabeth (Sanger) Bartholomew, 
was born at Woodstock, Connecticut, Febru- 
ary 10, 1715 ; fought at Louisburg. Canada, 
in Captain Cheney's company. Colonel Choat's 

eighth regiment. He married Mary , 

born 1 716. 



3IO 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(Vni) Samuel, son of Corporal Joseph 
(2) and Mary Bartholomew, was born at 
Woodstock, Connecticut, 1749, died 1831. He 
served in the revolution : at the siege of Bos- 
ton ; enlisted in 1775 in Captain Noble's com- 
pany : Colonel Eaton's regiment : December of 
the same year re-enlisted in Colonel Reed's 
regiment ; served in New York City ; May 8, 

1777, to May 26, 1777, in Captain Abraham 
Foot's company ; Colonel Andrew Ward's 
regiment; August 4, 1778, to September 12, 

1778, in Captain Matthew Brown's company, 
Colonel Samuel Chapman's regiment ; was 
engaged under Brigadier-General John Tyler 
in the attempt to dislodge the British at New- 
port and was present at the battle of Rhode 
Island, August 29, 1778. From January 18, 
1781, to December 31, 1781, in Captain Nehe- 
miah Rice's company, in Fifth Regiment 
Connecticut Line, commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Isaac Sherman ; wintered at Connec- 
ticut village and engaged in the Yorktown 
campaign during the following months. He 
married Susannah Laughlin, born 1762. 

(IX) Jedediah, son of Samuel and Susan- 
nah (Laughlin) Bartholomew, was born at 
Hartford, Connecticut, April 9, 1786, died 
December 25, 1829. He married, January 16, 
1809, Sally, born December 24, 1786, died 
December 26, 1849, daughter of Jonathan and 
Sarah (Goslee) Shirtleff, who were married 
April 14, 1785. 

(X) Nancy, daughter of Jedediah and 
Sally (Shirtleff) Bartholomew, was born 
October 12, 1817, died January 6, 1901. She 
married, January i, 1845, Francis Seaverns 
(see Seaverns X). 

(The Goold Line). 
Ann Goold (Simonds) Marshall, wife of 
Caleb Strong Marshall (see Marshall), was 
a descendant of Robert Goold, born 1640, 
came from Devonshire, England, in 1664, 
settled at Hull, Massachusetts. His cousin, 
Mrs. John .Stone, died that same year, child- 
less, bequeathing him all her property. He 
married, 1666, Elizabeth, born November 18, 
1638, daughter of Benjamin, born 1616, and 
granddaughter of Edward Bosworth, born 
about 1594, came to America from England 
in ir)34, in tlie ship "Elizabeth and Dorcas," 
with son Benjamin, who settled in Hingham, 
Massachusetts, removing to Hull in 1660. 
Edward Bosworth died shortly after his ar- 
rival and was buried at Boston. 

(II) John, son of Robert and Elizabeth 
(Bosworth) Goold, was born 1672, died No- 
vember 16, 1762. He married, January 17, 
1698, Lydia Jacobs, born April 18, 1681, died 
January 8, 1742. 



(HI) Jacob, son of John and Lydia (Ja- 
cobs) Goold, died November 16, 1762; was 
of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and one of the 
committee appointed to draft resolutions on 
"No More Tea." He married, October 4, 
1744, Deborah Gardner (Sampson), born 
1722, died December, 1795. 

(IV) Captain Jacob (2), son of Jacob (i) 
and Deborah Gardner (Sampson) Goold, was 
born 1755, died March 7, 1816. He was of 
Weymouth, ^Massachusetts, and captain of 
Lexington Alarm Roll of that town, Colonel 
Benjamin Lincoln's regiment, march from 
Weymouth and Braintree, April 19, 1775; 
served eight days ; June 23, 1775, signed re- 
ceipt as captain for twenty canteens for his 
company's commissary; August i, 1775, cap- 
tain in Colonel William Heath's regiment (36 
Regiment Foot) stationed at fort No. 2, 
Cambridge ; commissioned April 27, 1775 ; en- 
listed May 20, 1779; discharged September 
23, 1780; appears on pay roll employed in 
quartermaster-general's office, Boston, serving 
sixteen months. He married, April 13, 1775, 
Lydia Thayer, born March 29, 1752 (see 
Thayer VI). 

(V) Joanna Thayer, daughter of Captain 
Jacob (2) and Lydia (Thayer) Goold, was 
ioorn June 28, 1782. She married, December 
ID. 1800, Shepherd Simonds, born November 
18, 1781, died ]\Iarch 22, 1857 (see Simonds 
VI). 

(The Simonds Line). 

William Simonds, born about 161 2, mar- 
ried, January 18, 1644, Judith Phippen, died 
January 3, 1690. 

■(II) Benjamin, son of William and Judith 
(Phippen) Simonds, born March 18, 1654, 
died September 21, 1726. He married, 1678, 
Rebecca Tidd, died April, 1713. 

(HI) John, son of Benjamin and Rebecca 
(Tidd) Simonds, born March 22, 1685, died 
June 5, 1721. He married Sarah Johnson, 
died June 5, 1727. 

(IV) Joshua, son of John and Sarah (John- 
son) Simonds, born November 8, 1718. He 
married, February i, 1742, Jerusha Waters. 

(V) Josiah, son of Joshua and Jerusha 
(Waters) Simonds, born April 23, 1749. He 
married Mary Gibson. 

(VI) Shepherd, son of Josiah and Mary 
(Gibson) Simonds, born November 18, 1781, 
died March 22, 1857. He married, December 
10, 1800, Joanna Thayer Goold (see Goold 
V). 

(VII) Ann Goold, daughter of Shepherd 
and Joanna Thayer (Goold) Simonds, bom 
June 25, 1 81 3, died March 26, 1877. He 
married, January i, 1835, Caleb Strong Mar- 
shall (see Marshall VIII). 



HUDSON AND AIOHAWK VALLEYS 



3" 



(VIII) Caroline Augusta, daughter of 
Caleb Strong and Ann Goold Marshall, mar- 
ried Francis Seaverns (see Seaverns XI). 

(The Thayer Line). 

Lydia (Thayer) Goold, wife of Captain 
Jacob Goold, descends through both maternal 
■and paternal lines from Thomas Thayer, born 
1596, died June 2, 1665: came to America 
from England with his wife, Margery Wheel- 
■er, born 1598, died P'cbruary 11, 1672; mar- 
ried April 13, 1618, and son Thomas and 
wife, Anna, settled at Braintree, Massachu- 
setts, where he was made a freeman in 1647. 
In St. Mary's Church at Thornbury, Glouces- 
-tershire, England, the place of his birth, there 
is a tablet erected to John Thayer. The 
Thayers were land owners from the time of 
Edward II. Lydia Thayer also descended 
"from Richard Thayer, born 1601, came to 
America from Thornbury, England, eleven 
miles north of Bristol. After the death of 
his wife Dorothy Mortimore (born 1604, died 
January 17, 1640; married April 5, 1624), he 
■emigrated with his children to America, set- 
tling at Boston; made a freeman in 1640. In 
1641 he bought a tract of land from Josias 
Wampatect Sachem, who lived at Squantum 
and claimed land as far as Marshfield. Josias 
"being under jige. the town objected to the 
transfer. In 1662 Richard Thayer petitioned 
the king in favor of his claim, under his deed ; 
removed to Braintree, Massachusetts, where 
lie died. 

(II) Richard (2), son of Richard (i) and 
Dorothy (Mortimore) Thayer, born February 
10, 1624, died Aug^ist 27, 1695. He married, 
December 24, 165 1, Dorothy Pray, born 1624, 
died December 11, 1705. He came from Eng- 
land with his father and in 1679 returned 
there on business. The inscription on his 
gravestone in Hancock cemetery, Quincy, 
Massachusetts, reads: "Here Lyes ye body 
•of Richard Thayer senior, aged 71 years dec'd 
August 27. 1695." 

(HI) Richard (3), son of Richard (2) and 
Dorothy (Pray) Thayer, born August 31, 
1655, at Braintree, Massachusetts, died De- 
cember 4, 1705. He married, July 16, 1679, 
Rebecca Micall (Mycall), born January 22, 
1659, died January 28, 1732. He served in 
King Philips war under Captain Johnson, 
May 10, 1675. 

(I\') Lieutenant Richard (4), son of Rich- 
ard (3) and Rebecca (Micall) Thayer, was 
"born January 26, 1685. He married, Febru- 
ary 6, 171 1, Mary White, born September 12, 
1690, died 1736. He was in the military 
service of Massachusetts colony, ranking as 
lieutenant. 



(V) Obadiah, son of Lieutenant Richard 
(4) and Mary (White) Thayer, was born 
March 29, 1724, at Braintree, Massachusetts. 
Served in the revolution under Captain Jacob 
Goold in 1775. He married his cousin, Joanna 
Thayer, born May 10, 1728, daughter of Cap- 
tain Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer, son of Thom- 
as, son of Thomas and Margery Wheeler; 
thus uniting the lines of Thomas, 1596, and 
Richard (i) Thayer, 1601. 

(\T) Lydia, daughter of Obadiah and 
Joanna (Thayer) Thayer, was born March 
29, 1752. She married, April 13, 1775, Cap- 
tain Jacob Goold (see Goold IV). 

(VII) Joanna Thayer, daughter of Captain 
Jacob and Lydia (Thayer) Goold, married 
Shepherd Simonds (see Simonds VI). 

(VHI) Ann Goold, daughter of Shepherd 
and Joanna Thayer (Goold) Simonds, mar- 
ried Caleb Strong Marshall. 

(IX) Caroline Augusta, daughter of Caleb 
Strong and Ann (Goold) Marshall, married 
Francis Seaverns. 

(X) Elizabeth Marshall, daughter of Fran- 
cis and Caroline Augusta (Marshall) Seav- 
erns, married Dr. Joseph Ivimey Dowling. 
Children : Francis Seaverns, born October 9, 
1902, at Albany. New York ; Elizabeth Thay- 
er, born September 26, 1909. 



The first known authentic 
SPALDING record of the Spalding fam- 
ily in America appears in a 
\'irginia state document (senate report) en- 
titled "X'irginia Colonial Records, 1619-1680," 
published by authority of the state of Vir- 
ginia. The documents there presented were 
printed from copies obtained from the public 
record office of Great Britain and include an 
account of the history of the Virginia colony. 
It was in the year 1607 that the first emi- 
grants to successfully form a permanent colony 
landed in Virginia. The colony was ruled 
during the earlier years by laws written in 
blood, and the colonists suffered an extremity 
of distress too horrible to be described. Of 
the thousands of emigrants who had been 
sent to Virginia at great cost, not one in 
twenty remained alive in April, 1619, when 
Sir George Yeardley arrived with commis- 
sions and instructions "for the better estab- 
lishment of a commonwealth heere." The 
first meeting was held July 30, 1619, more 
than a year before the "Mayflower," with the 
Pilgrims on board, sailed on her historic voy- 
age. Conclusive evidence proves that Edward 
Spalding came over from England with Sir 
George Yeardley in 1619 or about that time. 
There is documentary evidence that Edward 
Spalding and his family were fully established 



312 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



in the Virginia colony in 1623, as his name 
appears in these "Virginia colony records" in 
"Lists of the Living and the Dead in Vir- 
ginia February 16, 1623"; under the caption 
"All James Citie" in list of the living is "Ed- 
ward Spalding, uxor (wife) Spalding, puer 
(boy) Spalding, puella (girl) Spalding. The 
supposition is that Edward and Edmund 
Spalding, whose names also appear on same 
lists later, emigrated together from England 
about 1619; that some years later Edward 
went to the i\Iassachusetts colony, while Ed- 
mund joined the Maryland colony under Lord 
Baltimore and was the progenitor of the 
"Mar\-land branch." 

Powhatan, the friend of the English, died 
and on March 22. 1622, the Indians fell upon 
the settlement and in one hour three hundred 
and forty-seven persons were massacred. A 
census was ordered after the massacre and it 
is in this list that the name of Edward Spald- 
ing and his family appear. Prior to emigrat- 
ing to Massachusetts, Edward may have lived 
a number of years in the Bermuda Islands 
(then called the Summer Islands), as there 
seems to be some evidence. The date of his 
settlement in Braintree, Massachusetts, was 
about 1634. Here his first wife, Margaret, 
and his child, Grace, died, and one of his 
children, Benjamin, was born. He was made 
a freeman, ^lay 13, 1640, and is named in a 
petition, October i, 1645. He is next of men- 
tion as one of the first proprietors of the town 
of Chelmsford, as is his son Edward, Junior, 
and John Spalding. He removed there in 
1653, and at the first town meeting held No- 
vember 22, 1654, was chosen selectman and 
again in 1656-60-61. He held other offices of 
trust in the town, and is recorded as one of 
the proprietors of "Newford," March 12, 
1667. 

He died February 26, 1670. He married 

(first) Jilargaret , died August i, 1640. 

Her children were : John, Edward and Grace. 

He married (second) Rachel , named 

in his will. Her children were : Benja- 
min, of further mention ; Joseph, Dinah and 
Andrew. 

(II) Benjamin, son of Edward and Rachel 
Spalding, was born April 7, 1643, '" Brain- 
tree, ]\Iassachusetts, died before 1708. He is 
not mentioned in his father's will, having al- 
ready received his share. He purchased a 
large tract of land in Canterbury, Windham 
county, Connecticut, later known as Brooklyn. 
He was made a freeman in 1689. He mar- 
ried, October 30, 1668, Olive, daughter of 
Henry Farwell. Children : Sarah, married 
John Miriam; Edward, of further mention; 
Benjamin, married Sarah Hail; Elizabeth, 



married Ephraim Wheeler; Mary, married' 
Isaac Morgan. 

(III) Edward (2), son of Benjamin and 
Olive (Farwell) Spalding, was born June 18, 
1672, died November 29, 1740. He inherited' 
the Canterbury homestead of his father, and 
according to Miss Earned "was the third 
settler within the present limits of Brook- 
lyn" and that he bought land there in 1707.- 
He was a member of the first committee of 
the Religious Society organized in 1731. He 
married Mary Adams, died September 20, 
1754, aged seventy-eight years. His first 
child was bom in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, 
the others in Canterbury, Connecticut, where 
he died. Children: Benjamin, married 
(first) Abigail Wright; (second) Deborah 
Wheeler; Elizabeth, married William Darber 
Ephraim, of further mention ; Jonathan, mar- 
ried Eunice Woodward ; Ezekiel, married 
Martha Kimball ; Ruth, married John Bacon ; 
Abigail, married Benjamin Douglass ; Eben- 
ezer, married Mary Fassett ; Thomas, mar- 
ried Abigail Brown ; John, served in the war 
of the revolution as surgeon in Colonel John 
Durkee's regiment, Twentieth Continental 
Line, 1776. 

(IV) Ephraim, son of Edward (2) and 
Mary (Adams) Spalding, was born April 3^ 
1700, in Canterbury, Connecticut, died 1776. 
He removed to Plainfield, Connecticut, where 
all his children were born. He married Abi- 
gail Bullard, of Plainfield, died July. 1789, 
aged over ninety years. Children: i. John, 
married Elizabeth Sanger. 2. Phineas, born 
March 25, 1726. 3. Reuben, of further men- 
tion. 4. Lieutenant Josiah, married Priscilla 
Paine ; he was a soldier and a pensioner of 
the revolution. 5. Sergeant Ezekiel. married 
Sarah Morgan ; served four years in the 
revolution. 6. Palabah, died at the age of 
sixteen years. 7. Abigail, married Captain 
Samuel Hall. 8. Oliver, married (first) Mary 
Witter; (second) Rebecca Bottom; was a 
soldier in the "Old French war," and his 
order book is still preserved ; also served in 
the revolution and was a pensioner. 9. Mary, 
married John Larabee. 10. Ephraim, mar- 
ried (first) Esther Snow; (second) Hannah 
Stowell ; was a revolutionary soldier. 

(V) Reuben, son of Ephraim and Abigail 
(Bullard) Spalding, was born in Plainfield, 
Connecticut, February 26, 1728, died January, 
1765, in Tyringham, Massachusetts. After 
his marriage he settled in Plainfield, Connec- 
ticut, where he taught school for several 
years. Then he bought a farm in Tyring- 
ham, where he died. He married, October i, 
1747, Mary Pierce, born November 15, 1728, 
died 1826 in Sharon, Vermont, daughter of 



HUDSON AND :\IOHAWK VALLEYS 



313 



Timothy and Mary Pierce. Children: i. 
Mary, married Ebenezer Parkhurst and re- 
sided in Sharon, Vermont. 2. Azel, left col- 
lege to join the revolutionary army, was 
taken prisoner by the Indians and kept in 
Canada over a year; finally he made his es- 
cape and came to Plainfield, Connecticut, 
where he married Alice Cole, and later moved 
to Sharon, \'ermont. 3. Reuben, of further 
mention. 4. Pedew, a daughter, died at the 
age of four years. 5. Phineas, died aged four 
years. 

(VI) Deacon Reuben (2), son of Reuben 
(i) and Mary (Pierce) Spalding, was born 
in Tyringham, Massachusetts, December 15, 
1758. died September 15. 1849, in Sharon, 
\'ermont. He settled in Sharon when eleven 
years of age, and took up his residence on 
the farm that was his home for eighty years. 
He was a member of the Congregational 
church sixty-one years, holding the office of 
deacon forty-two years. For over half a cen- 
tury he was justice of the peace, and was 
often called to fill various offices of trust. He 
had nine sons and three daughters, a circle 
remaining unbroken until two years before 
his own death, when his son. Dr. Jason C. 
Spalding, died. That event tailed together 
under the paternal roof the whole family and 
presented a sight rarely seen. The venerable 
father stood by the casket and urged upon 
the living with great fervor of spirit faith- 
fulness in the service of that God in whom 
he trusted. He served in the revolution as 
sergeant of Captain Jesse Safford's company 
and in Captain Wetherly's company, Colonel 
A\'yman's regiment, Ticonderoga alarm, 1777, 
serving nine days, also in Captain Lee's com- 
pany. Rhode Island expedition, 1778. He 
married, June 21, 1785, Jerusha Carpenter, of 
Sharon, \'ermont, born in Coventry, Connec- 
ticut, June 24, 1768, died December 7, 1827. 
Children, all born in Sharon, \^ermont: i. 
Pierce, February 9, 1787, died September 10, 
1852: married, Alarch 16, 1809, Serepta Vail; 
children : Caroline, Horatio, Pierce, Charles 
E. 2. Polly, August 12, 1788: married (first) 
Benjamin \'ail ; (second) Oliver Fales. 3. 
John, January 16, 1790, died April 24, 1870: 
he was a successful merchant of Montpelier, 
Vermont, until 1840: was seven years treas- 
urer of the state of Vermont ; was president 
of the Bank of Montpelier ; president of the 
Vermont Mutual Insurance Company and as- 
sistant judge of Washington county court ; he 
died at Montpelier ; he married Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Judge Collins ; children : Maria W., 
Ann E., Charles C, Sarah R., John. 4, 
James, of further mention. 5. Eunice, Sep- 
tember 24, 1794, died January 26, 1879; mar- 



ried, August 6, 1816, Gaius Leonard, and re- 
sided in Ripton, Wisconsin. 6. Susan, Octo- 
ber 25, 1796, died January 10, 1871 ; married, 
March 2, 1818, Thomas Lovejoy ; resided at 
Royalton, Vermont. 7. Dr. Phineas, January 
14, 1799; in 1895 he was living in Haverhili, 
New Hampshire, at the age of ninety-six 
years ; he studied medicine with his brother. 
Dr. James, attended lectures at Hanover; be- 
gan the practice of his profession at Lyndon. 
Vermont, in 1823 : in 1839 he settled in Haver- 
hill, New Hampshire, where he commanded a 
very large practice ; he was lecturer at the 
Vermont ]\Iedical College, raised funds for 
the Lyndon Academy, also for Haverhill 
Academy, serving for thirty years as trustee 
of the later ; was a prominent Free Mason, 
temperance worker and a devout Ciiristian ; 
he married (first) Caroline Bailey Lathrop ; 
(second) Charlotte Merrill; children: i. Caro- 
line Anastasia, a philanthropic worker and! 
writer of prose and poetry ; ii. Mary Green- 
leaf, married James H. Lowell ; iii. Ada 
Louisa, married Henry D. James ; iv. Frank 
I\Ierrill, married Julia E. Kingman. 8. Dr. 
Jason Carpenter, April 29, 1801, died Novem- 
ber 14, 1847, the first death among the twelve 
children ; at his death the entire remaining 
family were gathered around the paternal 
table for the first and last time. He was 
graduated M.D. at Dartmouth College, 1828, 
settled in Dixfield, Maine, then in Spencer, 
Massachusetts; in 1836 returned to the old 
home in Sharon, where he died ; he married 
Susan Haven Trask ; children : Jason Car- 
penter (2), Julia Trask; Helen Trask, Ed- 
ward Leland, and George Kilby. 9. Azel, 
March 29, 1803, died 1883 ; he was graduated 
from Middlebury College. A.M., in 1835, prac- 
ticed law in Montpelier, Vermont ; he was a 
warm friend of President Jackson and wrote 
most of the editorials in the J^crnioiit Patriot. 
a Jackson paper published in Montpelier. He 
was a member of the Vermont legislature, 
held the office of state attorney, judge of 
probate and other offices ;. he was a strong 
Union man and after the ciyil war removed 
to Atchison, Kansas, where he was police 
judge for many years ; he died in that city ; 
he married, July 14, 1834, Maria Tiieresa 
Wainwright, of Middlebury, Vermont ; chil- 
dren : Azel Wainwright, Agnes Maria and 
Theresa. 10. Levi, September 9, 1805, died 
June 3, 1871 ; he was engaged in business in 
Canada and Vermont ; was for many years 
president of the First National Bank of 
Derby Line, \'ermont ; he accumulated a very 
large estate; married, October 17, 1833, Julia 
Ann Caldwell : children : William, Levi Lin- 
coln, Julia Maria, Stephen Foster, who was 



314 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



lieutenant in civil war, fell in the second as- 
sault on Port Hudson, June 14, 1863; Clara 
Augusta, Sarah Jerusha, Lyman, Cornelia, 
Caldwell and Gertrude White. 11. Dr. Reu- 
ben, July 22, 1807, died February 13, 1878; 
graduated A.M. Dartmouth College, 1832, 
Middebury College, 1835 ; studied medicine 
with his brother, Dr. James, at IMontpelier, 
Vermont, graduated from Harvard Medical 
School, M.D., 1836, practiced his profession in 
Brattleboro, Vermont, from 1837 to 1857, and 
from February, 1859, until his death at 
Worcester, Massachusetts; he married (first) 
Electa Goodenough Clark; (second) Mrs. 
Mary Caroline (Sanderson) Powers; chil- 
dren: Henry George, Frederick, Edward 
Reynolds. 12. Charles, August 23, 1812, died 
April 8, 1857 ; married Rebecca Poole Hunt, 
January i, 1839; children: Susan Rebecca, 
Charles Henry, Edward Prescott, Richard 
Poole. 

(VH) Dr. James Spalding, third son of 
Deacon Reuben (2) and Jerusha (Carpenter) 
Spalding, was born in Sharon, Vermont, 
March 10, 1792, died March 15, 1858. He 
obtained a good common school education, 
and at the age of seventeen years began the 
study of medicine with Dr. Eber Carpenter, 
of Alstead, New Hampshire, at the same 
time took private lessons in Greek and Latin. 
At the age of twenty years he was graduated 
M.D. at Dartmouth Medical Institution. He 
practiced two years in Alstead with Dr. Car- 
penter, then practiced for a time in Clare- 
mont, Vermont, but yielding to the solicitation 
of friends removed to Montpelier, Vermont. 
Though but a boy he had seen much practice 
and performed many surgical operations, 
therefore it required but a short time for him 
to gain general confidence as a physician and 
surgeon, which he retained without abatement 
throughout life. As a surgeon Dr. Spalding 
was successful above most others. He was 
an original thinker, well informed in the books 
and general principles of his profession, as 
■was manifested not only in his medical and 
surgical practice, but in other departments of 
science. It was a maxim with him that there 
should be no guess work in his profession, 
and that strict integrity was the true and only 
•policy which should govern every man. For 
■more than forty years he was an active mem- 
ber of the Vermont State Medical Society, 
and througli it labored to advance the best in- 
terests of the profession he best loved. In 
1819 he was elected secretary, which office he 
held for over twenty years. He was elected 
vice-president in 1843, treasurer in 1844, chair- 
man of the committee on history of the So- 
ciety in 1845 ; elected president in 1846-47-48, 



in the latter years delivering a dissertation on 
the Typhus Fever, which was published by 
vote of the society. He was elected corre- 
sponding secretary in 1850, and librarian in 

1854, which office he held until his death. He 
was also a member of the board of fellows of 
the \'ermont Academy of Medicine, besides 
holding many offices in the state connected 
with science, literature and temperance. He 
devoted his life to his profession, having 
never engaged in any other business or sought 
any political preferment. But few men in 
the country have seen such an amount of dis- 
ease and so carefully observed the peculiari- 
ties of the various epidemics occurring for 
half a century, and it is to be regretted that so 
little is left on record of his extensive observa- 
tion and experience both as a physician and a 
surgeon. He married (first) November 2, 
1820, Eliza Reed, born October 13, 1798, at 
Hampstead, New Hampshire, died August 8, 
1853, at Montpelier, Vermont. He married 
(second) Mrs. Anna (Lyman) Dodd, April 
18, 1855, at Springfield, Massachusetts. She 
was born November 28. 1798, at Hartford, 
Vermont, died December 11, 1856, at Mont- 
pelier. Children, all born in Montpelier, \'er- 
mont, all by first wife: i. James Reed, of 
further mention. 2. Martha Eliza, died in in- 
fancy. 3. William Cowper, born September 
24, 1825 : he graduated at New York Univer- 
sity in 1847, was commissioned surgeon in the 
Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 
September 3, 1862; soon after lie left for the 
front and was engaged in several battles, act- 
ing as brigade surgeon ; he was with General 
Grant at the siege of Vicksburg, but after the 
surrender of the city resigned on account of 
ill health and returned to Watertown, Wis- 
consin, where he resumed the practice of his 
profession; he married (first) .August 2, 

1855, Isabella McLaughlin, died October, 
1855, leaving no children; he married (sec- 
ond) March 10, 1857, Anna Amelia Potter, 
born July 4. 1835, died July 4, 1888; he mar- 
ried (third) Mrs. Susan D. McRae, of Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa ; child, Mary Irwin, bom .\ugust* 
12, 1875. 4. Martha Eliza, born October 5, 
1827, died October 30, 1848, unmarried. 5. 
Elizabeth, died in infancy. 6. Jane Maria, 
born May 27, 1833; married Dr. Abner 
Spicer Warner, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, 
June 7, 1869. 7. Rev. George Burley, of 
further mention. 8. Isabelle, born November 
26, 1837; married, June 8, 1864, Cooke 
Lounsbury. 

(VIII) James Reed, eldest son of Dr. James 
and Eliza (Reed) Spalding, was born No- 
vember 15, 1821, at Montpelier, Vermont, died 
October 10, 1872, in Dover, New Hampshire. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



315 



He graduated from the University of Ver- 
mont, 1840, and was afterward a private 
tutor in Georgia, at tlie same time studying 
law. On his return to Montpelier, Vermont, 
he was admitted to the bar and began prac- 
tice with Joseph Prentice. His Hterary tastes 
led him to rehnquish his profession, and he 
spent several years in travel in Europe and 
the East, as a close student of manners, morals 
and politics. He was a witness of the events 
•of the revolution of France in 1848. His let- 
ters to the Ncii' York Courier and Inquirer 
during his sojourn won for him the highest 
praise from English and American scholars. 
In the spring of 1850 he became one of the 
editors of the Courier and Inquirer. His re- 
markable ability as a writer was soon widely 
recognized ; his reputation as a fearless in- 
dependent critic of public men and measures 
created a demand for the establishment of a 
new journal which might be a full reflection 
of his own spirit and character, and the Neiv 
York World was the result. Its career began 
in June, i860, as a religious daily, conserva- 
tive in character, Republican in politics, but 
mismanagement prevented his carrying out his 
cherished plan. When that property changed 
hands, in 1861, Mr. Spalding became con- 
nected with the Nezi' York Times, and many 
of the most powerful appeals to the country 
in its years of darkest disaster were from his 
pen. His published addresses are "Spiritual 
Philosophy and Material Politics" and "The 
True Idea of Female Education." Richard 
Grant White, who was associated with Mr. 
Spalding in editorial work, said of him: "Mr. 
Spalding's vigor and elegance have never 
been excelled by a writer upon the city press." 
He was a gentleman of the most liberal cul- 
ture and as an editor stood among the very 
foremost of his profession. He was a man 
of profound convictions, and all the resources 
of classical culture, of historic study and of 
extended travel were always at his command. 
He married, January 18, 1865, Mary Elizabeth 
Atwater, born in Catskill, New York, June 5, 
1837, who died June 10, 1898; one child, 
Mary Atwater, born October 24, 1866, re- 
sides in Catskill, New York. 

(Vlll) Rev. George Piurley Spalding, son 
of Dr. James and Eliza (Reed) Spalding, was 
born August 11, 1835. He graduated from the 
University of Vermont, 1856, studied law 
with Judge W. G. M. Davis, of Tallahassee, 
Florida ; studied theology two years in Union 
Seminary, New York City, and one year at 
Andover, Massachusetts, graduating 1861. 
He was installed as minister of the Congrega- 
tional church at Vergennes. Vermont, Octo- 
ber 5, 1861 ; he became pastor of the North 



Churcli in Connecticut in September, 1864 ; he 
was installed as pastor of the First Congre- 
gational Church at Dover, New Hampshire, 
September i, 1869. After fourteen years as 
minister of this old historic church he be- 
came pastor of the Franklin Street Church, 
Manchester, New Hampshire; October i, 
1885, he was installed pastor over the First 
Presbyterian Church of Syracuse, New York. 
Dr. Spalding's literary work has been ex- 
tensive and of a high order. He was chair- 
man of the school committee of Dover, presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the State 
Normal school, a member of the constitutional 
convention of New Hampshire in 1877, was 
representative of the city of Dover in the state 
legislature, and chaplain of that body in 1877. 
He was trustee of the New Hampshire Mis- 
sionary Society, of the State Orphan Home, 
trustee of Auburn Theological Seminary and 
of Hamilton College. Dartmouth conferred 
upon him in 1878 the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity, and Syracuse University in 1894 
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of 
Laws. He married, August 6, 1861, Sarah 
Livingstone, daughter of Rev. John W. Olm- 
stead, D.D., editor of the Watchman and Re- 
Hector, the leading organ of the P>aptist de- 
nomination of New England ; she was born 
October 28, 1838, in Little Falls, New York; 
children : (Jeorge Burley. Jr., graduate of Yale 
University, clergyman : Mary Livingstone, still 
living; Martha, still living; Gertrude, still liv- 
ing. 



David Atwater and his 
ATWATER brother Joshua, sons of 

John Atwater of Roynton, 
Kent, England, were enrolled among the early 
settlers of New Haven, Joshua being one of 
the seven pioneers who first visited that place 
and spent a winter of great privation there. 
David is credited with being the first signer 
of the "planter agreement." His residence 
and farm were between East Rock and the 
Quinnipiack river, known as Cedar Hill. This 
land is yet owned by his descendants. The 
land owned by Joshua Atwater is now cov- 
ered with buildings, part of the vast Yale 
University system. David Atwater died Oc- 
tober 5, 1692. He married Damaris, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Sayre, of Southampton, Long 
Island. Children: i. Mercy, married John 
Austin. 2. Damaris, married John Punder- 

son. 3. David, married Joanna . 4. 

Joshua, born January 11, 1652; married Lydia 
Rockwell, died November 27, 1681, leaving 
no children. 5. John, of further mention. 6. 
Jonathan, married Ruth, daughter of Rev. 
Jeremiah Peck. 7. Abigail, married Nathan- 



3i6 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



iel Jones. 8. Mary, married (first) Ichabod 
Stow; (second) David Robinson. 9. Samuel, 
married Sarah Ailing. 10. Ebenezer, married 
Abigail Heaton. 

(H) John, son of David and Damaris 
(Sayre) Atwater, was born in New Haven, 
Connecticut, November i, 1654, died 1748. 
He settled in Wallingford, upon a farm which 
belonged to his brother Joshua. He was 
called "Weaver." He married (first) Abigail 
Mansfield, born February 7, 1664, died Sep- 
tember 24, 1717; married (second) Novem- 
ber 27, 1718, Mary Beach. Children: i. 
John, married Elizabeth Mix. 2. Abigail, 
married Thomas Hull. 3. Mercy. 4. Han- 
nah, married Thomas Beach. 5. Joshua, of 
further mention. 6. Moses, married (first) 
Sarah Alerriman ; (second) Mary Hotchkiss. 
7. Phineas, married (first) jNlary Ward; 
(second) Widow Hannah Ives. 8. Caleb, 
married Mehitable Mix. 9. Benjamin, mar- 
ried (first) Elizabeth Porter; (second) Eliza- 
beth Merriman. 10. Ebenezer, married Jane 
Andrews. 

(HI) Joshua, son of John and Abigail 
(Mansfield) Atwater, was born September 18, 
1693, died in Wallingford, Connecticut, No- 
vember 29, 1757. He married (first) Mary, 
daughter of John Peck, January 17, 1723 ; 
married (second) Sarah, daughter of The- 
ophilus Yale, died July 13, 1784. Children by 
first wife: i. Joshua, born 1724, died 1747. 
2. Mary, born February 12, 1727. Children 
by second wife: 3. Caleb, of further mention. 
4. Sarah, married Charles Hall. 

(IV) Caleb, son of Joshua and Sarah 
(Yale) Atwater, was born in Wallingford, 
Connecticut, September 7, 1741, died January 
III 1775- He was a shoemaker, tanner, har- 
nessmaker, merchant and extensive land 
owner. He was one of the Connecticut Land 
Company, which purchased of the state of 
Connecticut the Western Reserve or New 
Connecticut, in Ohio, and though one of the 
largest purchasers paid in full for what he 
had contracted when he received his deeds. 
The land included all of the townships of At- 
water in Portage county, all of the township 
of Denmark and five thousand seven hundred 
and ninety acres in Geneva, Ashtabula county, 
besides that in other counties. The township 
of Atwater, with the exception of two hun- 
dred acres set apart for religious purposes, he 
gave to his son Joshua. A tract in .\uburn. 
Granger county, he surveyed into sixty-five 
lots of one hundred acres each, giving one 
lot to each of his grandchildren, numbering 
fifty-five. The balance of his western lancl 
he divided among his children. He was 
credited at the time with being the wealthiest 



man in the state of Connecticut. He was re- 
leased and freed from marching in the Tenth 
Regiment of which he was ensign, as he had 
been at great expense and had long carried 
on the manufacture of saltpetre for gun 
powder. He died December 19, 183 1, at the 
age of ninety-one years, and was in full pos- 
session of his mental faculties until the end. 
He married (first) March 12, 1766, Abigail 
Jones, died January 11, 1775; married (sec- 
ond) January 22, 1776, Ruth Wadsworth. 
Children, four by first wife: i. Sarah, born 
July 19, 1767; married Captain ]\Ierrick. 2. 
Mary, born April 23, 1769; married Rev. 
David L., son of Rev. James Beebe, "the sol- 
dier and preacher." 3. Lucy, born December 
8, 1770; married Ira Day. 4. Joshua, of fur- 
ther mention. 5. James Wadsworth, died in 
infancy. 6. Abigail, born December 13, 1778; 
married Dr. John Andrews. 7. Catherine, 
born March 24, 1781 ; married Thomas Cook 
and removed to Catskill, New York. 8. Ruth, 
born April 11, 1788; married Apollos Cook 
and removed to Catskill, New York. 

(V) Joshua (2), son of Caleb and Abi- 
gail (Jones) Atwater, was bom in Walling- 
ford, Connecticut, February 8, 1773, died 
April 19, 1862. He was given the township 
of Atwater, Portage county, Ohio, by his 
father, and the history of Portage records that 
"in 1805 the proprietor of the township, 
Deacon Joshua Atwater with Josiah Mix, 
junior, came to the township from Connecti- 
cut, having ridden all the way on horseback. 
This was the first visit of Deacon Atwater to 
the township." Deacon Joshua married, Octo- 
ber 22, 1793, Elizabeth, daughter of Aaron 
Cook, died October 2, 1799. Chiklren: i. 
Elizabeth, born August 4, 1794 ; married John: 
Barker. 2. Caroline, born June 17, 1796; 
married Dr. Jared P. Kirtland. 3. Emily, 
born February 7, 1798; married Friend Cook. 
4. Abigail, died unmarried at the age of 
twenty-three years. 5. Mary, died at the age 
of two years. 6. Captain Caleb, settled in At- 
water township. Portage county, Ohio, but 
returned to Wallingford; he married (first) 
Julia A. Rice; (second) Elizabeth L. Clark. 
7. Joshua, of further mention. 8. Thomas- 
C, born August 20, 1808; married Harriet E. 
Cook. 9. Lucretia. died aged twelve years. 
10. Edgar, married Sarah Yale. 11. John, 
born January 19. 1813, was the last surviving' 
of these thirteen children, died November 30,. 
188 1, one of the oldest and most highly- 
respected townsmen in Wallingford, Connec- 
ticut, active in business and deacon of the 
church: he married (first) Caroline Diana 
Hall; (second) Eliza A. Hall, both daughters 
of Russell and Mary (Kirtland) Hall. 12. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



317 



'William, born August 5, 1817; married Eliza- 
'beth Helfenstein. 13. Mary Ann, born May 
29, 1819; married Lieutenant Garret Barry, 
who removed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; he 
and his son William were drowned when the 
steamer "Lady Elgin" was lost on Lake Mich- 
igan. 

(VI) Joshua (3), son of Joshua (2) and 
Elizabeth (Cook) Atwater, was born August 
26, 1806, in Wallingford, Connecticut, died in 
Catskill. New York, May 30, 1879. He re- 
moved to Catskill, where he engaged in the 
insurance business. "He was a prominent 
resident of Catskill for nearly fifty years and 
was always interested and most helpful in 
whatever promised to promote the prosperity 
of the town and county. He was everywhere 
known as an upright, kind-hearted, charitable 
and generous Christian gentleman. For many 
years he was a prominent and faithful mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church, and his death 
made the world poorer by the loss of a sin- 
cere and good man." This is an extract from 
his obituary notice. He married Mary Hull, 
born May 15. 181 1. died May 10, 1877, daugh- 
ter of Orrin and Mary Burr (Hull) Day. 
Children: i. Henry Day, born May 23, 1835 ; 
is comptroller of savings banks in New York- 
state; married, October 10, 1866, Mary 
Louise, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Rit- 
ter) Steele: resided in Brooklyn, New York; 
children: Henry Day (2) and Louise Sedg- 
wick. 2. Mary Elizabeth, born June 5, 1837, 
died June 10, 1898 ; married James Reed 
Spalding (see Spalding VHI). 3. Emily A., 
born October 30, 1845; resides in Catskill, 
New York, unmarried. 



The census of 1790 shows 
DE LONG over twenty De Longs living 

in New York state who mar- 
ried and were heads of families. Most of the 
families were resident of .-Mbany county as 
then constituted, although the name was also 
found in Dutchess and Ulster counties. The 
town of Half-Moon (now Saratoga county) 
was the home of many of the name at that 
date. The De Longs of Glens Falls descend 
from Peter Lewis De Long, born February 
13, 1761, whose father was said to have been 
a French Huguenot and fled from France to 
Holland, later coming with his family to the 
new world, settling first in New Jersey, later 
in what is now Dutchess county. New York. 
Peter L. De Lortg had brothers : Jacobus, 
born October 24, 1749 ; Ragel, August 7. 1752 : 
Gradas, October 3, 1763: Lsaac, ^larch 21, 
1766, died in infancy, and a sister Jeannette, 
born September 26, 1753. Peter De Long 
was a farmer of .\lbanv countv. He married 



and had issue. In 1790 he was a resident of 
the town of Saratoga. He may have been 
the father of the family named above. 

(II) Peter Lewis De Long is not named in 
the census of 1790, as he probably was not 
then the "head of a family." He married and 
had issue, among whom was a son James 
Lewis. 

(III) James Lewis, son of Peter Lewis De 
Long, was born December 9, 1793, died April 
12, 1879. He married Elizabeth Deming, born 
l-'cbruary 5, 1795, died April 8, 1872. Chil- 
dren: Zopher I., see forward: Sally, born 
December 30, 1818, drowned May 24, 1824: 
Phebe Ann, November 17, 1822, married 
(first) George Palmer, (second) James Gil- 
bert; Lewis J., November 10, 1826, married 
Cynthia Grey; Abraham, December 11, 1829, 
married Hannah Grey ; Electa E., May 4, 
1833, married George Rockwell; Melinda M., 
May 27, 1836, married James Grey; Edwin 
S., May 17, 1839, married Christie Gilbert. 

(I\') Zopher I., eldest child of James 
Lewis and Elizabeth (Deming) De Long, was 
born in the town of Edingburg, Saratoga 
county, New York, July 9, 1815. He was a 
merchant and for many years conducted a 
general store at West Day. He was super- 
visor in 1843-44-45-46-47-58-59, and justice 
of the peace 1848. He later removed to Glens 
Falls, New York, where he died. He was 
president of the village corporation of Glens 
Falls, and supervisor of the town of Queens- 
bury. He was a member of the local militia 
company, and a man much respected for his 
energy, enterprise and upright character. He 
married, November 21. 1838, Catherine Lewis, 
daughter of Simon and Lydia (Barker) Scott. 
Children: i. Theodore S., born August 23, 
1839 ; married, October 7, 1869, and had one 
child, Roosa, born March 14, 187 1, married 
Edward F. Irish. 2. John Barker, see for- 
ward. 3. Cutler J., see forward. 4. Eliza- 
beth lone, born March 25, 1848; married 
William P. Tearse ; children : Catherine, born 
January 4, 1874; Cornelia, .''ipril 22, 1876; 
Clarence, June 20. 1878 ; Margaret, October 
16, 1880: Helen. February 13. 1884: Robert, 
December 8, 1885; William P. (2), October 
8, 1889. 5. Daniel P.. see forward. 6. Mar- 
garet, October 18, 185 1 ; married Joseph D. 
Haviland ; children: lone, born -September i, 
1873 : Margaret, November 7, 1875 ; Daniel 
S., July 15, 1878; Jessica, October i, 1883; 
Theodore, July 27, 1893. 7. George Palmer, 
January 31, 1853 ; married Cynthia Haux- 
hurst ; children: Ino C born December 25, 
1877; Scott, June 3, 1883. 8. Catherine J., 
born June i, 1857: married Harvey R. T. 
Coflfin ; children: Theodore, born June 2r, 



3i8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1880; Mildred, June 14, 1882; Earl, July 12, 
1884 ; Sanford. deceased ; Clarence, deceased. 
(V) John Barker, son of Zopher L and 
Catherine Lewis (Scott) De Long, was bom 
in the town of Day, Saratoga county. New 
York, January 20, 1843. He was educated 
in the public schools, and worked in his 
father's store. On January i, i860, he en- 
tered the employ of Daniel Peck, a hardware 
merchant of Glens Falls, remaining one year, 
when the firm of Z. L & T. S. De Long pur- 
chased his entire interest and the business was 
conducted under the firm name of Peck, De 
Long & Company until January i, 1862, then 
changed to De Long & Son, which was con- 
tinued until 1872, when it was again changed 
to De Long & Sons, John Barker (who was 
in the employ of the firm from 1861 to 1872) 
having been admitted to membership. They 
conducted a most successful business until 
the death of Zopher L De Long. The sons 
continued the business, merely changing the 
firm name to De Long Sons, under which 
title the business has since been conducted. 
John B. De Long is a director of the First 
National Bank, and is considered one of the 
subtantial citizens of his city. He served as 
village trustee before the incorporation of 
Glens Falls as a city, and has always taken 
a warm interest in all that affects the pros- 
perity of the city. He is a member of the 
First Presbyterian Church, which he has 
served for several years as elder. He mar- 
ried, November 25, 1874, Emma, daughter 
of John S. and Anice (Tearse) Thompson. 
Children: i. Bertha L., born August 28, 
1877: married, November i, 1899, Clifford 
B. Hall, who is associated with the firm of 
De Long Sons: children: Marion D., David 
Kenneth. 2. Arthur J., September 10, 1879; 
associated with the hardware firm of De Long 
Sons. 3. Mabel E., June 8, 1882; married, 
October 3, 1905, H. B. Austin; one child, 
John D., born July 31, 1907. 4. Charles T., 
February 27, 1885. 

(V) Cutler J., son of Zopher I. and Cath- 
erine Lewis (Scott) De Long, was born in 
Day. Saragota county, New York, January 5, 
1846. He was educated in the common 
schools and at Glens Falls Academy. .'\s a 
young man he entered the First National 
Bank of Glens Falls as clerk, later he became 
teller, and he remained with the bank eight 
years. His next position was with the whole- 
sale and retail grocery business, in which he 
remained five years. In 1878 he became con- 
nected with tile Glens Falls Fire Insurance 
Company, and is at present its treasurer and 
one of the directors. He served as trustee of 
the village of Glens Falls before its incor- 



poration as a city, and was clerk of the board 
of trustees for a number of years. In poli- 
tics he is a Democrat ; in religious faith a 
Presbyterian. Mr. De Long married, July,. 
1 87 1, Mary, daughter of George and Mary 
(Hunt) Clendon, of England. Children: i. 
Mary, born June 8, 1872 : married Charles F. 
West, of Glens Falls ; children : Mary, Nancy, 
Cutler, Edith, Catherine. 2. Annie, April 27, 
1874 ; married James S. Warren, of Glens 
Falls. 3. Helen, September 11, 1875; mar- 
ried Howard J. Bush, of Glens Falls, and has 
a son Clendon. 4. Catherine, April, 1877; 
married Robert C. Carter, of Glens Falls ; 
children : Eleanor, Robert. 

(V) Daniel P., son of Zopher I. and Cath- 
erine Lewis (Scott) De Long, was born in 
the town of Day, Saratoga county, New York, 
April 10, 1850. He was educated at Glen' 
Falls Academy. He began his business ca- 
reer in the dry goods store of Lasher & 
Freleigh, where he remained seven years. 
He then formed a partnership with William' 
H. Robbins, as Robbins & De Long. They 
conducted a successful dry goods business in 
Glens Falls. Mr. De Long withdrew fromi 
the dry goods business and became interested' 
in the Glens Falls Brick Company, organized 
in 1840. In 1886 he became sole owner of 
the company, which has continued under his 
wise management, and is known as one of 
the most prosperous concerns of the county. 
He is an able, conservative and energetic man' 
of business and fully equal to his responsi- 
bilities, both of a business and public nature. 
He served three terms as supervisor of the- 
town of Queensbury, Warren county, and for- 
one term was chairman of the board. His- 
wise business ideas were of great value in' 
conducting county business. He is first vice- 
president of the Glens Falls Trust Company, 
one of the organizers and a director of the- 
Empire Real Estate & Theatre Company,, 
president and general manager of the Granite- 
P.rick Company, and president of the Glens 
Falls Hospital. He is a member of the Ma- 
sonic order, belonging to Senate Lodge, N'o. 
45;6, Free and Accepted Masons, being raised' 
a Mason in 1871, immediately on reaching his- 
majority. Politically he is a Democrat. In 
1909 he was the successful candidate of his 
party for the state legislature. During the 
session he served on assembly committees, In- 
dian affairs and villages. He married ICniily 
P., daughter of Archibald- C. and Catherine 
(Pierce) Tearse (see Tearse III). She was- 
born at Stillwater, Saratoga county. New 
York. Children: i. Walter J., born October 
9, 1874. 2. Archibald Z., August 4, 1876; 
married, January 24, 1905, Ella Hall, daugh- 





/$<i/l 





(^.Va-. 




HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



319 



ter of William Shields, of Boston. 3. Robert 
B., January 9, 1879. 4. Daniel P. (2), Feb- 
ruary 24, 1887. 5. Chester, April 24, 1882, 
died December 7, 1882. 6. Elsie, January 16, 
1886, died November 6, 1888. 

(The Fraser and Campbell Lines). 
Sarah Fraser, great-great-great-grand- 
niotlier of Mrs. Emma (Thompson) De Long, 
was a daughter of Simon Fraser, of Balrain, 
Invernesshire, Scotland, and was born in that 
shire. Her father's brother, Alexander 
Fraser, was the father of General Simon 
Fraser, who was killed in the battle of Sara- 
toga in 1777. Sarah Fraser married Alexan- 
der Campiiell, and went to live in Argyle, 
Scotland. They had one daughter Katherine, 
who married Robert Hunter. He died shortly 
after the birth of a daughter "Polly." On 
account of religious differences (they having 
espoused the cause of the Church of Eng- 
land), the Campbells decided to come to 
America. They accordingly sailed, bringing 
with them their daughter Katherine and 
granddaughter Polly. During the passage 
Mr. Campbell died, and Mrs. Hunter died a 
year after her arrival in America. Mrs. 
Campbell, being possessed of considerable 
wealth, decided in spite of these troubles to 
remain in America. She made a great many 
friends, and after a time married a Mr. Mc- 
Neil. They removed to the town of Queens- 
bury, where they bought a large tract of land. 
Mr. McNeil died, but revolutionary war his- 
tory, as well as family records, show that the 
widow, Mrs. McNeil, and her granddaughter 
Polly Hunter, were living in comfort at Fort 
Edward. She was devotedly attached to her 
adopted country, and would not listen to the 
entreaties of her friends to return to Scot- 
land. While in New York she made many 
acc|uaintances among the Huguenots, and to 
one of them. Adjutant Peter B. Tearse, an 
officer in the continental army, Polly Hunter 
became engaged. On the approach of Bur- 
goyne's army, July, 1777, Adjutant Tearse 
urged them to go to Albany. They were pre- 
paring to go on the morning of the capture 
and murder of Jane McCrea, who was visiting 
Mrs. McNeil at that time. She and Polly 
Hunter escaped to the camp of General 
Fraser, and from there proceeded to Albany. 
When General Fraser was wounded she was 
able to reach him before his death. At the 
close of the war, Polly Hunter married Peter 
Bailey Tearse, who was descended from 
French Huguenots, and was born in New 
York in 1753. His family were among the 
few who escaped the massacre of St. Barthol- 
omew in 1572. They made their way to this 



country by way of England. He was lieu- 
tenant, captain, and finally adjutant in Col- 
onel Willett's company, whose daring bravery 
won one of the most brilliant victories of the 
war. He was one of the most able men of 
his day. Upon his return to Fort Edward, he 
rebuilt the old home which is one of the 
three oldest houses in the town. He owned 
a house in Albany, where he resided during 
the winter. He died in 1803. 

(H) Katherine, daughter of Alexander and 
Sarah (Fraser) Campbell, married Robert 
Hunter. 

(HI) Polly, daughter of Robert and Kath- 
erine (Campbell) Hunter, married Peter 
Bailey Tearse. 

(IV) William Hunter, son of Peter Bailey 
and Polly (Hunter) Tearse, married Mary 
Stewart. 

(V) Annis, daughter of William Hunter 
and Mary (Stewart) Tearse, married John 
S. Thompson. 

(VI) Emma, daughter of John S. and 
Annis (Tearse) Thompson, married John 
Barker De Long. 

(The Tearse Line). 

Peter Barclay Tearse was born in New 
York City (probably) in 1755. He served in 
the revolutionary war at the battle of Fort 
Stanwix, and was later in an Albany regi- 
ment. He was descended from French Hug- 
uenots. His family was among the few who 
escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 
1572. They made their way to England and 
thence to this country. He was a lieuten- 
ant, captain and finally adjutant in Colonel 
Willett's company. In the New York land 
papers mention is made of the claim of Peter 
B. Tearse of fifteen hundred acres of land in 
lieu of his services during the war. He stud- 
ied law with Yates (afterward governor of 
New York), and was a member of assembly 
in 1786-87-88-89, also town moderator. He 
was one of the most able men of his day. 
Upon his return to Fort Edward after the 
war, he rebuilt the homestead which today is 
one of the oldest houses in the town. He 
owned a house in Albany, and resided there 
during the winter. He died in 1803. He 
married Polly Hunter. Children: William 
H., see forward : Archibald ; Mary, married 
Peter Finn : Catherine, married John Rey- 
nolds ; Elizabeth, married Archibald Derby ; 
Ann, married Amos Green. 

(II) William H., son of Peter Barclay and 
Polly (Hunter) Tearse. was born at Glens 
Falls. In 1813 he married Mary Stewart. He 
was prominent in Masonic circles ; was a 
member of Hamilton Lodge, No. 144, Glens 



320 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Falls : advanced to honorable degree of mark 
master in Glens Falls Chapter, Xo. 55, June 
20, 1819; presided as master in the chair, July 
10, 1819; received and acknowledged as most 
high master, July 10, 1819: exalted to the 
■most sublime degree of the Royal Lodge, July 
ID, 1819. Children: Archibald C, see for- 
ward ; Peter William, married Lorinda Moore- 
Tiouse ; Robert Hunter, married Lucinda John- 
son : Micajah Potter, died young, shot by ac- 
cident while hunting: Annis Derby, married 
John S, Thompson. 

(HI) Archibald C, son of Willidte H, and 
Mary (Stewart) Tearse, was born in Glens 
Falls, August ID, 1814, died in Michigan, Jan- 
uary 25, 1877. He married Catherine Pierce, 
Tjorn at Bolton, New York, January 12, 1817, 
died June 13, 1903, He was a miller in Glens 
Falls, and later removed to Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, where he continued in the same 
business. Children: i. William P., born June 
22, 1844; married lone De Long. 2. Editha 
C. August 27, 1848, died August i, 1872; 
married Avery Selleck, and has a daughter 
Catherine. 3. Addison, died young. 4. Emily 
P., December 11, 1851 ; married Daniel P. De 
Ix)ng. 5. Frederick C, March 3. 1854, died 
]\Iarch I, 1880. 6. Jennie C, July 24, 1856. 

7. Robert E.. November 27, 1859. 

(The Barker Line). 

The Barker ancestry of Lydia (Barker) 
Scott, mother of Catherine Lewis Scott, wife 
of Zopher L De Long. 

(I) Jesse Barker was a soldier in the rev- 
olution in 1778. 

(H) Jesse (2), son of Jesse (i) Barker, 
was born April 21, 1761, died March 19, 1804. 
He married Prudence Paine, of "Mayflower" 
ancestry, bom ]\Iay 3, 1755, died ]March 26, 
1848. He entered as private, May 20, 1775, 
term of service two months and seventeen 
days, from Brimfield, Massachusetts, Captain 
Edward Seagreave's company, Colonel Joseph 
Reade's regiment, August i, 1775. Afterward 
he re-cnlistcd and appears in bounty coat 
rolls, dated December 21, 1775, enlisted from 
Brimfield, Massachusetts, in continental army, 
March 29, 1779, term to expire in 1780. He 
appears in the continental army pay accounts 
of Sixth Company, Colonel Bailey's regiment, 
for service from April 3, 1777, to October 

8, 1778. He appears as a private in the re- 
turns of Captain Isaac Warren's company. 
Colonel John Bailey's regiment, dated from 
camp. Valley Forge, January 24, 1778 — a 
most excellent record. 

(HI) Lydia, daughter of Jesse (2) Barker 
born 1795, died 1846: married Simon Scott. 
(IV) Catherine Lewis, daughter of Simon 



and Lydia (Barker) Scott, married Zopher 
I. De Long. 



Adam Barttelot, an esquire, 
BARTLETT came with William the Con- 
queror and seated himself 
in Ferring, Sussex county, England ; was bur- 
ied at Stopham. From Adam the line con- 
tinues through ten generations to Edmund 
Barttelot, of Ernly, who died 1591. He had 
four sons, three of whom, John, Richard and 
Thomas, born between 1589 and 1590, came 
to America, John and Richard locating at 
Newbury, Thomas at Watertown, Massachu- 
setts. Richard is the American ancestor of 
Dr. Ezra A. Bartlett, of Albany, New York. 

(I) Richard Bartlett came to Newbury in 
the ship "Mary and John"' in 1634, being 
one of the earliest settlers. Newbury was 
not incorporated until 1635, which was the 
date of his settlement there. He died May 
25, 1647. There is no record of his wife ; 
she probably having died in England. Chil- 
dren: I. Richard (2), of further mention. 2. 
Christopher, born 1623. 3. John. 4. Joanna, 
married \\'illiam Titcomb, one of the early 
settlers and proprietors of the town of New- 
bury. 

(II) Richard (2), son of Richard (i) 
Bartlett, was born in England in 1621, died 
at Newbury, Massachusetts, 1698. He was, 
says Coffin, a very facetious and intelligent 
man, resided at first near Old Town Hill, but 
afterwards moved to a place known as Bart- 
lett's corner. He represented Newbury for 
four years in the general court. He mar- 
ried Abigail . Children: i. Samuel, 

born February 20, 1646, married Elizabeth 
Titcomb. 2. Richard of further mention. 3. 
Thomas, September 7, 1650, married Tirza 
Titcomb. 4. Abigail, March, 1653. 5. John, 
June 22, 1655, married Mary Rust. 6. Han- 
nah, December 18, 1657, died June 17, 1676, 
7. Rebecca, May 23, 1661, 

(III) Richard (3), son of Richard (2) 
and -Abigail Bartlett, was born at Newbury, 
Massachusetts, February 21, 1649. He mar- 
ried, November 18, 1673, Hannah Emery, of 
Newbury. Children: i. Hannah, born No- 
vember 8, 1674, married John Ordway. 2, 
Richard, October 20, 1676, married, .April 
12, 1699, Margaret Woodman; his descend- 
ants became prominent citizens of the state 
of New Hampshire. 3. John, September 23, 
1678, married Mary Ordway and resided on 
a part of the "old place" at Newbury and 
was a weaver by trade. 4. Samuel, died 
young. 5. Daniel, born August 8, iTiSs. re- 
sided at Newbury and there died, his death 
being caused bv the extraction of a tooth. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



321 



6. Joseph, November 18, 1686, died 1754; in 
1707 he was drafted and sent with others to 
Haverhill to defend the town against an ex- 
pected attack by the French and Indians 
from Canada; August 29, 1708, he with others 
were obliged to surrender to the enemy, Jos- 
eph first secreting his gun in the chimney of 
Captain W'ainwright's house ; he was carried 
a prisoner to Canada where he was held a 
■captive over four years ; he afterwards visited 
Haverhill, found his gun where he had se- 
creted it, and it finally came into the hands 
of the grandnephew, Richard Bartlett, of 
Amesbury. Massachusetts, who carried it 
while a soldier in the revolutionary war; the 
old gun afterwards exploded at a fourth of 
July celebration and can now be seen in the 
rooms of the New Hampshire Historical So- 
ciety ; Joseph after his return from Canada 
settled on a farm in Newton, New Hamp- 
shire, where he was justice of the peace and 
a deacon of the church ; he was twice mar- 
ried and left many descendants. 7. Samuel 
(2). May 16, 1689. 8. Stephen, of further 
mention. 9. Thomas, July 14, 1695, was a 
tanner and lived on the "old place." 10. 

Mary, September 15, 1697, married 

Hill, and was the last surviving member of 
her family ; at her funeral the minister took 
for his text "Last of all the woman died 
-also." 

(I\') Stephen, son of Richard (3) and 
Hannah (Emery) Bartlett, was born April 21, 
1691. He was a shoemaker by trade; accumu- 
lated property ; built a large house a short 
distance above Amesbury ferry ; later pur- 
chasing a farm in the northwestern part of 
Amesbury called, "The Lion's Mouth" on 
which he built a home and there spent the 
remainder of his days. He married Hannah 
Webster, of Salisbury, whose father was 
"wealthy in landed property." Children: i. 
Stephen, died October 5, 1759, aged thirty- 
two years ; he married Currier, who 

lived to be ninety years of age. Their son. 
Captain Enoch Bartlett, kept a store in .\mes- 
bury for over fifty years and held many po- 
sitions of honor and trust in the town. 2. 
Joseph, married a daughter of Ichabod Colby ; 
his son, Joseph (2), was the first physician 
located in Salisbury, New Hampshire, hav- 
ing studied his profession with his uncle. Gov- 
ernor Josiah Bartlett, of Kingston, New 
Hampshire; his descendants were especially 
distinguished in the professions and in the 
public service of the state of New Hamp- 
shire. 3. Simon, born June 17, 1727; he in- 
herited his father's farm and for many years 
was one of the prominent business men of 
Amesbury ; he was an ardent patriot of the 



revolution and chairman of the New Hamp- 
shire "Committee of Safety" ; the old farm 
was later owned by the town of Amesbury, 
and on it was built the town almshouse; he 
was twice married, his second wife being 
Hannali Herbert, sister of Lieutenant Richard 
Herbert, of Concord. 4. Josiah, of further 
mention. 5. Levi, resided in Amesbury and 
had sons and daughters. 6. Hannah. 

(V) Josiah, son of Stephen and Hannah 
('\\'ebster) Bartlett was born in Amesbury, 
Massachusetts, November, 1728. He was 
highly-educated and at the age of sixteen be- 
gan the study of medicine with Dr. Ordway, 
a distant relative. He completed his medical 
education in 1750, at the age of twenty-one 
years, and at once began the practice of his 
profession at Kingston, New Hampshire. He 
became popular as a physician and secured a 
large share of practice. He held various 
town offices, including that of magistrate, and 
was appointed by Governor John Wentworth 
colonel of the New Hampshire regiment. In 
1765 Colonel Bartlett began his political career 
as representative for the town of Kingston, 
in the state legislature, becoming one of the 
principal leaders in the house where a strong 
party had become opposed to Governor Went- 
worth. In February, 1775, he was deprived 
of his commission as justice of the peace and 
dismissed from his command in the militia by 
Governor Wentworth on account of his Whig 
principles. In the summer of 1775 he was 
chosen a delegate to the continental congress 
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When the roll 
was called for a vote on the adoption of the 
Declaration of Independence, beginning with 
the northernmost state "New Hampshire," 
Colonel Bartlett's name was first called, who 
answered in the affirmative. The president of 
congress, John Hancock, first signed the Dec- 
laration and Colonel Bartlett was the second 
signer, thus being the first who voted for it 
and the first after the president who signed 
this immortal document. He returned from 
congress in 1776 worn down with fatigue and 
ill health and did not again attend the sittings 
until 1778. In the meantime he engaged in 
public duties at home and in providing for 
the forces of the gallant General Stark at 
Bennington, Vennont, whose troops were 
solely under the control of New Hampshire. 
In May, 1778. he again attended as delegate 
in congress which sat at Yorktown, \'irginia, 
the British then occupying Philadelphia. In 
1780 he was appointed chief justice of the 
court of common pleas, also in the same year 
was appointed muster-master. In 1782, on 
the resignation of Judge Thornton, he was 
appointed a justice of the supreme court, 



322 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



which office he held until he was appointed 
chief justice in 1788. In 1787 the convention 
assembled at New York to devise a plan for 
the government of the confederation of states. 
He was an active member of the convention 
in 1788 which adopted it and was chosen sena- 
tor from New Hampshire to the first congress 
his associate being Colonel Langdon. This 
honor he declined through the infirmities of 
age. In 1790 he was elected chief magistrate 
of New Hampshire, under the title of presi- 
dent. By the constitution of 1792 the title 
was changed to that of governor and he was 
elected to that office in 1792, and 1793, being 
the first governor of the state. Of the total 
number of votes cast, he received all except 
297. In 1792 he was presidential elector. In 
1794 Governor Bartlett retired from the chair 
of chief magistrate of New Hampshire, ad- 
dressing a letter to the legislature in which 
he declined being again a candidate for any 
public office, wishing, as he says "to retire 
to the repose of a quiet life, with a grateful 
sense of the repeated marks of trust and con- 
fidence that my fellow citizens have reposed 
in me, and with my best wishes for the future 
Peace and Prosperity for the state." On the 
19th of May, 1795, this distinguished patriot 
died, being in his sixty-sixth year. 

He married Mary Bartlett, of Newton, New 
Hampshire, who died in 1789. Children: i. 
Mary, born December 28, 1754, married, 
March 12, 1780, Jonathan Greeley. 2. Lois, 
June I, 1756, died unmarried. 3. Miriam, 
June 19. 1758, died May 17, 1785; married 
Joseph Caleb. 4. Rhoda, May 22, 1760, mar- 
ried Reuben True, of Salisbury, New Hamp- 
shire. 3. Hannah, August 31, 1762, died Sep- 
tember, 1762. 6. Dr. Levi, born at Kingston, 
New Hampshire, September, 1763, died Janu- 
ary 30, 1828: he prepared at the celebrated 
"Dummer School," Newbury, Massachusetts, 
and after studying medicine one year with his 
father completed his professional studies with 
Dr. Thomas Kittredge, of Andover ; he set- 
tled in Kingston, New Hampshire, where and 
in adjoining times he soon acquired an ex- 
tensive practice, being as well a skillful and 
successful surgeon ; he was justice of the peace 
and quorom throughout the state ; colonel in 
the militia, postmaster for many years, fre- 
quently represented Kingston in the legisla- 
ture ; a member of the executive council ; presi- 
dential elector; chief justice of the court of 
common pleas and judge of the circuit court; 
he married (first) Sarah Hook; (second) 
Abigail Stevens ; his children were equally 
eminent. 7. Dr. Josiah (2), born at King- 
ston, August 29, 1768, died April 16, 1838, 
like his father and brothers, Josiah was an 



eminent and very popular physician and was 
also prominent in public life; in 1809-10 he 
was a member of the state senate; in the lat- 
ter year was elected to congress and for sev- 
eral years was treasurer of Rockingham 
county ; in 1824 was again elected to the sen- 
ate of New Hampshire and was chosen presi- 
dent of that body, in the same year was presi- 
dential elector; in his latter years was to- 
tally blind ; he married (first) Wingate, 

of Stratham ; married (second) Hannah, 
daughter of Major William Weeks ; no issue 
by either w'ife. 8. Dr. Ezra, of further men- 
tion. 9. Sarah, born July 29, 1773 ; mar- 
ried, April 24, 1796, Dr. Amos Gale. 10. 
Hannah (2), born December 13, 1776, died 
April 17, 1777. 

(VI) Dr. Ezra Bartlett, son of Governor 
Josiah Bartlett, "the Signer." and his wife, 
Mary (Bartlett) Bartlett, was born Septem- 
ber 13, 1770, died December 5, 1848. He was 
a graduate of Dartmouth College and like his 
father and brothers embraced the profession 
of medicine. For several years he practiced 
in Warren, Grafton county, New Hampshire, 
removing to Haverhill in the same county in 
1812. He was a distinguished man in his 
day, often representing the towns of Warren 
and Coventry in the state legislature. He was 
a side judge in the court of common pleas; 
state senator and member of the governor's 
council. In 1806 he was appointed judge of 
the court of common pleas for Grafton 
county; in 1816 judge of the circuit court; 
in 1820 chief justice of the court of sessions ; 
in 1822-23-24 councilor; in 1820 presidential 
elector and again in 1828 collector of internal 
revenue, third district of New Hampshire. He 
married, January 30, 1790, Hannah Gale, of 
Kingston, New Hampshire, it being her twen- 
ty-second birthday ; she died September 8, 
1855. Children: i. Laura, born October 20, 
1799, married Jacob Bell, farmer and mer- 
chant at Haverhill, New Hampshire. 2. 
Josiah, died young. 3. Josiah, born May 3, 
1803. a skillful physician and esteemed citizen 
of Stratham, New Hampshire ; he met his 
death May 9, 1853, being a passenger on the 
ill-fated train at the draw-bridge disaster at 
Norwalk, Connecticut ; he married and had is- 
sue. 4. Hannah, born January 7, 1805, mar- 
ried John Blaisdell and removed to Alton, Il- 
linois. 5. Levi, born October 4, 1806, grad- 
uate of Dartmouth College, 1827, studied 
medicine with his father at Haverhill and 
at Dartmouth College, graduating M.D., 
1837; practiced in Syracuse, New York, a 
short time, then removed to Skaneateles, New 
York; he married (first) Amelia Homman. of 
Philadelphia; (second) Harriet Elizabeth, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



323 



daughter of Dr. J. B. Hopkins, of Skaneateles. 
6. Alary, born August 23, 1808, died August 
6. 1830. 7. Sarah, born April 23, 1810. 8. 
Ezra, born September 28, 181 1, a physician at 
Exeter. New Hampshire ; his son, Joseph C, 
a graduate of Harvard College, was later pro- 
fessor of mathematics at the same college. 9. 
Amos Gilman, of further mention. 10. Al- 
bert, born May 2, 1815. died March 8, 1842. 
II. Stephen Madison, born June 22, 1817, a 
physician, practiced for several years at Tus- 
keegee, Alabama ; his health failing he relin- 
quished his profession and was professor in 
the Female College from 1852 to 187 1, and 
in the latter year was appointed to a clerkship 
in the United States treasury department ; he 
married a daughter of George Hendee, of 
Richmond. Virginia. 

(VH) Rev. Amos Gilman Bartlett, son of 
Dr. Ezra and Hannah (Gale) Bartlett. was 
born 1814. died in 1880. He prepared for 
the ministry and was ordained and preached 
in New Hampshire. He resided in Vineland, 
New Jersey, several years. 

He married Georgianna Matilda Pike, of 
New England ancestry, born in 1820. died 
1874, daughter of Joseph S. and Sally (Pet- 
ingill) Pike: children: Joseph A., Francis P., 
Ezra A.. Mary Jane, died in infancy. 

(\'ni) Dr.' Ezra Albert Bartlett,' son of 
Rev. Amos Gilman and Georgianna Matilda 
(Pike) Bartlett, was born in Newburyport, 
Massachusetts, July 18, 1845. He graduated 
from the Atkinson (New Hampshire) Acad- 
emy ; entered the sophomore class of Amherst 
College, and in September, 1863, enlisted in 
Battery M, Fourth United Sta"tes Artillery, 
serving until 1866. He passed through the 
non-commissioned rank and in 1865 ^^'^s pro- 
moted first lieutenant of Seventh Massachu- 
setts Heavy Artillery unattached, but never 
mustered. He graduated from Rochester Uni- 
versity in 1870: studied medicine with his un- 
cle, Dr. Levi Bartlett, of Skaneateles, New 
York, and with Dr. Samuel B. \\'ard, of Al- 
bany ; received the degree of M.D. from the 
Albany Medical College in 1879. and since 
then has practiced his profession in Albany. 
He is ex-president of the Albany County Med- 
ical Society ; member of the American Elec- 
tro-Therapeutic Association ; member of the 
faculty of the National College of Electro- 
Therapeutics at Indianapolis, Indiana : mem- 
ber of the staff of the Albany City Hospital : 
member of the Medical Society of the State 
of New York and American Medical Asso- 
ciation, and a member of George S. Dawson 
Post, No. 63, Grand Army of the Republic, 
and the Sons of the Revolution. He has been 
a lecturer in the Albany Medical College since 



1881 : was for six years a member and presi- 
dent of the old Albany Academy of Medi- 
cine. He married; in 187 1, Jennie S., daugh- 
ter of John Sargent, of Rochester, New York. 
They have one son. 

(iX) Frank Sargent, son of Dr. Ezra Al- 
bert and Jennie S. (Sargent) Bartlett. was 
born March 10, 1886. He graduated at the 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New 
York, now with the General Electric Company 
with offices in New York City. He married 
Kathryn Hitchler. 



The clan Finley of Scotland, a 
FINLEY Highland family of the country 

in the vicinity of Inverness, is 
said to be one of the most ancient of all 
Highland clans. The late Rev. John Bor- 
land Finley, Ph.D., Kithaurny, Pennsylvania, 
who was an ardent lover of family history and 
devoted much time and labor in researches, 
says : "The Clan Finley is the most ancient 
and whole family of Scotland, and existed be- 
fore a Campbell or a Stewart or a Cameron 
or a MacDonald had an existence." By the 
same authority the origin of the clan is de- 
rived from "Macbeth." "The Encyclopedia 
Britannica" says in substance "Macbeth (son 
of Finley, a Celtic chieftain in Scotland, and 
mormaor of Moray, son of Ruadher) suc- 
ceeded his father as mormaor of Moray, be- 
came a successful general under and after- 
wards revolted against and killed in battle, 
Duncan, King of Scotland. Upon Duncan's 
death he succeeded to the crown and reigned 
as king of Scotland from A.D. 1040 until 
his death in 1057." Dr. Finley ascribes the 
downfall of the clan to Macbeth's death, which 
was brought about by a mere party combina- 
tion, after which the clan was declared to be 
illegal, and the tartan and the clan were known 
as that of Farquharson. It is possible that 
some kinship may have existed between the 
families of Finley and Farquharson, one of 
the latter name who was slain at Pinkie in 
1547, bore the name of Finley Mor on ac- 
count of his great height and strength. The 
clan was in existence as a clan long after 
the days of Macbeth. This fact is certain 
and also the facts are certain of its existence 
during the sixteenth century, and that some 
time before the seventeenth century the for- 
tunes of the clan had fallen. At some time 
after the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury the clan began to migrate from Inver- 
ness, southward into the lowlands and south- 
westerly toward the western coast of Scot- 
land. Certain members stopped on the west- 
erly coast of Scotland, others crossed over 
into the north of Ireland. The Irish branches 



324 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



are very numerous, perhaps the best known 
individual of the Irish settlers was late Sir 
Thomas Finley, of Sugarloaf, Betterby coun- 
ty, Caran. The earliest known spelling of the 
name is Finlig, subsequently Finligh and Fin- 
ley. According to Dr. Finley, the names Fin- 
ley, Finlay, Findlay, Findley, are identical in 
origin, the name Finley being Scotch, pure 
and simple, and all others modern and merely 
an attempt to Anglicize it. The name itself 
certainly suggests Celtic ancestry, and it is 
more than probable that when the Finleys of 
Inverness crossed over during the seventeenth 
century into the northern part of Ireland they 
were simply returning to the "Scotch Magir" 
whence their ancestors had departed many 
centuries before. 

During the period between 1700 and 1750 
there was considerable and continuous emi- 
gration of the Scotch-Irish to America, and 
among them were many of the clan Finley. 
who gave of their sterling stock for the set- 
tling of the colonies. On the 24th of Sep- 
tember, 1734, Michael Finley with seven sons, 
the names of five of whom are definitely 
known, arrived in this country from the 
county of Armagh, province of Ulster, Ire- 
land, and settled in Pennsylvania, ultimately 
in Chester county. Michael Finley was a 
farmer by occupation, a Presbyterian in re- 
ligion, and among his sons is one Samuel 
Finley, who became the Rev. Samuel Finley, 
M.A., D.D., president of Princeton College, 
New Jersey. The other brothers were the 
Rev. James Finley, John, William, and 
Michael Finley. It is known that the first 
five married, and now have descendants living 
in various parts of this country. Samuel was 
nineteen when he came to .America. He was 
ordained a minister in 1743, settled in West 
Nottingham, Maryland, where in an academy 
which lie established he qualified many youths 
for usefulness. His intense a]iplication to his 
duties impaired his health and he went to 
Philadelphia, where he died, July 16, 1766, in 
the fifty-first year of his age. His grave is 
in Arlington, Pennsylvania. He received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow. Dr. Finley was twice 
married, his first wife being Sarah Hall, an 
aunt of Dr. Benjamin Rush, and they had 
the following children: i. Susannah, married 
Isaac Snovvdon, and from this marriage most 
of the present Snowdons of Pennsylvania de- 
scend. 2. Rebecca, married Samuel Breese, 
and their daughter, Ann Breese, married Rev. 
J. Morse, one of their children being Samuel 
Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of the tele- 
graph. 3. Ebene/.er, a captain in the Mary- 
land line during the revolution, and who later 



settled in Ohio, leaving no children. 4. James 
Edward Burr, a surgeon in the revolutionary 
war, who ultimately settled in Charlestown, 
South Carolina. 5. Joseph, a physician, who 
died in early life. 6. John H., a lieutenant 
in the Pennsylvania line during the revolution 
and a graduate of Princeton College ; he mar- 
ried Martha Berkley and settled in West- 
moreland county, Pennsylvania. 7. Samuel, a 
graduate of Princeton, a physician and sur- 
geon in the Massachusetts line during the 
revolutionary war. 

Dr. John H. Finley, president of the Col- 
lege of the City of New York, is a descend- 
ant of one of the brothers of President Sam- 
uel Finley, of Princeton. Lieutenant John 
H. Finley, sixth child of President Samuel 
Finley, probably settled in Westmoreland. 
Pennsylvania. His first son, Major John Fin- 
ley. was the first white man to visit the coun- 
try now forming the state of Kentucky. He 
settled at Blue Licks, Kentucky. The second 
son, Michael, settled at Mud Licks, Kentucky. 
The third son. Major .Samuel Finley, was a 
major in the Virginia line at the time of the 
revolution, and commanded a regiment of 
riflemen in the war of 1812. Robert Finley, 
D.D., president of Franklin College. Athens, 
Georgia, was a native of Princeton, and grad- 
uated at that college in 1787. He died in 1817, 
aged forty-five years. John Harris, whose son 
was the founder of Harrisburg, settled on the 
Susquehanna before 1730. Associated with 
him after that date, among others was John 
Finley, who married the daughter of Harris 
in 1744. He made trading trips from the 
Harris settlement during that decade as far 
west as the present state of Ohio, and there 
is reason to believe that he penetrated to the 
Yadkin \'alley before 1750. In 1752 he tra- 
versed northern Kentucky as far as the falls 
of the Ohio river. He served in Braddock's 
campaign of 1735 as a companion of Daniel 
Boone, whose father had removed from Bucks 
county and settled on the Yadkin at Homan's 
Ford in 1748. 

Dr. John McMillan and the Finleys estab- 
lished more than a dozen colleges in the west 
and south. It has been the boast of LHster- 
men that the first general who fell in the rev- 
olution was an Ulsterman, Richard Montgom- 
ery, who fought at the siege of Quebec ; and 
that Samuel Finley, president of Princeton 
College, and Francis Allison, had a conspicu- 
ous i)lace in educating the American mind to 
independence. 

(I) The Finleys now resident in Troy, de- 
scend from an Irish ancestor, Goin Finley, a 
descendant of the Scotch family previously 
chronicled. Goin Finley came to this country 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS ' 



32s 



about 1730. In 1734 he was a resident of 
Editartown and in 1739 was received into the 
church, as from Ireland, with his wife ^^ary, 
and on Au,s^ust 2 of that year their children. 
Samuel, John, William, Margaret, Elizabeth 
and Mary were baptized. In the next year 
Jane was baptized. 

The church records show the admission of 
Abraham Finley and wife Elizabeth a few 
weeks after Cioin was received. Agnes Wheir 
a sister of Goin, was also a resident in Ed- 
gartown. His son Samuel married Hannah, 
daughter of James Hamlin, of Edgartown, 
probably a widow of John Selew, of Glaston- 
bury. Some time between 1739 and 1746 Coin 
Finley settled with his brother John and pos- 
sibly sister Elizabeth at Glastonbury, Con- 
necticut. In 1746 Goin Finley bought one 
hundred acres of land from Elizabeth Bing- 
ham. Another deed, April 28, 1752, bears his 
name. 

His will dated June 29, 1767. and pro- 
bated July 2, 1771, mentions his wife Mary, 
daughters Margaret Cdiiel, and Elizabeth 
Chamberlain, sons Samuel and John, and 
daughters Jane and Anne. It gives the land 
in the "Parish of Marlborough where Samuel 
now lives." 

(II) Captain Samuel Finley, son of Goin 
and Mary Finley, in will dated Glastonbury, 
Connecticut, February 7, 1793, mentions "my 
wife, Lydia," "son Samuel to have house 
where he now lifes ( Parish of Marl- 
borough) ; my grandsons John Jones and 
Samuel Finley Jones and my son David." 
Captain Samuel Finley's will was probated 
October 6, 1797. A codicil dated January 18, 
1797, "having intelligence that John Jones 
has gone to sea and all on board ship lost." 
Samuel Finley Jones was to have his broth- 
er's part of the bequest. He died August i, 
1797, aged seventy-five years. He had Sam- 
uel, David and a daughter who married John 
Jones. 

As showing the strength of religious 
conviction in that period, the following inci- 
dent as quoted by i\Ir. Hanna (author of 
The Scotch-Irish in America) is interesting, it 
being understood that the established religion 
of New England was according to the Con- 
gregational form, while Princeton, New Jer- 
sey, and Philadelphia were Scotch Presby- 
terian. In Milford, New Haven county, Con- 
necticut, in 1741, a considerable minority of 
the people left the established Congregational 
cliurch and "professed themselves to be Pres- 
byterians according to the church of Scot- 
land." Thirty-nine of these people qualified 
themselves under the Toleration Act and es- 
tablished a Presbyterian church there in 1742. 



The Rev. Benajah Case preached to them on 
the 17th of that month, for which ofTense he 
was fined and imprisoned. The people made 
preparations to build a meeting house in 
May. 1742. but the town refused to let them 
build it on the common. In 1743, at the 
request of the congregation, the New Bruns- 
wick Presbytry sent them as a supply the Rev. 
Samuel Finley, afterward president of Prince- 
ton College. He preached at Milford, August 
25, and at New Haven on September i. For 
this offense he was prosecuted, tried and con- 
demned. For disturbing the peace of the 
community. Governor Law ordered him trans- 
ported as a vagrant from town to town out 
of the colony. This treatment was considered 
by some of the foremost civilians of Connec- 
ticut, and of the city of New York, to be so 
contrary to the spirit and letter of the British 
constitution as to work a forfeiture of the 
colonial charter. 

(Ill) Samuel (2), son of Captain Samuel 
(i) and Lydia Finley, was born in 1749. He 
married, 1772, Delight, daughter of Solomon 
Phelps, of Hebron, Connecticut ; died at Gen- 
eseo. New York, October 6, 1806. Children : 
Samuel and David were baptized in 1778, De- 
light in June, 1780, Sophia Barber, in Sep- 
tember, 1794. In 1805, Samuel Finley re- 
moved with his wife and four children to the 
opening of the Geneseo A'alley by the Wads- 
worth family and settled at Geneseo, New 
York. (See report of the Centennial of the 
town of Marlborough.) A considerable num- 
ber of the residents of the town of Marlbor- 
ough went to Geneseo in 1805 and later. 
Among those were the following who were 
dismissed from the church that year: Joseph 
Kneeland. David Kneeland and wife, .Sanuiel 
Finley and wife. Deacon Skinner and wife, 
several of the sons going with them, all rec- 
ommended to the church of Christ in Geneseo. 
The Congregational Society was organized in 
Geneseo, May 5, 1810, with twenty-five mem- 
bers, among them David Skinner, Jerusha 
Skinner, David Kneeland, Mercy Kneeland^ 
Dolly R. Beach, Delight Finley.' Betsy Fin- 
ley and Abigail Case. James Wadswor'th, son 
of John Wadsworth of Durham. Connecticut, 
and a descendant of \\'illiam Wadsworth, of 
Hartford, Connecticut, was born in Durham, 
April 20, 1768. In 1790 James Wadsworth 
and his brother William removed to the Gen- 
eseo Valley. All provisions had to be hauled 
through tile forests, and they took several 
laborers with them to clear the land. They 
ascended the Hudson to the mouth of the 
Mohawk, thence to Schenectady. Within a 
few years they had erected a grist mill and a 
saw mill at Geneseo. James attended to the 



326 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



duties of the land office while William farmed 
and raised stock. Geneseo was then consid- 
ered to be the "far west." Wadsworth, in 
1805. wrote to Samuel Finley that he was de- 
sirous of securing settlers and offered three 
farms in Geneseo in exchange for an old farm 
at the old residence, Marlborough, provided 
the families were thrifty and of good prin- 
ciple. In 1803 Wadsworth had fixed the 
value of the land at four and five dollars per 
acre and offered five thousand acres for sale. 
The journey from New York City to Geneseo, 
two hundred and twenty miles, was made in 
twenty days in November, 1804, one hundred 
bushels of wheat in oiie load being drawn by 
four yoke of oxen. Major-General William 
Wadsworth held the office of supervisor for 
twenty-one years. In 1834 the Congregational 
Society adopted the form of government of 
the Presbyterians, becoming the Second Pres- 
byterian Church of Geneseo ; the first was 
organized in 1795 by settlers from Pennsyl- 
vania of Scotch-Irish descent. Temple Hill 
was early selected by Wadsworth for an acad- 
emy site. In 1827 the present (1876) acad- 
emy buildings were complete. 

(I\') David, son of Samuel (2) and De- 
light (Phelps) Finley, was born in Marl- 
borough, Connecticut, 1777, died in Avon, 
New York, December 23, 1812. He married, 
November 5, 1800, Jerusha Skinner. Chil- 
dren: 

I. Frances, born August 6. 1801 ; mar- 
ried George Paddock. 2. Jerusha, May 11, 
1804, died in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, March 
14, 1841 ; married Gustavus Foster. 3. Homer 
Skinner, October 30, 1808, died in Cobden, Il- 
linois, July 5, 1881 ; married Eliza Barrows. 
4. David, see forward. 

(V) David (2), son of David (i) and 
Jerusha (Skinner) Finley, was born August 
10, 181 2, in Avon, New York. He spent the 
early years of his life in the then "far west" 
of Indiana and Wisconsin. He was settled at 
Michigan city in 1836 where he married 
(first) Lucy Ann (Sumner) Thorndyke, who 
died December 21, 1839; no issue. David 
Finley then removed to Milwaukee, remaining 
in Wisconsin until about 1845, when he came 
east, settling in Champlain, New York, where 
he lived until his death, August 30, 1881. He 
established in Champlain a foundry and ma- 
chine shop, which is still continued as the 
Sheridan Iron Works. He married (second) 
Susan Barlow Weeks, of St. Albans, Ver- 
mont, who still resides at Champlain. Chil- 
dren : William, Frances .Aurelia, Margaret 
Cornelia, Helen Maria, Charles Homer, Hor- 
ace Blunt, William, David. Horace Blunt Fin- 
ley has been a resident of Troy since 1883. 



Those in the United States 
LOUCKS who bear the name Laux, 
Loux, Lauck, Laucks, or 
Loucks descend from a common ancestor, the 
father of Philip and Nicholas Laux, Palatin- 
ates, who came to the American colonies in 
the emigration of 1710. The origin of the 
family is recorded in the ancient chronicles 
of the region on either side of the Pyrenees, 
in the extreme southeast of France, the head 
of the family as traced being Inigo Lope du 
Laux, Seigneur de Biscaye and Count of Al- 
ava, who had two sons, one of whom, Guil- 
laume Sanche du Laux, being the founder of 
the house or family from whom all those bear- 
ing the name of Laux descend. The family 
was rich and powerful, holding high and im- 
portant offices in the state. In later genera- 
tions many of the members of the several fam- 
ilies became Protestants and suffered in con- 
sequence. 

The Pluguenot forefathers of Philip and 
Nicholas Laux settled in the Palatinate of the 
Rhine in Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Nassau, 
their parents or grandparents going there pre- 
vious to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
and settling during the religious war known 
in history as the "Thirty Years War." Ger- 
many had barely begun to recover from the 
effects of the war, which was more severely 
felt in the Palatinate than in any other part 
of the Fatherland, when the wars of Louis 
XIV. of France began, and life was again 
made a horror for the inhabitants. On the 
advice of the leading generals of the French 
King, the Palatinate was ordered to be de- 
stroyed and soon but the blackened ruins of 
cities, towns, and hamlets remained. To 
flee from such horrors and to escape the 
vengeance of the French King, who was par- 
ticularly bitter against his Protestant subjects 
who had fled from his tyranny, is why thirty 
thousand Palatinates went to London, Eng- 
land, for the kind-hearted English Queen 
Anne had invited the distressed Protestants 
of Germany to make their home in her Ameri- 
can colonies. In this company were Philip 
and Nicholas Laux with their families. 

Of these many went back to Germany and 
several thousand were sent to Ireland, where 
they found homes in county Limerick. Thou- 
sands more perished at sea and on shipboard 
from fever and want of food. Four thou- 
sand, among them Phili]) and Nicholas Laux, 
left England in ten vessels on Christmas day 
in 1709 and after a perilous voyage of six 
months arrived at New York, June 14, 17 10. 
Of tlie four thousand, seventeen hundred died 
at sea, and while in the act of landing. The 
remaining twenty-three hundred were en- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



327 



■camped in tents on Nutting, now Governor's 
Island, New York Harbor. In the late aut- 
umn fourteen hundred were taken one hun- 
dred miles up the Hudson river to Living- 
ston Manor, where they were shamefully 
treated by Governor Hunter and associates. 
As Queen Anne had expended ten thousand 
pounds in bringing them to America they 
Avere expected to repay the government under 
a contract by making tar, pitch, and raising 
heinp (naval stores) in America, for a cer- 
tain period. The plan proved a failure and 
the Palatinates again became desperate, for 
they were suffering for the necessaries of life. 
The Palatinates were men of honor and will- 
ing to carry out the terms of their contract, 
"but the forests and soil were not suitable for 
the production of naval stores. They more- 
over showed their devotion by enlisting in the 
Canadian expedition of 171 1, fully one-third 
of the able-bodied men serving in that 
campaign. They were to receive wages the 
same as other soldiers, their families were 
to be taken care of and the arms they fought 
with were to be retained on their return. 
Many lost their lives in the campaign and the 
survivors found their families in a famished 
condition on their return, no food having been 
given them by the colonial government, as 
promised. Their arms were also taken away. 
Then their hatred of wrong and injustice 
■burst forth and they determined to break away 
from the spot where treachery and starvation 
seemed their only portion. When in London 
they had met a delegation of Mohawk In- 
dians who had promised them land in the 
Schoharie Valley and the land had been con- 
veyed to the Indians by Queen Anne for that 
purpose. Remembering this, they petitioned 
Governor Hunter that they might settle on 
the land promised them by the Indians. He 
refused in a great fury saying, "Here is your 
land, where you must live and die." But now 
fully aroused to their danger they began delili- 
erate preparations, and late in 171 1 one hun- 
dred and fifty families, among them Philip 
Laux and family, quit the scene of their mis- 
ery and started for Schoharie, sixty miles 
northwest of Livingston Manor. They had 
to make their way through a roadless wilder- 
ness, without horse to draw or carry their 
belongings. They harnessed themselves to 
rudely constructed sledges on which they 
loaded their baggage, children, and sick and 
delicate women, and dragged them over the 
snow. They were three weeks in making the 
journey, suffering greatly from cold and hun- 
ger. After their arrival their situation was 
but little improved, and but for the kindness 
•of friendly Indians all must have perished. 



But their indomitable courage and energy en- 
abled them to survive the winter, and a year 
later found them housed and the cultivation 
of land well under way. The vindictive ani- 
mosity of Governor Hunter, however, still 
pursued ihem, and after a sojourn of ten years 
in the Schoharie Valley the greater part left 
for permanent homes in more hospitable re- 
gions, the majority going to the Mohawk Val- 
ley, where they became prosperous. Many of 
the descendants of Philip Laux are found 
there today, wealthy and influential. A 
branch settled in Pennsylvania, including Con- 
rad Weiser. a son of John Conrad Weiser, 
whom Governor Hunter threatened to hang 
for being "disobedient and mutinous." Many 
of the Laux family served in the colonial wars 
and in the revolution. They ser\'ed with Her- 
kimer at Oriskany and the revolutionary rolls 
teem with the family name in its various 
forms. They were prominent in the war of 
1812 and in the great civil war. 

( n Philip Laux bought land at ]\liddleburg 
and in the town of Sharon. .Schoharie county, 
upon which his descendants are yet settled. 
He had four sons: Peter, Cornells, Andrew 
and William. Andrew was a well known lo- 
cal musician and chorister of the Lutheran 
church at Schoharie. Both Philip and Nicho- 
las Laux were among the Palatinate volun- 
teers for the expedition against Quebec in 
171 1. TFley belonged to the Haysbury Com- 
pany that was formed in Livingston Manor. 

(II) William Loucks, son of Philip Laux, 
the emigrant, settled in Middleburg. He was 
the only Tory in his family except most of 
his sons. When Johnson invaded the valley 
in 1780 all the Loucks buildings were burned 
except his, which was made a resting place 
and supply station. He had by first wife, 
Andrew and Peter, of Sharon ; Jeremiah of 
Middleburg; and daughter who married John 
Ingold (2), of Schoharie. By his second wife 
he had John W., Jacob, Henry William, Da- 
vid, Mrs. Storm Becker and Mrs. William 
Borrt. 

(III) Peter, son of William Loucks and his 
first wife, settled with his brother Andrew in 
Sharon, Schoharie county. New York, about 
1765. Peter was a farmer and an energetic 
business man. The Sharon historian says, "he 
had clearer views upon politics' matters than 
his brother Andrew, especially during the 
'struggle for liberty.' " This would indicate 
that Peter was a Patriot and Andrew a Tory. 
Peter erected a house in 1802 from timber 
that had been prepared to build a church, but 
a controversy arose that ended in the church 
being built at Lawyersville. The lumber was 
then sold at auction and purchased by Peter 



328 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Loucks. This house yet stands. Cliildren of 
Peter Loucks: William, John H., Hollis, Dan- 
iel, Andrew P., Mary, married Peter Brown, 
Sarah, married Joseph W. Van Schaick. 

(IV) John H., son of Peter Loucks, of 
Sharon, New York, was born in that town 
where he lived for many years. He settled 
later in Albany county. New York, where de- 
scendants are plentiful. He married and had 
sons. 

(V) James Harris, son of John H. Loucks, 
of Sharon, Schoharie county, and Albany 
county, New York, was a prosperous farmer 
of the town of Bethlehem. He owned a good 
farm, and was a man of high character and 
good standing in his town. He married Hes- 
ter Slingerland, sister of William H. Slinger- 
land, of Slingerlands, Albany county, and 
daughter of John A. and Leah (Brett) Shn- 
gerland, descendant of Teunise Cornelis Slin- 
gerland who came from Holland in 1650 to 
what is now the town of Bethlehem, Albany 
county. They had several children. 

(VI) John Albert Slingerland, son of James 
Harris and Hester (Slingerland) Loucks, was 
born on the old Loucks homestead in Slin- 
gerlands, Albany county. New York, July 19, 
1841. 

He was educated in the public schools 
of his town and of Albany county, New York. 
He grew up on a farm, and on arriving at 
man's estate became a farmer on Ms own ac- 
count, continuing that occupation all his ac- 
tive years. He prospered in his chosen busi- 
ness and is now (1910) living a retired life 
in the village of New Scotland. He enlisted 
October 11, 1862, in Company H, One Hun- 
dred and Seventy-seventh Regiment New 
York Volunteer Infantry, at New Scotland, 
to serve nine months ; mustered in as ser- 
geant of Company H, November 21, 1862; 
mustered out with company September 10, 
1863, at Albany, New York. He married Su- 
san Slingerland, daughter of Peter, son of 
Maus, son of Peter, son of Teunise Cornelis, 
son of Cornelis, son of Teunise Cornelis Slin- 
gerland, the Dutch emigrant and ancestor. 
His son Cornelis, born June 7, 1670, married 
Eva Mabie, May 28, 1696. Their son, Teu- 
nise Cornelis Slingerland, born March i, 
1722, married and had four sons: John, Cor- 
nelius, Peter, Henry. Peter Slingerland, 
third son, was born February 5, 1759, died 
1847. He built mills and converted the tim- 
ber on his land into lumber. He married Ger- 
trude Bloomingdale. Their only son, Maus 
Slingerland, was born March 7, 1806. He 
inherited the saw and grist mills built by his 
father and owned in addition seven hundred 
acres of land. He married Susanna, daugh- 



ter of \\'illiam Sager, and had four sons and 
four daughters. Their son, Peter Slingerland, 
was a farmer and a member of the New York 
state legislature, serving under two elections 
to the assembly. He married Rachel Mosher. 
Their daughter, Susan Slingerland, married 
John A. S. Loucks. Their children are: i. 
Elizabeth L., married Ambrose J. Wiltsie, of 
Feurabush, Albany county. New York. 2. 
Anna S., wife of John V. D. H. Bradt, a 
farmer of Feurabush. 3. James Harris, of 
further mention. 4. De Ette, died in in- 
fancy. 5. Estelle. 6. John A. S. 

(VH) James Harris (2), son of John A. 
S. and Susan (Slingerland) Loucks. was born 
at Feurabush, town of New Scotland, Albany 
county, New York, November 13, 1877. He 
was educated in the public schools, graduated 
from Albany high school in 1897. Until 1905 
he was engaged in farming. In that year he 
began the study of law with Harris & Rudd, 
lawyers, of Albany, New York. In 1909 he 
was graduated from Albany Law School 
(Union University) and was admitted to the 
bar the same year. He is still associated with 
the law firm of Harris & Rudd. He is a 
member of the Masonic order, the Patrons of 
Husbandry, and the Albany Club. He is a 
Republican in politics, and a member of the 
Jerusalem Reformed Church at Feurabush. 
He married. September 19, 1907, Sarah B. 
Creble, of Feurabush, daughter of Francis 
and Sarah (Callanan) Creble. They have one 
child, Frances Elizabeth Loucks, born April 

5. 1909- 

(The Creble Line). 

(I) Francis Creble was born in 1794, died 
in 1848. The farm on which he was born was 
located by his grandfather prior to the rev- 
olution. His father lived and died on the 
same farm, where in 18 19 he built the present 
farm dwelling. He was an expert wood 
worker. He married Mary A. Bush. 

(II) Henry, son of Francis and Mary A. 
(Bush) Creble, was born on the old farm, 
1810, died there 1897. He served in the 
New York state assembly, and was a well- 
known, influential man. He married .-Xnn 
Eliza Houck, born in Bethlehem, Albany 
county, New York, 18 12. 

(III) Francis (2), son of Henry and Ann 
Eliza (Houck) Creble, was born on the old 
homestead at Feurabush, July i, 1844. He 
married, in New Scotland. Sarah Callanan, 
born February 27, 1850, daughter of David 
and Harriet (Simmons) Callanan. 

(IV) Sarah B.. daughter of Francis (2) 
and Sarah (Callanan) Creble, a graduate of 
the State Normal College, married James 
Harris Loucks (see Loucks VII). 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



329' 



The paternal ancestor of the 
TIBBITS Tibbits family of Troy, New 

York, herein considered, was 
Henry Tibbits, of Warwickshire. England. 
He was of Kingstown, Rhode Island, where he 
died in 1713. In 1663 he and others of Nar- 
ragansett Colony petitioned to be placed un- 
der the protection of Connecticut. In 1665 he 
and other.s petitioned the general assembly of 
Rhode Island for accommodation of land in 
Kings Province. June 22, 1670, he was ap- 
pointed constable by the Connecticut authori- 
ties, and the inhabitants were desired to yield 
obedience to Connecticut rule. May 20, 1671, 
he took the oath of allegiance to Rhode Is- 
land. In 1672 he bought, with five others, a 
tract of land of Awashuwett, chief sachem of 
Quohassett, in Narragansett. May 2, 1677, 
he and others having been imprisoned by Con- 
necticut authorities, the Rhode Island assem- 
bly sent a letter of protest threatening that if 
Connecticut "persisted in disturbing the in- 
habitants with illegal and forcible intrusion," 
they would be under the necessity of complain- 
ing to "His Sacred Majesty," the King of 
England. In 1678 he was again appointed 
constable, receiving his appointment this time 
from the Rhode Island authorities. In 1679 
he signed with others a petition to the king 
praying that he "would put an end to these 
differences about the government thereof," 
etc. In 1687-88 he was a grand juror. In 
1688 he and Daniel Vernon were appointed 
highway commissioners. In 1690 he was a 
conservator of the peace. In 1702 he was on 
the subscription list for erection of a Quaker 
meeting house on Mashapang. In 1705 he 
was elected deputy to the general court. He 
married, in December, 1661. Sarah Stanton, 
who died in 1708, daughter of Robert and 
Avis Stanton. Children: Henry (see for- 
ward) ; Ann. married Samuel Fones : George, 

married (first) Mary , (second) Alice 

Sherman, (third) Sarah Bliven ; John, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Hall : Mary, married Edward 
Greene; Sarah, married William Hall; !\Iar- 

tha, married Benjamin Stanton; , 

married William Tanner. 

(II) Henry (2). son of Henry (i) and 
Sarah (Stanton) Tibbits. died in Kingstown. 
Rhode Island, December 27, 1702. He was 
made a freeman of the colony of Rhode Is- 
land. i6q6. and ]\Iay i. 1700, was fined twen- 
ty-five shillings for taking part in rescue of 
prisoner from a deputy sheriff. He married 

Rebecca , who died 1752. Children: 

Thomas. Henry. William (see forward). Re- 
becca, .^vis and Dinah. His will was admin- 
istered bv his widow Rebecca, whose own will 
was proved August 10, 1752. She named her 



son William as executor. To her grandson 
Thomas, son of Thomas, deceased, she left 
"my mansion house and land where I dwell, 
housing, orchards, fencing, etc., with liberty 
for my two sons to pass and repass through 
land" ; to her daughters, Avis Rice, Rebecca 
Green and Dinah Tibbits, the remainder of 
estate equally, and Dinah to live in house 
while single; to son Henry five shillings; to 
son William twenty shillings, they both hav- 
ing had by deed. Inventory was £530. is. 

(III) William, son of Henry (2) and Re- 
becca Tibbits, was of Warwick, Rhode Island. 
He married and had two sons, John and Wil- 
liam (2). 

(IV) John, eldest son of William Tibbits,. 
was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1737. 
He was a resident of Lansingburg, Rensselaer 
county, New York, subsequent to 1780, and 
later removed to Lisbon, St. Lawrence 
county, New York, where he died January 27, 
1817. He married, January 7, 1760, Waite 
Brown, born in Warwick, Rhode Island, Sep- 
tember 3, 1741. died in Lisbon, New York, 
March 10. 1809. They were the parents of 
ten children. 

(V) George, eldest child of John and Waite 
(Brown) Tibbits, was born in Warwick, 
Rhode Island, January 14, 1763. His birth- 
place was the old Tibbits homestead farm on 
the western shores of Providence bay or river, 
which for a long time bore the name of "Tib- 
bits Point," now the city of Warwick. When 
he was five years of age his parents removed 
to the town of Cheshire, Berkshire county, 
^Massachusetts, on a farm of three hundred 
and fifty acres. John Tibbits purchased and 
located near the headwaters of the Hoosic 
river. Here the family remained until about 
1780, when they removed to Lansingburgh, 
Rensselaer county. New York. George was 
now about seventeen years of age, and ambi- 
tious to make his own way in the world.- In 
1784 his opportunity to enter mercantile life 
came, through the kindness of Francis Atkin- 
son, importer, of New York, who furnished 
him credit to the extent of $1,000. This was 
his "first stepping stone to my future progress 
in life." A location was secured in Lansing- 
burgh and thus the business house of Tibbits 
was started. According to advertisements and 
other authorities, the house dealt in dry goods, 
grain, whale oil, etc. From 1784 until 1787 
he was alone in the business and was success- 
ful. In 1787 he admitted his brother Benja- 
min as a partner, under the firm name of 
G. & B. Tibbits. Benjamin died September 
II, 1802, and his place in the firm was taken 
by another brother. Elisha. the firm remaining 
so constituted until 1804. when George Tibbits 



330 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



retired. The business was removed from 
Lansingburgh to Troy in 1797, occupying the 
northwest corner of River and Congress 
streets, and Air. Tibbits resided in a dwelHng 
then situated at the northeast corner of the 
same streets. During his private business ca- 
reer, which ended in 1804, he gave himself en- 
tirely to its management and constant de- 
mands. He was a successful merchant, in- 
terested in many business undertakings, and 
acquired a large landed estate. He was a di- 
rector of the Rensselaer & Saratoga Insur- 
ance Company ; president of the Rensselaer 
County Agricultural Society ; director of the 
Troy Turnpike Railroad Company ; director 
of the Farmers' Bank (the first banking in- 
stitution in Troy) ; in fact, was officially con- 
nected with the numerous activities that were 
then making Troy noted among the cities of 
the Empire State. After 1800 he began his 
distinguished public career that only termina- 
ted with his death. He was elected fire war- 
den of the village of Troy in 1798, serving 
also in 1801 and 1808; in 1800 he was a trus- 
tee of the village, and in 1808 chief engineer 
•of the fire department. In 1800 he was elected 
a member of the house of assembly, and again 
in 1820. From 1803 to 1805 he was a mem- 
ber of the National House of Representatives, 
serving in the Eighth Congress from the Tenth 
Congressional District of New York. In 
1815-16-17-18 he was a member of the Senate 
(New York state). He was a Federalist in 
politics, and in 1816 was the candidate of that 
party for lieutenant-governor of New York, 
■on the ticket with Rufus King, the candidate 
for governor. Their Democratic opponents, 
Daniel D. Tompkins and John Taylor, were 
the successful candidates. 

Mr. Tibbits was foremost in the effort to 
prevent bridges from being built that would 
interfere with Hudson river navigation, and, 
until the railroads changed traffic conditions 
so radically, no bridges were built. During 
liis term as mayor of Troy he pushed to suc- 
cessful issue the plan for supplying the city 
with water from Piscawen creek. He was 
always an earnest advocate of the doctrine of 
protection, and it is believed that he was the 
first writer in the United States to publicly 
indorse and urge the passage of a tariff act 
for protective purposes. Lmder the signature 
of "Cato" his essays appeared in the Pliila- 
delphia Inquirer. He was a delegate to the 
Harrisburg convention of 1827, and a niem- 
"ber of the committee appointed by the con- 
vention to prepare a memorial to congress 
urging the passage by that body of protective 
measures. His arguments in favor of a tariff' 
for protection were so strong and comprehen- 



sive, that few points have ever been added to 
them since. In 1824 he was one of the com- 
missioners appointed under the act of April 
12, 1824, to "examine into all matters relating 
to the economy, government and discipline" of 
the prisons of New York state. Their report, 
bearing date of January 15, 1825, was regard- 
ed as of the greatest value not only in New 
York, but in other states of the Union, while 
from England came the highest praise. Wil- 
liam Roscoe, the English historian, an earnest 
advocate of the abolition of slavery, wrote in 
complimentary terms of "the extraordinarv 
and it may be said unexampled labor and at- 
tention the commissioners have bestowed in 
the examination of the state prisons." In 
1825 the same three commissioners, George 
Tibbits, Stephen Allen and Samuel M. Hop- 
kins, were appointed as commissioners to 
build a new state prison. They were empow- 
ered to "purchase a site, procure necessary 
material, and to employ convicts from Auburn 
to erect a new prison." They selected and 
purchased a site at Mount Pleasant (Sing 
Sing), now Ossining, and on May 24, 1825, 
with one hundred convicts from Albany, be- 
gan the erection of that since famous prison. 
While this work was in progress the commis- 
sioners were required to again investigate 
abuses at Auburn prison, and their report 
formed the basis of important prison reforms, 
and in 1828 the legislature empowered them 
to erect a separate prison at Sing Sing for fe- 
male convicts. His connection with prison 
reform and management was a particularly 
valuable service Mr. Tibbits rendered his 
state. 

His connection with the construction of the 
Erie canal is another imperishable monument 
to his memory. He was a warm friend of the 
measure from the first, and while a member of 
the state senate he drew up and caused to be 
presented to the legislature a system of finan- 
cing the enterprise. The plan so proposed b\' 
him was incorporated in the general law of 
the state, which was passed April 13, 181 7. 
and to him belongs the sole credit of originat- 
ing the system under which funds were pro- 
cured for the prosecution of this great under- 
taking. Hon. Robert Troup, in a letter pub- 
lished in 1822, addressed to Brockholst Liv- 
ingston, one of the justices of the supreme 
court of the United States, in speaking of Mr. 
Tibbits' connection with the work, said : "He 
drew up a plan of finance, establishing a dis- 
tinct and permanent fund for the completion 
of both canals and pointed out various sources 
of revenue which was substantially the same 
with that afterward established by the legis- 
lature." Again in 1829 his wise counsel con- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



331 



<:erning canal funds resulted in additional 
prosperity to the state, particularly the Onon- 
daga salt section. 

In 1830 Mr. Tibbits was elected mayor of 
Troy and served through successive re-elec- 
tions for five years. In 1833 Hon. Henry 
Clay visited Troy, and it was Mayor Tibbits' 
pleasant duty to welcome officially the "great 
apostle of protection," whose views and his 

■ own were the same on this vital question. He 
was a careful and conscientious official. His 
practical wisdom, his personal services and 
ui;tiring energy, were devoted to the interests 
of Troy ; the public water and fire service 
were greatly improved and will ever stand to 
the credit of his administration. In 1835 he 
rendered almost his last great public service 
to his city and section when he opposed with 
all his force and energy the attempt made to 
divert the canal route from Troy and the 
towns adjacent. In the discharge of his du- 
ties as legislator and public official he spoke 
seldom in public, and never unless he had a 
message to convey, but when he did speak he 
was listened to with attention. As a writer 
he was distinguished for great strength and 
force in argument. He was of an intensely 
religious nature, caring little for externals, 
but had within the faith that satisfies. He 
was for forty-four years, from 1805 till his 
death, a vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church, Troy. He died July 19, 1849, ^t the 
age of eighty-six years : he was a great suf- 
ferer in his later years. 

Mr. Tibbits married, March 9, 1789, at 
Lansingburgh, New York, Sarah Noyes, born 
at Charleston, South Carolina, January 14, 
1767. (See Noyes). Children: i. George 
Mortimer (see forward). 2. Caroline Eliza- 
beth, born 1800, died 1879; married, 1818, 
Jacob Lansing Lane. 3. Oliver Noyes, born 
1805. died 1829. 

(\ I) George Mortimer, son of George and 
Sarah (Noyes) Tibbits, was born at Lansing- 
burgh, New York, December 5, 1796. While 
still an infant his parents removed to Troy, 
and he was educated in the schools there un- 
til sent to Lenox, Massachusetts, where he 
was prepared for college by a Mr. Gleason. 
He graduated from L^nion College in 1817, 
and shortly afterwards went abroad for a 
year, spending much time in a walking tour 
of Scotland. On his return to Troy he studied 
law for a time in the office of Hon. John P. 
Cushman, but finding the confinement of such 
a life injurious to his health, he was unable 
to continue his studies. After his marriage in 
1824 he removed to Hoosac. New York, where 
his father owned land, to which he afterwards 
greatlv added. Thev lived on what was 



known as the Pfister farm, which had for- 
merly belonged to a Loyalist whose property 
was confiscated during the revolution, and 
there Mr. Tibbits built a brick dwelling, which 
was remodeled in i860, and is now a free- 
stone mansion. He early became interested 
in stock raising, and imported a celebrated 
breed of cattle known as the Teeswater Dur- 
ham, which was especially valuable for the 
dairy, and also, about 1830, a number of Sax- 
ony sheep, thus originating one of the largest 
flocks in that part of the country. He was 
always interested in wool growing and in the 
improvement of the fleece of sheep. Although 
living so much in the country, where he could 
gratify his taste for an outdoor life and his 
love of horseback riding, Mr. Tibbits and his 
family spent some months in each year in 
Troy at the home of his parents, which is now 
the property of the Day Home Association. 
He later built for himself a house on First 
street, which he occupied for the first time in 
1849, and from then on spent more of his 
time in Troy. Though never a public man, 
Mr. Tibbits had a jealous regard for the good 
name of his city and strove earnestly for its 
welfare, being ever ready to aid in any under- 
taking which promised to increase its pros- 
perity and generously contributing to its 
works of benevolence. He was a director of 
the United National P)ank, of the Rensselaer 
& Saratoga Railroad, and a trustee of the 
Troy Orphan Asylum. He was a strong ad- 
vocate of a protective tariff, the development 
of the resources of the country and the en- 
couragement of home manufactures. In poli- 
tics he was a Whig aiul then a Free Soiler, 
and from its beginning a member of the Re- 
publican party. When the civil war broke 
out, his enthusiasm for the cause of the Union 
knew no pause, and he supported the govern- 
ment in its efforts to suppress rebellion with 
his means and with his influence. He aided 
his son. William R. Tibbits, in every way in 
his power. In 1866 Mr. Tibbits. with his 
wife and a family party, made a second trip 
to Europe, where they traveled leisurely 
through Great Britain. France, Germany, 
Italy, and also visited Egypt and the Holy 
Land. He was a man of cultured taste, fond 
of books and of beautiful things, and thor- 
oughly enjoyed the opportunities which life 
in the old world aft'ords. Mr. Tibbits was a 
sincere, earnest Christian, pure and upright in 
character, and industrious and scrupulous in 
his way of living. He joined the Episcopal 
church as a young man, and was regular and 
devout in public worship, while maintaining 
in his own household the order of family pray- 
er. He was for manv vears a vestrvman of 



332 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



St. John's Qiurch, Troy. He died July 19, 
1878, at his home in Troy. 

Mr. Tibbits married. May 30, 1824, Sarah, 
daughter of John Rutfjer Bleecker, of Albany, 
New York, and his wife Eliza Atwood. John 
R. Bleecker was the son of Rutger and Cath- 
erine (Elmerdorf) Bleecker. Rutger Bleeck- 
er owned practically the whole of what is now 
the city of Utica ; he was the son of John Rut- 
ger and Elizabeth (Staats) Bleecker. and 
grandson of Rutger and Catalina (Schuyler) 
Bleecker. The ancestor of the Bleecker fam- 
ily was Jan Jansen Bleecker, who came to Al- 
bany, New York, in 1658. Children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Tibbits: i. George, born April 12, 
1825, died, unmarried, March 4, 1875; re- 
ceived degree of civil engineer from Rens- 
selaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 1841 ; 
Bachelor of Arts from L'nion College, class of 
1845; Master of Arts from Union College in 
1848; member of Rensselaer county bar; al- 
derman of Troy, 1858-61 ; a war Democrat, 
1861-65. 2. John Bleecker (see forward). 3. 
Blandina Dudley, born 1829, died 1833. 4. 
Eliza Atwood, born 1831, died April 6, 1870; 
married, iVIay 16, 1853, John Hobart Warren, 
of Troy. 5. Edward Dudley, born and died 
in 1833. 6. Charles Edward Dudley (see for- 
ward). 7. William Badger (see forward). 8. 
Caroline, born 1846, died 1847. 9. Sarah 
Noyes, born November 8, 1847, died May 30, 
1883; married, January 15, 1878, John Wool 
Griswold, born August 29, 1850, died January 
2, 1902; children: Sarah Bleecker, born April 
15, 1879, married, October 2, 1901, Sanborn 
Gove Tenney, of Williamstown ; Elizabeth 
Hart, born June 17, 1880, married, October 
14, 1903, Chester Griswold, of New York; 
John Augustus, born September 23, 1882. 
married, October 20, 1909, Helene Robson. 

(VII) John Bleecker, second son of George 
Mortimer and Sarah (Bleecker) Tibbits, was 
born January 18, 1827, died July 8. 1898. He 
was educated at Bartlett School, College Hill, 
Poughkeepsie Preparatory School, and Union 
College, graduating therefrom with the de- 
gree of Master of Arts in 1846. After his 
graduation he served as tutor for two years 
in Union College, instructor in classics. He 
then engaged in the grain business in the city 
of Troy with Pliny Moore, continuing the same 
for five or six years, after which he assisted 
his father in the management of the estate, 
particularly at Hoosac and Schaghticoke, his 
father having large land holdings in both 
places. He resided in Troy during the winter 
months and in Hoosac during the remainder 
of the year. Subsequently he began studying 
for the ministry, and was ordained October 
18, 1866, by I'.ishop Horatio Potter, of New 



York, to the deaconate, and began building up- 
All Saints Episcopal Church at Hoosac, whicli 
church was built by his father and mother. 
The nave was built in 1864, the chancel and 
tower completed in 1872, and the chimes were 
made at Florence, Italy: Mr. and Mrs. Tib- 
bits also put in the organ. John B. Tibbits 
served as perpetual deacon from choice, and 
did not take the order of priesthood. He 
worked in the parish and vicinity for years, 
and was regarded as a saint by the surround- 
ing country folk. He also established several 
missions around Hoosac, and during this peri- 
od resided at Hoosac all the time. From 187 1 
to 1879 he resided at Bennington, Vermont, 
still continuing his work at Hoosac, and after 
the latter date he returned to Hoosac and 
lived in the old Tibbits country seat. In the 
spring of 1891 he took up his residence in the 
rectory at Hoosac with his son. Rev. Edward 
Dudley Tibbits, remaining till his death. 

Mr. Tibbits was much interested in electric 
apparatus and dynamos. He was an expert 
electrician and inventor, inventing and devel- 
oping the Arago disc dynamo, on which he 
secured patents : in the great electro exhibi- 
tions in Paris, France, 1882. he won the gold 
medal, the first prize, for his electric inven- 
tions. His dynamos and especially electric 
lighting were acknowledged to be superior to 
anything shown. So prominent was the suc- 
cess of the light that Sir Sylvester Armstrong 
and other prominent electricians formed a 
syndicate (recognizing Tibbits' inventions as 
being the best) for the purpose of purchasing 
his patents and opening up the manufacturing 
of the inventions. They offered, through his 
agent. Robert Mackie, the sum of £200,000 
sterling for the patent, but he refused the offer, 
not wishing to turn over his patents to a trust, 
desiring to turn them over to municipal gov- 
ernment ownership for the production of light 
and power for the use of the public at a small 
cost. He was also the inventor of an incan- 
descent and arc light. Thus his patents be- 
can-.e common, and were adopted and used 
generally. He was the first to use tungsten 
( a metallic substance) as the basis for a metal- 
lic filament for incandescent lighting, now in 
common use. He had an experimental station 
at Hoosac. He also discovered the manufac- 
ture of white lead by electrolysis. He mar- 
ried (first). January 8. 1850, Amelia Abby, 
born January 23, 1828, died February 18, 
1869, daughter of Le Grand and Esther 
(Bouton) Cannon. Children: i. George ]\Ior- 
timer, born April 30, 1851, died February i, 
1882. 2. Le Grand Cannon (see forward). 3. 
Edward Dudley (see forward). He married; 
(second), June i„ 1871, i^Irs. Ada West Conkr- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



333 



■Jing, daugliter of John and Emma West, of 
Bennington, \'ermont, and widow of Daniel 
Hubbell Conkling, of Bennington. 

(VII) Charles Edward Dudley, fourth son 
'of George Mortimer and Sarah (Bleecker) 
Tibbits. was born at Hoosac, New York, Au- 
gust 1 8, 1834. He was educated under pri- 
vate tuition at Troy and Hoosac, was for a 
time a student at the boarding school of Mr. 
Bartlett, at Poughkeepsie, and later took a 
•course at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 
in Troy. In 1851 he made his first visit to 
Europe, crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel. 
He saw at that time the first International 
Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London. 
This was the first of many voyages, as since 
then he has traveled extensively. He has been 
largely occupied with the care of his own and 
of family property. He was president of the 
Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Ma- 
chine Company, of Hoosick Falls, from 1892 
to 1895, when he resigned, and for a number 
of years was a director of the company ; he 
is also a director of the United National Bank 
of Troy. He is a trustee of the Troy Orphan 
Asylum, and was chairman of the committee 
which selected the plans for the asylum build- 
ing on Spring avenue. He was president in 
1879 of the Young Men's Association, and is 
a trustee of the Troy Public Library, which 
now carries on the work formerlv done by 
that association. As trustee of the library he 
chose the design from which the Memorial 
Library Building on Second street was erected 
by Mrs. Mary E. Hart. Mr. Tibbits was 
■chosen chairman of the committee of one hun- 
dred citizens who were charged with making 
arrangements for the public celebration of the 
one hundredth anniversary of the naming of 
the city of Troy, in January, 1889. 

Mr. Tibbits is an independent thinker po- 
litically, a Republican in sympathy, but more 
interested in securing good, clean government 
than in mere party success. When in March, 
1894, Robert Ross was foully murdered at the 
polls, Mr. Tibbits was one of those who signed 
a call inviting their fellow citizens to assemble 
in order to express their indignation and to 
"show by their presence and words their love 
for the fair name of our city and their appre- 
ciation of any efforts which may be made to 
bring the guilty parties, whoever they may 
be, to speedy justice." He was a member of 
the committee of one hundred formed as a 
result of this great meeting to see that justice 
be done. He also took a part in the forma- 
tion of the National Municipal League, and 
has been a member of its executive commit- 
tee since its organization. 

Mr. Tibbits married, June 8, 1865, Mary 



Elizabeth, daughter of John Le Grand and 
Elizabeth (Sigourney) Knox. (See Knox.) 
She died July 16, 1875. Children: i. Sarah 
Bleecker, born November 15, 1866. 2. 
George, born February 22, 1868, died April 
29, 1875. 3. John Knox, born January 13, 
1870; educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, 
New Hampshire; Yale College, B.A., class of 
1892: Exeter College, Oxford, England; he is 
an Episcopal clergyman at Concord, New 
Hampshire. He married, April 12, 1910, at 
Montreal, Canada, Marguerite Vinton Harris, 
daughter of Arthur H. and Saidee (Lambe) 
Harris, of that city. 4. Dudley, born Oc- 
tober 4, 1874, died May 24, 1875. 

(\TI) William Badger, youngest son of 
George Mortimer and Sarah (Bleecker) Tib- 
bits, was born at Hoosac, New York, March 
31, 1837. He was named for a great-great- 
uncle, William Badger, who was a soldier of 
the revolution. His early life was passed in 
Troy and Hoosac, where, and at a boarding 
school in Utica, he received his preparatory 
education. He then entered Williams College, 
but left there for LInion College, where he 
graduated in 1859, an oration being accorded 
him at commencement, while his classmates 
honored him by choosing him as one of their 
two class marshals. He was a member of the 
Chi Psi fraternity. After graduating he 
studied law for a time, and then entered busi- 
ness, having a one-third interest in the Samp- 
son & Tibbits Scale Company. He was thus 
engaged when on April 15, 1861, President 
Lincoln's first call for troops was published in 
the Troy papers, and on that day he volun- 
teered his services and obtained authorization 
papers for raising a company. This company, 
known as Company G, was accepted April 23, 
1861, and was the color company of the Sec- 
ond Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 
which left Troy for the front May 18, 1861. 
He was mustered in as its captain. May 14, 
1861. His services during the ensuing sev- 
enteen months are best explained in the fol- 
lowing letter and recommendation : 

Headquarters, Carr's Brigade, 
Sickles' Division. 
Camp at Fairfax Seminary, Va., Oct. 18, 1862. 
General : I have the honor to recommend the 
promotion of Captain William B. Tibbits, Second 
New York Volunteers, to be major vice George W. 
Wilson, resigned. Captain Tibbits is the senior 
and one of the only two original captains left with 
the regiment. He has been with it on every picket, 
march, and reconnaisance, and in every skirmish 
and battle, and at Big Bethel, Fair Oaks. Glendale, 
Malvern Hill. Bristow, and Bull Run. .^t Bristow 
he particularly distinguished himself, and was hon- 
orably mentioned for gallant and meritorious 
service at Bull Run. His vast experience, un- 
daunted courage, and excellent judgment well qual- 
ify him for the position for which I have the 



334 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



honor to recommend him. I have the honor to 
be Your most obedient servant. 

Joseph B. Carr, 
Brig. Gen. U. S. A. 
To Brigadier-General Thomas Hillhouse, 
State of N. Y., Albany, N. Y. 
This recommendation was duly honored 
and Captain Tibbits was commissioned major 
under date of October 13. 1862. On May 23, 

1863, Major Tibbits took part in the battle 
of Chancellorsville. and his conduct was thus 
spoken of in a letter by General ^lott : "Major 
Tibbits was in command of the Second New 
York Infantry in the brigade that I command- 
ed at Chancellorsville. He acted in a gallant 
and meritorious manner, leading his regiment 
in several desperate charges against the 
enemy. I take pleasure in recommending him 
to the department as a worthy and deserving 
officer, having served in the field during the 
war." The term of the Second Regiment ex- 
pired the following year, and Major Tibbits 
was mustered out with the regiment in Troy, 
May 23, 1863. June 17, 1863, he procured 
authorization papers to raise a cavalry regi- 
ment to be known as the Griswold Light Cav- 
alry, to serve for three years unless sooner 
discharged. About the time this regiment 
was fully recruited, a number of prominent 
citizens of Troy presented him with a sword 
suitably inscribed with their appreciation and 
the names of the battles in which he had 
fought. 

On January 24, 1864, he was mustered in 
as colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment, New 
York Cavalry (Griswold Light). Colonel 
Tibbits received honorary mention and prom- 
ise of promotion. At the battle of Piedmont 
in the following June, Major General Stahel 
rode up and in the presence of his regiment 
thus addressed Colonel Tibbits : "I have to 
compliment you and your gallant regiment for 
the magnificent charge they made upon the 
field to-day." Subsequently the same officer 
confirmed this opinion in a most complimen- 
tary letter dated August 29, 1864. Colonel 
Tibbits was recommended for promotion by 
his division commander. Brigadier General 
A. N. Duffie, in a communication addressed 
to Major General David Hunter, on August 
5, 1864, in which he says: "This officer has 
served under my command since June 10, 

1864, and I have found him on all occasions a 
competent, faithful and gallant officer. He 
has on several occasions distinguished himself 
in action. His meritorious conduct has com- 
manded the admiration of myself and his com- 
mand." This recommendation was indorsed 
by General Htmter, and the deserved recog- 
nition of Colonel Tibbits' conduct was made 
still more complimentary by being read on 



dress parade to each command in GeneraF 
Hunter's command. On November 17. 1864,. 
the War Department conferred on Colonel 
Tibbits the rank of brevet brigadier-general, 
to date from October 21, 1864. General Tib- 
bits served throughout the war and afterwards 
was ordered west, and it was not till Septem- 
ber, 1865, that he received permission to re- 
turn home. He was made a full brigadier- 
general and received the rank of brevet major- 
general, U.S.A. He was mustered out of the 
service under General Order No. 168, to date 
from January 16, 1866. 

In 1867 he represented the interests of the 
Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Ma- 
chine Company at the International Exposi- 
tion, in Paris, and at the invitation of the Em- 
peror, Napoleon III., took part in the great 
review held in Paris that summer, as a mem- 
ber of the Emperor's stafif. General Tibbits 
was for many years a great suflferer from in- 
juries received during the war. He died Feb- 
ruary ID, 1880. He was one of the most in- 
trepid spirits that the great civil war devel- 
oped, quick and skillful in action, never at a 
loss to decide promptly at the critical mo- 
ment, and never shirking a duty. It was said 
of him that he begged the privilege to charge 
when others were even unwilling to obey or- 
ders to advance. 

(VIII) Le Grand Cannon, son of John 
Bleecker and Amelia Abby (Cannon) Tibbits, 
was born in Troy, New York, January 13, 
1854. He was educated in private schools in 
Troy and New York City and at Union Col- 
lege. He engaged in the real estate business, 
which he has since followed, and took upon 
himself the entire management of the Tibbits 
estate at Hoosac. At the present time and 
for the past sixteen years he has been a di- 
rector of the Walter A. Wood Mowing & 
Reaping Machine Company of Hoosick Falls. 
.After his father's death he occupied the old 
Tibbits country seat at Hoosac, but spends 
considerable of his time in Europe. He has 
served as supervisor for his county, and was 
a member of the state senate, 1896-98, per- 
forming very effective work, being elected on 
the Republican ticket. He conceived and orig- 
inated the committee of safety, 1895, and has 
taken an active part in reforms that have 
been and are being carried out. He is a mem- 
ber of the National Guard, serving as inspec- 
tor of Third Brigade, 1883, on stafif of Gen- 
eral Oliver (now assistant secretary of war), 
with rank of lieutenant-colonel. He is a mem- 
ber and senior warden of All Saints Episco- 
pal Church, Hoosac, and trustee of Hoosac 
school. He is a member of the Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, the Troy Club, Kappa Alpha 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



335 



fraternity, and the Legion of Honor, becom- 
ing a member of the latter by hereditary right 
in 1880. 

He married, October 8, 1890, Eh'zabeth 
Barrett Folger, of San Francisco, California, 
daughter of James Arthur and Ellen (Lough- 
lin) Folger, the former having been a son of 
William Folger, and a descendant of Peter 
Folger, of Nantucket, and the latter a repre- 
sentative of a Vermont family. 

(\"ni) Edward Dudley, son of John 
Bleecker and Amelia Abby (Cannon) Tibbits, 
was born at Troy, New York, July 7, 1859. 
His parents removed to Hoosac when he was 
a few months old, but they spent their winters 
mostly in Troy and New York City. He w-as 
educated by private tutors, attended St. Paul's 
School, Concord, Massachusetts, entering in 
1870, graduating in 1878, and entered the 
sophomore class of Williams College, graduat- 
ing with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 1881. 
He then traveled abroad for a short time, and 
in June. 1885, graduated from the General 
Theological Seminary, New York City. He 
was ordained deacon October 10, 1885, at All 
Saints Church, Hoosac, by Rt. Rev. W. C. 
Doane, D.D., Bishop of Albany, and served 
as deacon of that church until 1886. The fol- 
lowing two years he spent abroad, traveling 
in Egypt and the Holy Land, spending a con- 
siderable part of this time in studying at Ox- 
ford, England, taking a special course in the- 
olog}'. He returned to Hoosac, New York, 
July, 1888, and was ordained priest, Decem- 
ber 29, 1888, in All Saints Cathedral, Albany, 
by Bishop Doane, of which cathedral he was 
appointed honorary canon, which position he 
has continuously held. He was chaplain to 
Bishop Doane during the Bishops' Conference 
in London, June and July, 1888. After be- 
coming a priest he was appointed rector of 
All Saints Parish. Hoosac. He established 
two missions, one at Bayntonville and the oth- 
er at Raymertown, both in New York, build- 
ing churches at both places. He also estab- 
lished a day parish school, which in 1892 was 
changed to a choir school for boys, called "All 
Saints Choir School." This work developed 
into the present Hoosac School for Boys, 
which in 1903 was incorporated, having a 
regular board of directors or trustees, to 
which was given some sixty-five acres, to- 
gether with the buildings, including the stone 
church, which now constitutes the plant of 
"Hoosac School." It has accommodation for 
about seventy-five boys, receiving boys be- 
tween the ages of eleven and nineteen, and is 
a preparatory school for college ; at the pres- 
ent time (1910) it has ten instructors. The 
school has an excellent reputation, and the 



boys enter eastern colleges direct from this 
school, subject to the rector of school. In 
1907 Trinity College, Connecticut, tendered 
Dr. Tibbits the degree of Doctor of Letters, 
and in 1908 Williams College conferred on 
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He 
was appointed by Bishop Doane a delegate 
from the Diocese of Albany to the Pan-An- 
glican Congress, which met in London, Eng- 
land, June, 1908, but he could not accept on 
account of his work in the school. In 1910 he 
was appointed by the Board of Missions a 
delegate to the World's Missionary Congress 
at Edinburgh, Scotland, but had to decline this 
honor, as it met before the commencement of 
Hoosac School. He is a member of Delta 
Psi, and of the Confraternity of the Blessed 
Sacrament. His vacations are generally spent 
in travel abroad. 

(The Noyes Line). 

(I) Rev. William Noyes, rector of Choul- 
derton, county Wilts, England, matriculated 
at University College, Oxford, November 15, 
1588, age twenty years, and was graduated 
A.B., May 31, 1592. He married Anne Ste- 
phens, daughter of Nicholas Stephens, Esq., 
of Burdrop Manor, Wiltshire. She was in- 
terred at Choulderton, March 7, 1657, ^^ed 
eighty-two years. He died about 1622. Their 
sons. Rev. James and Deacon Nicholas Noyes, 
in March, 1634, embarked for New England, 
in the "Mary and John" of London, with 
their cousin. Rev. Thomas Parker. 

(II) Rev. James Noyes, son of Rev. Wil- 
liam and Anne (Stephens) Noyes. was born 
in Choulderton, Wiltshire, England, in 1608. 
He matriculated at Brasenose College. Ox- 
ford, August 22, 1656, but did not graduate. 
He died at Newbury, Massachusetts. October 
22, 1636. He came to America, as stated, and 
after short stays at Medford and Watertown 
went with some friends to Newbury, where 
his cousin, Thomas Parker, desired him to 
assist in teaching the free school. He was 
much loved and honored in Newbury. He 
was very learned in the tongues, and in Greek 
excelled the most. He was the author of a 
catechism (still in use) and highly esteemed 
in tile ministry. He had a grant of land on 
which he built a house, about 1645, '" which 
he, his family and Thomas Parker lived. This 
house is still standing (1910), and has never 
known any owner but a Noyes, and is New- 
bury's proudest show place. He married, in 
England, in 1634, Sarah Brown, of South- 
ampton. Children: i. Joseph, born in New- 
bury, October 15, 1637; first appears in Sud- 
bury records, February 16, 1662; selectman 
twenty-eight years; constable; justice of the 



.336 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



peace ; owned many slaves ; was twice married 
and had eight children. 2. Rev. James, of 
Stonington, Connecticut ; graduate of Har- 
vard, 1659; founder and trustee of Yale Col- 
lege ; married Dorothy, daughter of Thomas 
and Ann (Lord) Stanton; seven children. 3. 
l^ev. IMoses, of Lyme, Connecticut ; graduate 
■of Harvard, 1659; fellow of Yale, 1706; first 
minister of Lyme, Connecticut, where he 
preached fifty years ; married Ruth, daughter 
of John Picket, and granddaughter of Elder 
Brewster, of Plymouth Colony; five children. 
4. John (see forward). 5. Thomas, of New- 
bury ; a prominent man in colonial affairs ; 
selectman ; served, during the French and In- 
dian wars in different grades, captain, major, 
lieutenant-colonel; married (first) Martha 
Pierce, (second) Elizabeth Greenleaf. 6. 
Deacon William, of Newbury ; prominent in 
church affairs ; served during the Indian wars 
in Captain Thomas Noyes' company of "snow 
shoe" men ; married Sarah Cogswell ; nine 
children. These are the six sons of Rev. 
James and Sarah (Brown) Noyes; they had 
three daughters : Sarah, the eldest, and third 
child, died young; Rebecca, the sixth child, 
married John Knight ; Sarah, the ninth and 
youngest child, married John Hale. 

(III) John, of Boston, fourth son and fifth 
child of Rev. James and Sarah (Brown) 
Noyes, was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, 
June 3, 1645, died November 9, 1678. He 
■was made a freeman of Boston in 1675. He 
was second sergeant of the Ancient and Hon- 
orable Artillery Company, 1678, and consta- 
ble in 1675. He was a cooper by trade. He 
married, in 1671, Sarah Oliver (see Oliver). 
Children, born in Boston: i. Sarah, August 
20. 1672. 2. John, married Susanna Ed- 
■wards; he was fourth sergeant of the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery Company, 1699: en- 
sign, 1704; he was a goldsmith. 3. Dr. Oliver 

(see forward). 

(IV) Dr. Oliver Noyes, youngest child of 
John and Sarah (Oliver) Noyes, was born in 
Boston, 1675, died March 16, 1721. He was a 
graduate of Harvard, 1695, A.M., 1721. He 
■was a physician of Boston and Medford. Mas- 
■sachusetts, but found time to engage in other 
matters that concerned the welfare of his 
town. He was one of the projectors of the 
Long Wharf; was one of the proprietors of 
"'Pejepscott" (Brunswick, Topsham and 
Brunswick, Maine). He was an officer of the 
■"Ancient and Honorable," 1699; selectman, 
1708-11, and from 17 19 to 1721, and held 
other offices. He was a representative to the 
general court, 1714-16-19-29. His estate in- 
ventoried £17,193. 

Dr. Oliver Noyes married (first), 1702, 



Ann, daughter of Governor Belcher; (sec- 
ond) February 6, 1718, Mrs. Katherine (Eyre, 
Eire, Eyers) Jeffries, born July 20, 1694, died 
May 6. 1760. daughter of John and Catherine 
(Brattle) Eyre, who were married May 20, 
1680, and had children: Katherine, Bertha 
and John Eyre. Dr. Oliver Noyes died March 
16, 1721. 

John Eyre was the youngest son of Simon 
Eyre, a surgeon of Watertown, Massachu- 
setts, who came to America in the ship "In- 
crease," from London, embarking April 15, 
1635, with wife Dorothy, aged thirty-eight, 
and children : Mary, aged fifteen ; Thomas 
thirteen ; Simon, eleven ; Rebecca, nine ; Chris- 
tian, seven ; Ann, five ; Benjamin, three ; 
Sarah, three months. John, his youngest son, 
was born in Massachusetts, probably at Wa- 
tertown. Simon was representative, select- 
man and clerk of the town. 

Catherine Brattle, wife of John Eyre, was 
a daughter of Captain Thomas and Elizabeth 
(Tyng) Brattle, of Boston. Elizabeth Tvng 
was a daughter of Captain ^^'illiam Tyng. a 
nierchant of distinction in Boston, who came 
to America in the "Nicholas," chartered by 
himself at London. He arrived in Boston, 
July 3, 1638. He was representative, 1639- 
44, and 1647; treasurer of the colony, 1640- 
44 ; captain of the militia company of Brain- 
tree, Massachusetts, where he removed in his 
latter days, and which he represented in the 
federal court, 1649-51. His widow (Jane, his 
third wife) survived him. His first wife was 
Ann Brown ; his second, Elizabeth, daughter 
of Rowland Coytmore. Elizabeth Tyng, eld- 
est daughter of Captain \\'illiam Tyng, was 
born in England, 1638; married, in 1656, 
Captain Thomas Brattle, and they were the 
parents of Elizabeth, wife of John Eyre, the 
parents of Katherine Eyre (JefTries) Noyes, 
second wife of Dr. Oliver Noyes. Children 
of Dr. Oliver and .Ann (Belcher) Noyes, born 
in Boston: i. Ann. married (first) Azor Gale; 
(second) Rev. Mather Byles. 2. Oliver, died 
young. 3. Oliver, died young. 4. Sarah, mar- 
ried (first) Pulcifer; (second) 

Bridgham. 5. John, died young. 6. John, 
died young. Oliver, only son of Dr. Oliver 
and his second wife, Katherine (Eyre) (Jef- 
fries) Noyes, was born in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, December 8, 1720. He married (first) 

Ann ; (second) Sarah Badger, born 

1747, died 1788, daughter of Jonathan and 
Mary (Baxter) Badger, who were married at 
Charleston, South Carolina, 1743. Jonathan 
Badger died at Providence, July 31, 1774. 

(\T) Sarah, daughter of Oliver and Sarah 
(Badger) Novcs, married Hon. George Tib- 
bits. (See Tibbits). 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



337 



(The Oliver Line). 

(I) Thomas Oliver (gentleman) was born 
in Bristol, Ensfland, where he died in 1557. 

He married Margaret , and had issue, 

a son and daughter. 

(H) John (merchant), second child and 
only son of Thomas and Margaret Oliver, was 
born at Bristol, England, died there and was 
buried in St. Stephen's churchyard, January 
31, 1598. He married, August 28, 1557, at the 
same church, Elizabeth Rowland. Issue, six 
sons and four daughters. 

(HI) Thomas (2) (surgeon), fourth child 
and second son of John and Elizabeth (Row- 
land) Oliver, was born at Bristol, England, in 
1582, baptized at St. Stephen's Church, April 
14, 1582, died at Boston, Massachusetts, 1657. 
He married Anne , who died at Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts. May, 1635. They came 
to Boston with children (six sons anrl two 
daughters), June 5, 1632, in the ship "Lion." 
He was one of the founders of the First 
Church (now in Chauncey place). He mar- 
ried (second) at Boston, Anne — ■ , who 

■died December 20, 1662. 

(I\') Peter (merchant), fourth child and 
son of Thomas (2) and Anne Oliver, was born 
in Bristol, England, about 1622, died in Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts, April 11. 1670. He was 
■one of the founders of the old South Church, 
and in 1669 commander of the Ancient and 
Honorable Artillery Company. He married, 
about 1642, Sarah Newdigate, of Boston, who 
died October 9, 1692. They had five sons and 
three daughters. 

(V) Sarah, daughter of Peter and Sarah 
(Newdigate) Oliver, married John Noyes. 
They were the great-grandparents of Sarah 
Noyes, wife of Hon. George Tibbits, of Troy, 
New York. 

(The Kno.x Line). 

The family name of Knox has a territorial 
origin, being derived from the Celtic word 
"Cnoc," signifying a small hill. About the 
year 12C6 Johanne de Cnok is named as a wit- 
ness in a charter of the lands at Ingleston, 
Renfrewshire, Scotland. In 1328 two pay- 
ments from the exchequer of King Robert the 
Bruce were made to Alanus del Knoc. Those 
"bearing the name of Knox in his day derive 
lustre from being connected with the race 
which produced John Knox, the illustrious 
Scotch reformer, to whom Englishmen are in 
part indebted for the Protestant character of 
their Book of Common Prayer, and Scotsmen 
for a reformation so thorough as to perma- 
nently resist the encroachments of an aggres- 
sive sacerdotalism. By three centuries he an- 
ticipated the parochial system of education, 
now the law of England, and by nearly half 



that period he set forth those principles of 
civil and religious liberty which culminated 
in a system of constitutional government. The 
family in Scotland, Ireland and England, are 
prominent all down the years of recorded hap- 
penings in those lands, in ecclesiastical, civil 
and military life. They have held the high- 
est positions in both church and state. Ma- 
jor-General Henry Knox, of the revolution, 
descended from the Belfast, Ireland, family. 
Alexander Knox, a powerful and elegant wri- 
ter, was of Londonderry, Ireland. He was a 
personal friend of the founder of Method- 
ism, John Wesley. Hugh Knox, of the Scotch 
family of Ranfurlie, settled in the parish of 
Donagheady, county of Londonderry, Ireland, 
during the latter half of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. He had sons and grandsons prominent 
as divines, and one of this family, George 
Knox, was a West Indian proprietor, mer- 
chant and ship owner. He spent part of his 
life in the West Indies, but returned to Lon- 
don, England, where he died. The supposi- 
tion is strong that Rev. Hugh Knox, who died 
on the island of Santa Cruz, was connected 
with this Irish branch of the family, Santa 
Cruz was also known as Saint Croix. Alex- 
ander's "Princeton in the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury" says : "He settled at Saint Croix, where 
he spent the remainder of his days." 

(I) Rev. Hugh Knox came to America in 
1 75 1. Dr. Rodgers, becoming interested, es- 
tablished a school of which Mr. Knox (said 
to have been educated at the L'niversity of 
Glasgow) became the head. While thus en- 
gaged an event happened that moulded the 
whole of his after life. He became acquainted 
with a number of young men who were accus- 
tomed to meet on Saturday afternoons for a 
frolic. On one of these occasions one of the 
party cried out to Knox : "Come, Parson," 
(a title they had given him on account of his 
grave manner, and withal a great admirer of 
Dr. Rodgers' preaching), "come. Parson, give 
us a sermon." At first he declined, but being 
pressed, gave an exact imitation of Dr. Rod- 
gers and almost verbatim the sermon he had 
preached on the previous Sunday. As he pro- 
ceeded, his auditors, who began to listen in 
merriment, became deeply serious, and the 
speaker himself was overwhelmed with a sense 
of his sin. The next morning, overcome with 
remorse, he fled from the place. Soon after 
he went to Newark and applied for admission 
to the college at Princeton, then the College of 
New Jersey. He related his whole previous 
course and his repentance and was admitted. 
His course in college was all that could be 
desired. After his graduation from Prince- 
ton, class of 1754, he studied theology with 



338 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



President Burr, and was ordained by the 
Presbytery of New York in 1755, and was 
sent to the island of Saba (Dutch West In- 
dies, eighteen miles northwest of St. Eusta- 
cius, of which it is a dependency; it contains 
fifteen square miles), as pastor to the Dutch 
Church of the island. At his ordination he 
preached a sermon on the "Dignity and Im- 
portance of the Gospel Ministry," which was 
published by the unanimous request of the 
Presbytery. In 1772 he resigned his church 
at Saba and settled at St. Croi.x (Santa 
Cruz), one of the largest of the virgin isles 
of the West Indies, forming with St. Thomas 
and St. John a Danish colony, where he spent 
the remainder of his days as minister of the 
Reformed church there. The celebrated Alex- 
ander Hamilton was placed in early boyhood 
under the instruction of Rev. Knox, and 
formed a strong attachment for him, while he 
in return watched and assisted with the ut- 
most fidelity the development of the wonder- 
ful powers of his pupil. They kept up an ac- 
tive correspondence in after life, and two of 
Rev. Knox's letters are preserved in the first 
volume of Hamilton's works. Rev. Knox re- 
ceived his A.M. degree from Princeton, 1754, 
and in 1768 from Yale, and his degree of 
D.D. was conferred by the University of 
Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Knox published (ac- 
cording to Dr. Miller) five or six volumes, 
chiefly sermons. Two volumes of his ser- 
mons, printed in Glasgow in 1772, are in the 
library of the college at Princeton. ( From 
Alexander's "Princeton College in the Eight- 
eenth Century.") 

Rev. Hugh Knox married Christina Love, 
believed to have been daughter of the gov- 
ernor of the island of Santa Lucia. They had 
children. Dr. Knox died at Santa Cruz, 1790. 
(II) Hugh (2), son of Rev. Hugh (i) and 
Christina (Love) Knox, was born at Santa 
Cruz, West Indies, in 1782. He was sent to 
Norwalk, Connecticut, at the age of eight 
years, and placed under the care and tutorship 
of his father's friend. Rev. Matthias Burnett, 
D.D. There he grew up, entered Yale Col- 
lege, was graduated in the class of 1800, 
studied law, but on account of ill health never 
practiced. In 1840 he removed to Troy, New 
York, where he died in 1858, aged seventy- 
eight years. He married (first) Henrietta, 
daughter of Samuel Cannon, of Norwalk, 
Connecticut, and sister of Le Grand Cannon, 
of Troy (see forward). She died in 1812. 
He married (second) Martha, daughter of 
Stephen Keelcr, of Norwalk. Henrietta Can- 
non was the daughter of Samuel Cannon, born 
July 28, 1754, and his wife, Sarah ( Belden) 
Cannon, horn January 20, 1754, and grand- 



daughter of John Cannon, born 1725, died 
February 17, 1796, and his wife, Esther 
(Perry) Cannon, great-granddaughter of 
John and Jerusha (Sands) Cannon, great- 
great-granddaughter of John Cannon, a mer- 
chant of New York City, who married. Sep- 
tember 16, 1697, Marie Le Grand, daughter 
of Pierre Le (jrand, a French merchant of 
New York City. '• 

(III) John Le Grand, son of Hugh (2) and 
Henrietta (Cannon) Knox, was born in Nor- 
walk, Connecticut, November 13, 1803, died at 
Troy, New York, August 21, 1879. He re- 
ceived a good practical education in the 
schools of Norwalk and Troy, being sent to 
the latter city in 181 3. In Troy he attendeii 
Dr. Stoddard's school, and in 1820 began 
business life as a clerk in the dry-goods house 
of Southwick, Cannon & Warren. He spent 
seven years with that firm and then embarked 
in business on his own account. He became a 
prominent merchant of Troy and was asso- 
ciated at different times with Francis Mor- 
gan, John H. Whitlock and Gould Rockwell. 
He dealt in dry goods: he was highly es- 
teemed as a business man and as a citizen. He 
retired from mercantile life and was con- 
nected with the iron works of H. Burden & 
Son from 1857 ^o 1876, when he retired from 
active life. He was a Federalist, afterward a 
Whig, and later in life a Republican. He 
never was active in politics, but was always 
deeply interested in national and local ques- 
tions of the country. He married (first) Marv 
M., daughter of Stephen Warren, of Troy. 
He married (second) April 25, 1839, Eliza- 
beth Carter, born August 6, 1813, died Mav 
25, 1885, daughter of Charles and Jane (Car- 
ter) Sigourney, of Hartford, Connecticut (sec 
Sigourney). Children: i. Mary Elizabeth, 
see forward. 2. Charles Sigourney, born in 
Troy, May 28, 1843; graduated from Colum- 
bia College, A.B.. 1862: now ( 1910) profes- 
sor of Latin at St. Paul's School, Concord, 
New Hampshire. 3. John Hugh, see forward. 
4. Stephen Warren, born in Troy. June 12, 
1847, died at Hoosick, New York, July 23, 
1867. 5. James Carter, born in Troy, Febru- 
ary 6, 1849; graduated from St. Paul's 
School: now ( 1910) professor in same school 
in English and music. 6. Flenry Cannon, born 
in Troy, September 16. 1851, died in San 
Francisco. California, May 25, 1872; graduate 
of St. Paul's School. 

(VII) Mary F:iizabeth, eldest daughter of 
John Le Grand and Elizabeth Carter ( Sigour- 
ney) Knox, was born March 11, 1842, mar- 
ried Charles Edward Dudley Tibbits ( see Tib- 
bits). 

(\'II) John Hugh, second son of John Le 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



339 



Grand and Elizabeth Carter (Sigourney) 
Knox, was born in Troy, October 25, 1845. 
He graduated from Churchill Military Col- 
lege, Sing Sing, New York, 1862. He then 
engaged in the hardware manufacturing busi- 
ness, continuing for a period of eight years, 
and in 1878 engaged in the general insurance 
and real estate business. He is a member of 
the Church of Holy Cross (Episcopal), and 
is an Independent in politics. He is an ex- 
empt fireman, retiring in 1868 ; trustee and 
secretary of Episcopal Church Home, serving 
in the latter capacity since 1900; and one of 
the founders of the Troy Vocal Society, or- 
ganized in 1875. He has been identified with 
musical circles of Troy for many years ; he 
makes a specialty of church music, is a bass 
soloist, and has been connected with various 
choirs for forty-five years ; he was formerly 
with St. Paul's Church and St. John's Episco- 
pal Church choirs, but is now (1910) con- 
nected with the choir of the Church of the 
Holy Cross, which was the first church in the 
United States to render a choral service. He 
married, September 3, 1878, in Troy, New 
York, Maria Talmadge, daughter of Henry 
A. Farnsworth. 

(The Sigourney Line). 
The name of Sigourney is found among 
that band of Huguenots who sought refuge in 
New England from the persecutions that suc- 
ceeded the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
by Louis XI\'., October 22, 1685. The an- 
cestor of the American branch of the family, 
Andrew Sigourney, or, according to the 
French orthography, Andre Sejourne, is said 
to have been comfortably settled at or near 
Rochelle, France, when the Edict was re- 
voked. He at once left France and went to 
England. Under the auspices of Governor 
Joseph Dudley and others, proprietors of O.x- 
ford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, a col- 
ony of Huguenots was assisted to proceed to 
America, where they arrived in the winter of 
i68fi. The Sigourney s were of the company 
who, with their pastor, Pierre Daille, formed 
the settlement at Oxford in Worcester county 
on the banks of a stream which still retains 
the name they gave it, French river. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte 
Pairan, his son Andrew, a lad of thirteen 
years, and his daughter Susan came with .An- 
drew Sigournev* to America. The s:ravestone 



*The wife of .-Xndre Sejourne the first, is twice 
referred to in Baird's "Huguenots in America," 
and her name given as Charlotte Pairan. Accord- 
ing to this book (Vol. II, p. 267) they left France 
for England as early as 1681, and had a child born 
in London in 1682, which was baptized in the 
French church in Threadneedle street. April 16, 
1682. 



of the emigrant ancestor stands in the "Gran- 
ary" graveyard in Boston, Massachusetts, and 
bears the following: "Andrew Sigourney died 
April 16, 1727, aged 89." Children: i. An- 
drew (see forward). 2. Susan, born in 
France ; married John John.son, who was killed 
with his three children by Indians at Oxford, 
Massachusetts, 1696; she married (second) 
April 18, 1700, her cousin, Daniel Johonnot, 
of Boston, born in France. There may have 
been other children of the emigrant, as there 
was a Samuel .Sigourney who married Mary 
Dunbar, December i, 1723, and a Charlotte 
who married Peter Holman, May 26, 1719, 
both married by Andrew Le Mercier, pastor 
of the French Church, but they cannot posi- 
tively be identified as children of .\ndrew 
Sigourney. 

(II) Andrew (2), son of Andrew (i) 
Sigourney, "the founder," was born in 
France, 1673. He came to America with his 
father in 1686, and became a distiller of Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts. He was one of the pro- 
prietors of the French Church in South Latin 
School street, being one with others who exe- 
cuted a deed. May 7, 1748, conveying the 
same to another society. He died in 1748, 
and his will, made May 20, 1736, was re- 
corded in Suffolk, July 7, 1748 (lib. 41, folio 
148). He married Mary Germaine, born in 
France, March 2, 1680, died March 20, 1763- 
64. Children, all born in Boston, Mas.sachu- 
setts : I. .\ndrew (see forward). 2. Susan- 
nah, married, bv Rev. Andrew Le Mercier, to 
Martin Brimmer, born 1697, at Osten, Ger- 
many; eleven children. 3. Peter, died 1738; 
no marriage recorded. 4. Mary, married, 
February 20, 1734, John Baker, who came 
from Guernsey, or Jersey. 5. Charles, died 
171 1, unmarried. 6. Anthony, married Mary 
Waters, of .Salem; (second) a widow, Eliza- 
beth (Whittemore) Breed. 7. Daniel, mar- 
ried (first) 1735. Mary Varney; (second) 
Joanna Tileston ; (third) Rebecca Tileston. 8. 
Rachel, died September 20, 1719. 9. Hannah, 
married Hon. Samuel Dexter, son of -Rev. 
Samuel Dexter, of Dedham ; Hon. Samuel 
Dexter was the ardent patriot of Boston, sev- 
eral times elected to the council, and as often 
rejected by the royal governor of the prov- 
ince ; upon his legacy to Harvard L^niversity 
the Dexter Lectureship is founded. 

(III) Andrew (3), son of Andrew (2) and 
Mary (Germaine) Sigourney, was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts. January 30, 1702. He 
was married, by Rev. Andrew Le Mercier, 
pastor of the French Church. October 7, 1731, 
to Mary, only daughter of John Ronchon. 
.Andrew Sigourney died November 4. 1762, 
and Mary his wife died February 28, 1772. 



340 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Children: i. Mary Ann, died young. 2. An- 
drew (4), died young. 3. Alary, married 
Samuel Sloan; six children. 4. Andrew (5), 
died young. 5. John Ronchon, married 
Eunice Kidder. 6. Andrew (6), died young. 

7. Elizabeth, married (first) Paine; 

(second) Doyle; (third) 

Luckas. 8. Susanna, married John Osborn. 

9. Andrew (7), born March 27. 1746, died 
November 23, 1767. 10. Charles (see for- 
ward). II. Martin Baker, died young. 12. 
Hannah, married Captain John Patten, of 
Biddeford. Maine (who was lost by ship- 
wreck at Marshfield, January 11, 1783); she 
married (second) Benjamin Balch, of New- 
buryport. 

(IV) Charles, tenth child of Andrew (3) 
and Mary (Ronchon) Sigourney, was born 
March 4, 1748, died May 20, 1806. He mar- 
ried (first) 1771, Sarah Frazier, daughter of 
Captain John Frazier and Sarah Ingraham, 
his wife, who bore him eight children. Mar- 
ried (second) February 22. 1788. Mary 
Greenleaf, who was the mother of eight chil- 
dren : I. Charles (2), died in infancy. 2. 
Charles (3), died in infancy. 3. George, died 
in infancy. 4. John, died in infancy. 5. 
Charles {4). see forward. 6. Maria, died in 
infancy. 7. Sarah, died at age of twenty-one 
years. 8. Henry, married (first) Rebecca 
Carter; (second) Margaret M. Barker. 9. 
William Parsons, died at age of thirty years. 

10. Harriet, died in infancy. 11. Elizabeth 
Parsons, married George G. Channing. 12. 
Mary, died in infancy. 13. Mary, married 
J. P. Froding. 14. Ann Pearson, married 
William Rollins. 15. Jane Carter, married 
Fred A. Farley. 16. George, died at the age 
of nineteen years. 

(V) Charles (2), son of Charles (i) and 
Sarah (Frazier) Sigourney, was born July 21, 
1778, at Boston, Massachusetts, died at Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, December 30, 1854. He 
was a prosperous hardware merchant and 
banker, and one of the founders of Trinity 
College at Hartford, Connecticut. He mar- 
ried (first) May 25, 1803, Jane Carter, who 
bore him three children. i\larried (second) 
June 16, 1819, Lydia Huntley. Charles Sig- 
ourney bore a most enviable reputation, and 
the notices of his death, taken from the news- 
pa[)ers of the day, are laudatory and appre- 
ciative. He was sent to England to finish liis 
education. He was a devout Christian, be- 
nevolent and kind. His constant companion 
was a New Testament printed in the original 
Greek, which he diligently studied. He was 
president of the Phoenix Bank of Hartford. 
He served as one of the first trustees of Trin- 
ity College, was warden of Christ Church, and 



was a patron of various literary, educational 
and charitable institutions. Children: i. 
Charles Henry, born January 11, 181 1. 2. 
Elizabeth Carter, married John Le Grand 
Knox (q. v.). 3. Jane Carter, born April 9, 
1815; married, October 3, 1839, Michael 
Burnham. 4. Mary Huntley, married Francis 
T. Russell. 5. Andrew Maximilian, died at 
age of twenty years. 



In a history of the early 
CARROLL church of Sudbury, Massa- 
chusetts, appears the follow- 
ing record: "March i, 1640. Robert Carill 
buried his servant Edward \'ines." Of the 
first settlers of Sudbury many remained only 
a short time. Jane Gumming, of Salem, Mas- 
sachusetts, in her will dated July 10, 1644, 
names among her creditors a "Mr. Carol." It 
is to be presumed that at this early date there 
was not more than one family of this name 
in Massachusetts, and that these two Carrols 
were the same, and that he was the father of 
Anthony and Nathaniel Caroll, of Topsfield 
and Boxford, and that he came to the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony about 1638-40, settled 
first at Sudbury, then went to Salem, where 
the family remained for the next hundred 
years. It is believed that the three Nathaniels 
(I, II, III) lived successively on the same 
farm, lying along the Ipswich river, located 
about eight miles from the centre of the pres- 
ent village of Salem. The deeds for the Car- 
roll farms back to 1704 indicate that the Car- 
rolls and Putnams were adjoining neighbors, 
and it was very natural that wlien (jeneral 
Israel Putnam moved to Connecticut, the Car- 
rolls should follow and settle in the same town 
of Killingly, but in the part that has since 
become Thompson, Connecticut. Francis, Na- 
thaniel and ^\mos, three brothers, settled in 
Connecticut about 1749. Francis was a cord- 
wainer, and had a family. Nathaniel was a 
tailor, and unmarried. It is with the third 
brother, Amos, that this record deals. The 
Carrolls are undoubtedly of Irish descent. The 
New England Carrolls were memliers of the 
Danvers church, which taken in connection 
with the strictly Bible names would indicate 
that they were of the rigid Puritan stock, 
whatever their foreign connections were. 

(I) Robert Carroll was of Sudbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, 1640, and of Salem, 1644. He had 
sons : Anthony, born 1635, married Katherine 

; lived at Topsfield, Massachusetts, 

Nathaniel, see forward. 

(II) Nathaniel, son of Robert Carroll, was 
born 1638. He married, 1659, Mary, daugh- 
ter of Richard and Mary Haines, of Beverly, 
Massachusetts, and lived at Boxford, Massa- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



341 



chusetts. Children: i. Mary, born 1661, died 
1682; married, 1678, Samuel Fraye, and lived 
at Salem, Massachusetts. 2. Nathaniel (2), 
see forward. 3. Samuel, born 1666, died 
1701 ; "a soldier of Sir Edmund Andros' army 
in 1688." 4. Benjamin, born 1670; married 
Mary ; "soldier from Beverly, Massa- 
chusetts." 5. Joseph, born 1674; married 
(first) 1695, Priscilla Preble; married (sec- 
ond) 1720, Rebecca Chapman. 6. Hannah, 
born 1677; married, 1699, Nicholas Orchow, 
of Salem, Massachusetts. 7. Edward, born 
1680; married, 1700, Elizabeth Booth, and 
lived in Salem. 

(HI) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (i) 
and Mary (Haines) Carroll, was born 1663, 
died 1724. He married, 1683, Priscilla Down- 
ing, and lived at Boxford and Salem, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Mary, born 1687, died 
1710: married John Bullock, of Salem. 
2. Hannah, born 1690, lived at Middle- 
ton, Massachusetts. 3. Nathaniel (3), see 
forward. 4. Samuel, born 1693 1 married 
(first) 1719, Rebecca Elliot, married (second) 
Aby Greencastle, of Sutton. 5. Elizabeth, 
born 1695; married, 1715, Samuel Woodwell. 
6. Joanna, born 1697. 7. John, born 1701; 
married, 1723, Lydia Bayley. 8. Daniel, born 
1703; married, 1727, Mary French, and re- 
sided in Sutton, Massachusetts. 

(IV) Nathaniel (3), son of Nathaniel (2) 
and Priscilla (Downing) Carroll, was born 
1691. He was a leather dresser and tanner. 
He married Hannah in 1715, and re- 
sided at Middleton, Massachusetts. He also 
owned and cultivated a farm, as had his fa- 
ther and grandfather before him, probably 
the same, as these towns were successively, 
Salem, then Boxford was cut off, and after- 
ward Middleton. The same farm could have 
been located in all three. Children: i. Fran- 
cis, born 1717; married, 1742, Sarah Lambert. 
2. Nathaniel (4), born 1718; died unmarried 
at Thompson, Connecticut. 3. Hannah, born 
1 72 1. 4. Abigail, born 1725. 5. Amos (see 
forward). 6. Mary, born 1731, married Wil- 
liam Martin, of Salem. 

(\') Lieutenant Amos, son of Nathaniel 
(3) and Hannah Carroll, was born in 1728, 
died 1792. He settled in Connecticut, at the 
town of Killingly, in the part now known as 
Thompson. He was a farmer, and after culti- 
vating for short periods two other farms, set- 
tled permanently in the Brandy Hill district 
on the farm known as the Fort Hill farm, and 
suggesting the name w-as an old Indian fort. 
He responded to the "alarm" with General 
Israel Putnam and his neighbors, and appears 
on the records as having served with the 
"Lexington Alarm Men." October 31, 1778, 



he was commissioned lieutenant of the Sev- 
enth company of the Alarm List in the Elev- 
enth Regiment of Connecticut, by Governor 
Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut. Amos 
Carroll married (first) at Middleton, Massa- 
chusetts, Mary Smith. Children: i. Mary, 
born 1749, died 1816; she married Daniel 
Hcnimingway, of Barre, Massachusetts. 2. 
John, born January 5, 1754 (see forward). 

3, Dr. Ephraim, born 1757, died 1812; mar- 
ried Lucy Clark ; he was a practicing phy- 
sician of Woodstock, Connecticut. Amos Car- 
roll married (second) Mrs. Lucy Hosmer 
Barrett, at Thompson, Connecticut. Children : 

4. Abigail, born 1762, died 1840; she married 
Joseph Tourtellot, of Thompson. 5. Wyman, 
born 1765, died 1827; he married, 1795, Sarah 
Crosby, and lived at Thompson. 6. Hannah, 
born I7t)8, died 1839: she married Joshua 
Tourtellot, of Thompson. 7. Elijah, born 
1771, died 1848; married, 1795, Pasha Smith, 
and removed to Dairnard, Vermont. 8. Ra- 
chel, born 1774, died 1819: married, 1795, 
Ebenezer Burrill, of Burrillville. Rhode Is- 
land. 

(VI) John, son of Lieutenant Amos and 
Mary (Smith) Carroll, was born in Thomp- 
son, Connecticut, January 5, 1754, died 1823; 
he spent his boyhood days on the Fort Hill 
farm. He married, in Thompson, 1779, Han- 
nah Thayer, and later settled in New York 
state, at Springfield, Otsego county, where he 
died. Children: i. Polly, born November 4, 

1780, died 1836; she married Phineas Albert, 
of Springfield, New York. 2. Nancy, born 

1781, died 1852; married Nathaniel Hem- 
mingway, of Amber, New York. 3. Ezra, 
born 1783, died 1844; married Rebecca Mul- 
let, and lived in Springfield. 4. Davis, born 
February 25, 1786 (see forward), 3. Kiron, 
born 1790, died 1813, buried at Thonipson, 
Connecticut. 6. John, born 1792, died 1845; he 
married Susan Wheaton, and lived at Spring- 
field, 7. Waty, born 1795, died 1884; married 
Francis Sammons, of Springfield. 8. Seneca, 
born 1798, died 1800, at Thompson, g. Lu- 
cinda. born 1801, died 1868; she married Rev. 
N. G. Giase, and lived at Smyrna, Michigan. 

(VII) Davis, son of John and Hannah 
(Thayer) Carroll, was born in Thompson, 
Connecticut, February 25, 1786, died August 
13, 1833. He removed to Otsego county. New 
York, in 1817. He was a classmate and a 
lifelong friend of Governor William L. 
Marcy, of New York, and a veteran of the war 
of 1812. He was a prominent well-to-do farm- 
er of Springfield. He married. May 17, 181 1, 
in Thompson, Connecticut, Phoebe Tourtellot, 
born March 25, 1791, died x-Vugust 14, 1870. 
Children: i, Linus Anson, born July 31, 1812, 



342 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



died October ii, 1839; he married Rebecca 
L. Prine, February 2, 1836, and lived at Lee, 
Massachusetts. 2. Davis Loton, born Janu- 
ary 9, 1814, died January 27, 1877 ; he married 
Mary A. Ayers, July, 1842, and lived at Am- 
sterdam, New York. 3. Hannah Tourtellot, 
born August 30, 1815, died June 4, 1890: she 
married," January i, 1855, Robert Yule, of 
Canandaigua, New York. 5. Phebe Calista, 
born February 15, 1819, died January 25, 
1871 ; married, February 2, 1842. Stephen V. 
Thayer, of Broadalbin, New York. 6. Amy 
Janet, born February 6, 1821, died March 23, 
1892; married, February 11, 1846, William 
Harv'ev Buell, of Springfield. 7. John 
Michael, born April 27, 1823 (see forward). 
8. Lucy Etta, born February 18, 1825; 
married January 10, 1849, Solomon J. North- 
rup, of Binghamton, New York. 9. Harriet 
Lucinda, born April 6, 1828, died December 
II, 1891 ; she married Samuel Hollister, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1859, and removed to Atchison, Kan- 
sas. 10. Seneca, born January 26, 183 1, died 
August 17, 1893; lived at Rome, New York. 
II. Fidelia, born May 21, 1833, died Febru- 
ary 18, 1906; lived at Amsterdam and Johns- 
town, New York. 

(\'HI) John Michael, son of Davis and 
Phoebe (Tourtellot) Carroll, was born in 
Springfield, Otsego county. New York, April 
27, 1823. He prepared for college at Cherry 
Valley and Fairfield academies, and entered 
Union College in the junior class, where he 
was graduated with first honors, class of 1846. 
He took a special course in civil engineering, 
and was one of the three who received a spe- 
cial diploma and degree of C. E., in addition 
to the degree of A.B. he received in course. 
He was elected a member of the Phi Beta 
Kappa society on graduation, and was a mem- 
ber of the kappa Alpha college fraternity. 
He, however, decided upon the law as his pro- 
fession, and pursued legal studies with Judge 
Hammond, of Cherrv Valley, and with Judge 
Cushney, of Fonda, New York. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the state of New York 
jn 1848, and, after being in the west a short 
time, began practice at Broadalbin, Fulton 
county, New York, in 1850, where he con- 
tinued until 1862, when he made permanent 
settlement in Johnstown, New York. ^ In 
1859 he was elected district attorney of Ful- 
ton county, and in 1869 he was elected to the 
forty-second congress, where he served with 
marked ability on the committee of post-of- 
fices and post roads, and was instrumental in 
framing and having passed important laws re- 
lating to the postal service, one of them abol- 
ishing the franking privilege as it then ex- 
isted and another establishing the system of 



postal cards. In the tariff revision of 1872 
he succeeded in having the tariff on raw hides 
and skins abolished, and that on manufactured 
gloves continued. This was greatly to the 
advantage of the dominant industry of Ful- 
ton county, and may be said to have been the 
original cause of its present great proportions 
and prosperity. He declined renomination 
and positively retired from public office, 
devoting himself thereafter to the practice of 
his profession. He was an able lawyer, and 
a citizen of the highest standing. He was a 
lifelong Democrat, and a leader of the party 
in his district, as well as sitting in state coun- 
cils where he was honored and referred to on 
important matters affecting party interests. He 
was eminent in his profession, and command- 
ed the respect of both bench and bar. He 
married, December 16, 1862, Augusta Marian, 
born April 29, 1837, daughter of Dr. Freeman 
Tourtellot, of Saratoga county. New York, 
who survives him, and is a resident of Johns- 
town, New York. She is a descendant of the 
Huguenot. Abraham Tourtellot, of Bordeaux, 
France ; Roxbury, Massachusetts, and New- 
port, Rhode Island, a merchant and a mariner, 
who married Mary Hernon, and had three 
children : Gabriel, Esther and Abraham. He 
was lost at sea with his eldest son, Gabriel. 
The descent is traced to the present genera- 
tion thus : 

(I) Abraham Tourtellot, of Bordeaux, 
France, married Mary Hernon. 

(II) Abraham (2). 

(HI) Abraham (3), married Phoebe 



(IV) Esek, born 1763, died May 4, 1850, 
married Rebecca Swain, 1803. 

(V) Dr. Freeman, born August 4, 1806, 
died December 14, 1868; married, April 6, 
1 83 1, Fanny Richardson, born January 13, 
1805, died Tune 25, 1889. 

(\T) Augusta Marian, married John 
Michael Carroll. 

(VIT) Frederick Linus, married Eleanor 
Pierson Miller. 

Children of John M. and Augusta M. Car- 
roll : I. Edward Tourtellot, born June 22, 
1867; graduated from Union College, class of 
1889, with degree of A.B., and in 1892 re- 
ceived the degree of A.M., in course. On 
graduation he was elected to membership in 
the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. He was a 
member of the Union Chapter of Alpha Delta 
Phi. He prepared for the ministry at the 
Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, graduating in 1893. He took 
holy orders and is now rector of St. Ann's 
Protestant Episcopal Qiurch in Amsterdam, 
New York. In June, 1909, his alma mater 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



343 



iconferred upon him the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity. He is a member of the Masonic 
•order, and affiliated with St. Patrick's Lodge 
No. 4, F. and A. M., of Johnstown, New 
York. He married, September 28, 1898, 
Helle Huntley of Amsterdam. 2. Frederick 
Linus, of further mention. 3. John Davis, 
born September 16, 1874, died July 3, 1902; 
was a member of the class of 1896, Union 
College, and of the L^nion Chapter of the 
Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He embraced 
the profession of law, and was admitted to 
the New York State bar in 1899. 

(IX) Frederick Linus, .son of John Michael 
and Augusta Marian (Tourtellot) Carroll, 
was born at Johnstown, New York, October 
7, 1869. Prepared at Trinity Military Insti- 
tute, Tivoli, New York, whence he was grad- 
uated in 1886; entered Union College, being 
graduated A.B. in 1890, and in 1893 received 
the degree of A.M. in course. He prepared for 
the profession of law in his father's office and 
was admitted to the bar of the state of New 
York, September 15, 1892, and subsequently 
was admitted to practice in the I'nited States 
•district, circuit and supreme courts. He be- 
gan practice at once, in association with his 
father at Johnstown, New York, and has since 
•continuously been devoted to the active prac- 
tice of his profession. He is a Democrat in 
politics, and a member of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church. His college fraternity is Alpha 
Delta Phi. He is prominently identified with 
the Masonic order, belonging to lodge, coun- 
cil, chapter, commandery, the Scottish Rite 
bodies, and the Mystic Shrine, and being a 
past master and trustee of St. Patrick's Lodge 
'No. 4, F. and A. I\I., a past high priest of 
Johnstown Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., a past 
thrice illustrious master of Johnstown Coun- 
"cil. No. /2, R. and S. M., and a past grand 
lodge and grand chapter officer. He married, 
October 30, 1894, Eleanor Pier.son, daughter 
of Jacob P. and Eleanor Margaret ( .\rger- 
singer) Miller, of Johnstown. Children: 
John Miller, born June 12, 1902, and Edward 
Linus, born December 2, 1906. 

(The Miller Line). 
The founder of this branch of the Miller 
family came to America from Germany and 
settled in Westchester county. New York. He 
bore the German name Jacobus (English 
equivalent James), which was often short- 
ened in "Cobus," and by that name was per- 
"haps best known. He served in the .\meri- 
can Revolution in the Second Regiment of 
"Westchester county militia under Colonel 
Thomas Thomas. His son James (2) also 
:served in the same regiment. James ( i ) mar- 



ried Mithilda Collier, a descendant of Jochem 
and Magdalena Collier (Callier, Caljer) of 
New Amsterdam, whose descendants settled 
in the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. Chil- 
dren : Peter, James, Jacob and Henry. 

(II) Henry, son of James and Mithilda 
(Collier) Miller, married Nancy Gillespie, 
daughter of Michael and Eleanor (Doherty) 
Gillespie, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. They set- 
tled in Lansingburg, New York, later removed 
to Currytown, New York. Children : James, 
Peter, Ellen, Harriet, Gillespie, William, Ja- 
cob P., of further mention, Mary and Mercy. 

(HI) Jacob P., born May 21, 1829, in 
Montgomery county, died in Johnstown, New 
York, February 6, 1900. He married ([first) 
Isabella Miller, who died October 14, 1863; 
married (second), February 7, 1866. Eleanor 
Margaret, born November 21, 1840, daughter 
of Philip and Eleanor Pierson Argersinger. 
(See Argersinger sketch for Pierson geneal- 
ogy.) (Thildren by first marriage: Margaret 
Isabella, married George S. Fraser; Jennie 
M., married James H. Cross. Children by 
second marriage: Catherine, born January i, 
1867, died October 20, 1867; Charles Arger- 
singer, born February 11, 1868, married Sarah 
R. Humphrey, and has a daughter, Eleanor 
Margaret, born October 3, 1898. 

(IV) Eleanor Pierson, daughter of Jacob 
P. and his second wife, Eleanor Margaret 
(Argersinger) Miller, born October 30, 1870, 
married Frederick Linus Carroll. 



This family originated in Scot- 
McNAIR land. During the first half of 

the eighteenth century, David, 
John and Alexander McXair, sons of a Scotch 
Covenanter, came to America from the north 
of Ireland and settled along the Delaware 
river below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Da- 
vid, the progenitor of the family herein re- 
corded, later settled in Lancaster county, mar- 
ried and had issue. 

(II) David (2) son of David (i) McNair, 
was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
December 18, 1736, died February 19, 1777, 
from wounds and exposure. He was a lieu- 
tenant of Pennsylvania troops in the revolu- 
tionary army and rendered important service 
during the campaigns of 1776-77. He was 
with Washington at the "(Crossing of the 
Delaware," and at the subsequent battles of 
Trenton and Princeton, where he received the 
wounds that resulted in his death. He is 
buried at Strawberry, New Jersey. He mar- 
ried, in 1756, Annie Dunning, born at Mount 
Rock, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. Feb- 
ruary, 1738, died at Wilkinsburg, near Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania, 1806-07. Her ancestors 



344 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



were among the early settlers of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

(III) Alexander, sixth son of Lieutenant 
David (2) and Annie (Dunning) McNair, 
was born May 5, 1775, in Derry, Lancaster 
county, now Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. 
He was prepared for college in his native 
town and attended a term at the Philadel- 
phia College, now L'niversity of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

He served as lieutenant in command 
of a company from Lancaster county in sup- 
pressing the whisky insurrection in 1794; was 
lieutenant of infantry, United States army, in 
1 799- 1 800. He removed to St. Louis in the 
territory of Upper Louisiana in 1804, where 
he was commissary of the United States army 
for several years; in 1812 was made adju- 
tant-general, and also served as inspector 
general; in 1813 he was colonel of a regiment 
of Missouri Rangers, with which he served on 
the frontier against the British and Indians 
in the war of 1812. He was a delegate from 
St. Louis county to the constitutional con- 
vention, July, 1820, and the same year was 
elected first governor of the state of Missouri, 
defeating General A\"il!iam Clark, who had 
been territorial governor of Upper Louisiana, 
now Missouri. He served from 1820 to 1824. 
He resided at St. Charles, the first seat of 
government in 1820. He was United States 
agent in the Indian department 1824-26. He 
was intimately connected with the stirring 
events of his period, and served well both his 
country and his state. Governor McNair died 
in St. Louis, March 18, 1826. He married, in 
1804, at St. Louis, Marguerite de Reilhe, 
daughter of the Marquis Antoine de Reilhe 
of Montpelier, Languedoc, France, of an 
emigre royalist family driven into exile by the 
first revolution in France. 

(IV) Antoine de Reilhe, third child of 
Governor Alexander and Marguerite (de 
Reilhe) McNair, was born April 10, 1809, 
died 1872, in Missouri. He was educated in 
private schools and at St. Louis University, 
of Missouri, at St. Louis. He entered the 
United States army as an officer, and while 
serving in the Black Hawk war of 1832 re- 
ceived injuries which rendered him a cripple 
for the remainder of his life. He resigned 
from the army and settled in St. Louis, where 
he died. 

He married (first) Mary McCIoskey, 
who bore him one child, Frederick A. C, 
bom 1836; married (second) Elvina John- 
son, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, mar- 
ried in 1838, bore him two children, twins. 
Only one lived, Antoine de Reilhe McNair, 
see forward. He married (third) Cornelia 



Tiffin, who bore him seven children : IMary, 
died in young womanhood ; Pinkey, died in 
childhood; John M., died in childhood; Henry 
G., resides at St. Paul, Minnesota; Lilbura 
G., resides at St. Louis ; John G. ; Nina. 

(V) Commander Antoine de Reilhe (2)* 
McNair, son of Antoine de Reilhe (i) and' 
Elvina (Johnson) McNair, was born in New- 
Orleans, Louisiana, September 15, 1839. He- 
was educated in St. Louis, and was appoint-- 
ed from Missouri, September 22, 1856, to act-- 
ing midshipman at the L'nited States Naval" 
Academy at Annapolis, from which he was 
graduated, class of i860. During the years 
at the academy he saw active service in the 
sloop of war "Preble" in 1857, and on the 
"Plymouth" in 1859. On June 15, i860, after 
his graduation, he was assigned to the sloop 
of war "Seminole," ranking as midshipman. 
He was attached to the South Atlantic squad- 
ron, the "Seminole" cruising in Brazilian and' 
other South American waters until 1861, when: 
she was ordered north and assigned. July 4, 
1861, to the squadron blockading Charleston 
harbor, when he was on boat patrol duty at 
night. Then he was in service in the Po- 
tomac, clearing the river banks of Confeder- 
ate batteries. Lieutenant McNair saw a great 
deal of dangerous service in the boat expedi- 
tions, and ship actions on the Potomac river. 
He had command of a division of launches 
for night patrol on the Potomac from Mt. 
Vernon to Indianhead, for stopping contra- 
band of war. At Mathias Point, Evansport 
battery and Freestone Point battery, the 
"Seminole" was hotly engaged, losing a mast. 
He was present on board of the "Seminole" 
at the battle of Port Royal. South Carolina; 
in Dupont's victory of November 7, 1861, he 
was slightly wounded in the head and hand. 
He was in the expedition to Fernandina and 
Jacksonville, Florida ; present in the attack 
on Hampton Roads by the "Merrimac," and 
consorts ; present in the attack on Sewell's 
Point, the destruction of "Merrimac," and the 
capture of Norfolk. He had been promoted' 
master, on September 19, 1861 ; lieutenant, 
July, 1862, and assigned to the sloop of war 
"Powhatan." immediately after, and sent to^ 
Charleston, where he was wounded at the 
capture of the Morris Island battery, July 16, 
1862; served in the naval battery on Morris 
Island, and so participated in the siege of 
Charleston ; was engaged the same year in 
the night attack on Fort Sumter by the boats 
of the fleet; was present at Dupont's attack 
with the ironclads on Fort Sumter and the 
defences of Charleston harbor, April, 1863. 
From June to August, 1864, he commanded 
the United States steamer "Gemsbok" ini 




Md^^i;^ dJlJi^^'^^, 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



345 



West Indian waters, which he brought to the 
United States waters at New York, after 
which he returned to his old ship, the "Pow- 
hatan," then to the frigate "New Ironsides," 
during which time he was engaged in the first 
battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, De- 
cember 24 and 25, 1864, and at the subse- 
quent capture of the fort and the defences of 
the Cape Fear river, January 13-14-15, 1865, 
and was slightly wounded there. He was en- 
gaged with the Confederate rams on the 
James river and at the surrender of Rich- 
mond. He also served on board the United 
States steamer "Chicopee," Atlantic Squad- 
ron, in 1865-66, principally in support of the 
Freedman's Bureau on the coast of North 
Carolina and South Carolina. He was in- 
structor at the United States Naval Academy 
in 1866-67, then returned to sea service on the 
frigates "Minnesota," "Contocook." and 
"Franklin." In 1871 he was inspector of sup- 
plies at the Norfolk navy yard. On October 
26, 1872, he was retired on account of in- 
juries received in the line of duty in 1868 on 
board the "Contocook" in the West Indies. 
By act of congress passed 1906, he was ad- 
vanced to the rank of commander, for faith- 
ful and gallant service during the war of the 
rebellion. 

After his retirement from active serv- 
ice in the navy in 1872, he spent four 
years as a graduate student at Harvard Uni- 
versity. In 1871 he located at Saratoga 
Springs, New York, where he continues his 
residence at the present (1910), and served 
fifteen years on the board of education. He 
is a companion of Pennsylvania Commandery, 
Tililitary Order of the Loyal Legion; member 
of Luther M. Wheeler Post No. 92, Grand 
Army of the Republic of Saratoga Springs ; 
of Beta Theta Pi, Eta Chapter, also of the 
Signet of Harvard, and is a Mason; also an 
honorary member of the Society of the Army 
of the Potomac. 

He married, December 13, 1871, Frances, 
daughter of Benedict Clark, of Saratoga 
Springs. Children: i. Frederick Park, born 
October 27, 1872; was cadet for two years at 
West Point, class of 1898 ; enlisted with Sec- 
ond New York Infantry in Spanish-Ameri- 
can War; died of fever, October 18. 1898; 
promoted while on death-bed to second lieu- 
tenant. 2. Jessie, wife of Adrian W. Mather, 
of Albany, now of Rochester, New York, who 
served in Tenth Battalion, New York In- 
fantry in Spanish-American war. as captain, 
was colonel on Governor Roosevelt's staflf, 
and is now on General Rowe's staff as cap- 
tain. 3. Alexander, born 1876, died Septem- 
ber 25, 1881. 



John Putnam, of Aston Ab- 
PUTNAM botts, county of Bucks, Eng- 
land, was born about 1580, 
died in Salem village, now Danvers, Massa- 
chusetts, December 10, 1662. He was a resi- 
dent in Aston Abbotts as late as 1627, but the 
date of emigration to America is not definite- 
ly known; 1634 is the year given by family 
tradition. In 1641 the town records of Salem 
show he was granted one hundred acres of 
land. He was a farmer, and well-to-do for 
the times. In deeds he styles himself "yeo- 
man," and once in 1655 "husbandman." He 
wrote a fair hand, as recorded deeds show. 
He was admitted to the church in 1647. His 
grandson Edward thus described his death : 
"He ate his supper, went to prayer with his 
family, and died before he went to sleep." He 

married in England, Priscilla , who- 

was admitted to the Salem church in 1641. 
They had eight children: Elizabeth, Thomas 
(of whom further), John, Nathaniel, Sara, 
Phoebe and John. 

(II) Lieutenant Thomas, eldest son of John 
and Priscilla Putnam, was baptized at Aston 
Abbotts, England, March 7, 1614-15. He was 
the first parish clerk of Salem village, Massa- 
chusetts, where he died May 5, 1686. He was 
well educated and held many of the Salem of- 
fices in town and church, and was also lieu- 
tenant of a troop of horse. He married 
(first) Ann, daughter of Edward and Pru- 
dence (Stockton) Holyoke, who bore him 
eight children. He married (second) Mary, 
widow of Nathaniel \'ereen, who bore him a 
son Joseph, who married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Israel and Elizabeth (Hathorne) Porter. 
Elizabeth was a sister of John Hathorne, the 
"witchcraft judge." Joseph and Elizabeth 
Putnam were the parents of General Israel 
Putnam, of revolutionary fame. Lieutenant 
Thomas Putnam had by his first wife, Ann 
Holyoke, children : Sarah, Mary, Thomas> 
Edward, Deliverance, Elizabeth and Pru- 
dence. 

(III) Sergeant Thomas (2), son of Lieu- 
tenant Thomas ( i ) and his first wife Ann 
(Holyoke) Putnam, was baptized in Salem 
First Church, February 16, 1652; died in 
Salem, May 24, 1699. He was well educated, 
yet took a prominent part in the witchcraft 
delusion, and was second to none hut Rev- 
erend Parris in the fury with which he perse- 
cuted the victims of that .strange delusion. He 
had great influence in the village and did not 
hesitate to use it. He had been in the Narra- 
gansett fight, belonging to a company of 
troopers, and was parish clerk. Many of the 
records of the witchcraft proceedings are in 
his fine, clear handwriting. His wife was also 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



active in .the persecutions. The strain was 
too great for him to bear up under, and he 
<lied shortly after the trials, his wife follow- 
ing him to the grave a few weeks later. 
He married, September 25, 1678, Ann, young- 
•est daughter of George and Elizabeth Carr, 
of Salisbury. She was born June 15, 1661, 
■died June 8, 1699. They were the parents of 
twelve children : Ann, Thomas, Elizabeth, 
Ebenezer, Deliverance, Thomas, Timothy, 
Experience, Abigail, Susanna, Sarah and 
Seth. 

(IV) Seth, twelfth child of Sergeant 
Thomas and Ann (Carr) Putnam, was born 
in Salem village. May, 1695, and died at 
Charlestown, New Hampshire, November 30, 
1775. He was the first of the Salem Putnams 
to go out into the wilderness and make a 
home for himself and family. In 1750 he re- 
moved to Number Four, now Charlestown, 
New Hampshire. This was an exposed fron- 
tier post and suffered from ten Indian at- 
tacks between 1753 and 1755. In 1755 the 
inhabitants, fourteen in number, among whom 
were Seth and Ebenezer Putnam, petitioned 
JNIassachusetts for protection, and that state 
garrisoned the town. Ebenezer and Thomas, 
sons of Seth Putnam, were members of the 
military company. He was one of the foun- 
ders of the First Church of Charlestown, and 
■one of the first ten members. At the first 
town meeting held in Charlestown, August 
I4' 1753, lie was chosen "tything-man." On 
Iiis tombstone is the inscription, "The memory 
of the just is blest." He married, September 
16, 1718, Ruth Whipple, born 1692, died Feb- 
ruary I, 1783. at Charlestown. Children, 
"born at P.illerica, Massachusetts, where he re- 
sided after leaving Salem, and before going to 
•Charlestown : Ebenezer, Ruth, Sarah, Seth, 
killed by the Indians, May 2, 1746, Elizabeth, 
Thomas, Susanna, Timothy. 

(V) Thomas (3), son of Seth and Ruth 
(Whipple) Putnam, was born in Piillcrica, 
Massachusetts, October 22, 1728, and died in 
■Charlestown, New Hampshire, August 20, 
1814. He took a soldier's part in the French 
and Indian wars; was an enrolled member of 
Captain Stevens' company at Number Four. 
He was settled at Lunenburg for a time, but 
in 1759 was again of Charlestown. He 
marched from Acworth to Bennington in .Au- 
gust, 1777, in Captain Abel Walker's com- 
pany, and no doubt was engaged at the his- 
toric battle of Bennington. He was one of 
the first members of the church of Charles- 
town, and later was chosen deacon. lie re- 
sided for a time in Acworth. New Hampshire, 
-where he was the first justice of the peace. 
He built the first grist-mill in that town and 



operated it. He was moderator of town 
meetings and selectman five years. He also 
served the Acworth church as deacon. He 
married in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Janu- 
ary 24, 1754, Rachel, born April 3, 1753, died 
June 12, 1812, daughter of Captain Ephraim 
and Joanna (Bellows) Wetherbee, of Charles- 
town. Children, the first four born in Lunen- 
burg, Massachusetts, the others in Charles- 
town and Acworth, New Hampshire, sixteen 
in all: Elizabeth, Susannah and Seth (twins), 
Thomas, Ephraim, Rachel, Joanna, Abijah. 
Abel, Elisha, Hepsy, Ephraim (2), ^lartha. 
Dorothy, Asa and Elizabeth. 

(VI) Seth, son of Thomas and Rachel 
(Wetherbee) Putnam, was born in Lunenburg, 
Massachusetts, September 16, 1756, a twin of 
Susannah. He died in Putnam, Ontario, 
Canada, September 3, 1827. His gravestone, 
erected in 1847, states he was born in Charles- 
town, New Hampshire, in 1758. He was a 
private in Captain Samuel Wetherbee's com- 
pany. Colonel Isaac Wayne's regiment, which 
marched to reinforce the Northern Army in 
1776. According to his gravestone he was a 
colonel in the Continental army. A family 
belief, as told in later years by his son 
Thomas, was that he was a member of the 
"Boston Tea Party." He was a man of edu- 
cation, with a good knowledge of civil and 
military engineering. In 1795 he emigrated 
to Canada to a wild and unbroken region. 
He entered into a contract with the Canadian 
government to construct a wagon road from 
the head of the lake where Hamilton now 
stands, to Chatham, eighteen miles east of 
Lake St. Claire, a distance of one hundred 
sixty miles, through a heavily wooded coun- 
try. For this he was to receive sixteen hun- 
dred acres of land and a cash bonus. He 
built the road but never received his reward. 
He married, February 14, 1790, Sarah Hard- 
ing (gravestone), of the Wyoming valley, 
Pennsylvania, one of the few who escaped 
from the massacre of Wyoming. She died 
about 1850. Children: i. Lewis, born No- 
vember II, 1790, died aged three years. 2. 
William, born November 6, 1793: killed at 
the battle of Windsor, Canada. December 4, 
1838; was associated with his brothers in 
business, all being prosperous farmers and 
lumbermen. He was captain of a Canadian 
troop and served at Lundy's Lane and 
Queenstown Heights. Later he joined in the 
"])atriot" rebellion and led the attack on 
Windsor, which was made against his ad- 
vice. He was instantly killed, shot through 
the brain. He married Eleanor, daughter of 
.Sylvanus Dygert, a niece of General .\icholas 
Herkimer, and nearly related to the \'an 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



347 



Rensselaers. Sylvanus was taken prisoner by 
the Indians in the same raid. His father was 
killed and scalped. He was held a prisoner 
at Montreal for three years. 3. Joshua, born 
January 5. 1798, died September 19, 1859; he 
jnarried (first), name unknown; (second), 
Malinda Flanagen ; (third) IMary Barrows; 
they bore him fifteen children. 4. Fanny, 
born May 16, 1802; married, June 21, 1820, 
Warner S. Dygert ; married (second) Joseph 
Nicholas, a farmer near Ontario; two chil- 
dren. 5. Thomas, of whom further. 

(\TI) Thomas (4), youngest son of Seth 
and Sarah ( Harding) Putnam, was born in 
Delaware, Upper Canada, October 28, 1804, 
and died at Hamilton, Ontario, March 26, 
1880. In 1825 he located in Dorchester, Up- 
per Canada, which town was later (1839) 
named i'utnam in his honor. He was largely 
engaged in mercantile and lumbering enter- 
prises and became one of the most prominent 
men in private life in western Ontario. Dur- 
ing the "patriot" rebellion of 1837-38 he be- 
came an object of suspicion to the Tory party, 
and was obliged to remain in concealment 
many weeks to avoid imprisonment and pos- 
sibly a worse fate. He had a secret chamber 
in his house constructed to enter only by a 
sliding panel, where he lay while British sol- 
diers searched the house. He greatly aided 
the rebel cause by money and influence. He 
was appointed a magistrate in 1838 by the 
governor-general of Canada, a life office and 
carrying the title of "Esquire." He refused 
all other public office. By the dishonesty of 
a partner. Squire Putnam met with severe 
business reverses late in life, which left him 
only a moderate competence after satisfying 
in full every creditor. He married (first) 
Nancy, daughter of Nicholas Dygert, a niece 
of General Nicholas Dygert, and granddaugh- 
ter of John Dygert, who fought with General 
Herkimer at the battle of Oriskany. She was 
a sister to Eleanor Dygert. wife of William 
Putnam, who w^as killed at the battle of Wind- 
sor, Canada, previously mentioned. She bore 
him two children: i. Harriet Ann. born July 
24, 1833; married Hugh Duncan Cameron, a 
grand-nephew of the Duke of Athol and Earl 
of Graham. He was born in Perthshire, Scot- 
land, July 26, 1833, came to Canada in 1852. 
was treasurer of the Hamilton Provident 
Loan Association at Hamilton, Ontario, where 
he died May. 1895. 2. Marshall Spring Bid- 
well, born October 25, 1837. died at Hamil- 
ton, March 13, 1880. Squire Putnam married 
(second), in 1844, Nancy, bom 1822, died 
1884, daughter of Rev. John Harris and his 
wife, who was also a daughter of Sylvanus 
Dygert. Children of second marriage, all 



born at Putnam, Ontario : 3. Ephraim, born 
October 12, 1845, accidentally killed at the 
age of twenty-two years. 4. Rev. Alanson 
Harris, born December 20, 1847; ^ minister 
of the Baptist church, Toronto. Ontario. 5. 
Dr. Thomas Job, born December 25, 1848, 
graduate of Cleveland Medical College, 1877; 
now a practicing physician at Springfield, 
Massachusetts. 6. Dr. William Byron, of 
whom further. 7. Dr. Warren E., born j\lay 
6, 1857, graduate of Cleveland Medical Col- 
lege, 1881 ; now a practicing physician of 
Bennington, \'ermont : he is surgeon-general 
on the staff of the governor of \'ermont, and 
is now serving his second term (1910). 

(VIII) Dr. William Byron, son of 
"Squire" Thomas (4) and Nancy (Dygert) 
Putnam, was born at Putnam, Ontario, Can- 
ada, November 28, 1854. He was educated at 
\\'oodstock College, University of Toronto, 
and obtained his degree of M.D. from Cleve- 
land Medical College, where he was graduated 
in the class of 1879. In the same year he lo- 
cated at Hoosick Falls, New York, where he 
has since been actively engaged in the practice 
of his profession. He has attained high rank 
as a physician, and is prominent in all village 
affairs, public, political and charitable. He was 
elected president of the village in 1906 and 
again in 1909; was village trustee in 1905; 
was president of the board of police commis- 
sioners, and chairman of the board of town 
auditors, 1901-1905. He is a director of the 
Provident Building and Loan Association, di- 
rector of the Hoosac Club, member of the 
executive committee of the Hoosick branch of 
the Hudson-Mohawk Society, vice-president 
of the village Library Association since its 
organization in 1907. He is a member of the 
American Institute of Homceopathy, and a 
w^ell-known contributor to medical journals. 
He is an authority in pulmonary diseases, and 
has written a great deal on that subject. He 
is a Presbyterian in religion, and a Repub- 
lican in politics. 

He married, June 14, 1899, Isaphene Spen- 
cer, daughter of Louis and Emma (Birch) 
Spencer. They have one child, Dorothy Dy- 
gert. born October 12, 1900, now attending the 
private school of Mrs. Dewey at Hoosick 
Falls, New York. 

The coat-of-arms of the Putnam family of 
Salem, Massachusetts, and its various off- 
shoots found in every state in the Union, in 
Canada, Australia, and in Old New England, 
is thus described : "Sable, between eight 
crosses, crosslet fitchee (or crusely fitchee) 
argent, a stork of the last, beaked and legged 
gules." Crest, "A wolf's head gules." This 
is the coat-of-arms used bv Nicholas Putten- 



348 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



ham, or Puttnam, of Putnam Place, Penn, 
England, born 1460, from whom John Put- 
nam, of Salem, descended. 



Allen is the name of an ancient 
ALLEN family in the county of Durham, 
England, and of anotlier family 
in the county of Essex. The name in early 
times was spelled Alon, Alwyne. AUeine, Al- 
lyn and many other ways, but in New Eng- 
land, as well as in England, the common spell- 
ing is Allen. The Aliens of England bore 
arms, a shield sable, "A cross potent, border 
engrailed or." Crest : "A demi Lion argent, 
holding a rudder gules, nooks and nails or." 
The American ancestor of the Sandwich, 
Massachusetts, family was George' Allen, born 
in England, about 1568, was probably the son 
of Ralph Allen of Thurcaston, Leicester coun- 
ty. In 1635, when the Puritans were emi- 
grating in large numbers from the old coun- 
try to escape the persecution of Archbishop 
Laud under King Charles L, he came in 
company with one hundred persons under the 
leadership of Rev. Joseph Hull. He is sup- 
posed to have been an Anabaptist. George 
Allen and his family settled in Lynn, Massa- 
chusetts. In 1637 he joined with Edmund 
Freeman and others in the purchase of the 
township of Sandwich, Massachusetts, and the 
same year settled in that town. When Sand- 
wich was incorporated he was chosen deputy 
to the general court in Plymouth, first office 
in town, and served in that capacity for sev- 
eral years. The name of his first wife is not 
known. His second wife was Catharine 

, and after his death she married John 

Collins. He had twelve sons and several 
daughters; some of his sons preceded him to 
America and settled first in the vicinity of 
Boston, but after the purchase of Sandwich 
they all removed to that town and settled 
near the residence of their father. He died 
in Sandwich, May 2, 1648, aged about eighty 
years. In his will, probated June 7, if')48, he 
named five sons, Matthew, Henry, Samuel, 
George and William. He made provision in 
his will for "five least children" without nam- 
ing them. 

(II) Ralph, son of George .Mien, of Sand- 
wich, was born in England, died in 1698. He 
married Esther, daughter of William and 
Joan Swift, who came from Bocking, SufTolk 
county, England, and settled first in Water- 
town but removed to Sandwich, 1634, or pre- 
vious to that date. William Swift died in 
Sandwich in 1642, and his wife Joan died 
there in 1662. Esther Swift is supposed to 
have been the second wife of Ralph Allen. 
The will of Ralph Alien, of Sandwich, is on 



record in Barnstable probate records, datedl 
December 19, 1691. His children by his first 
wife were: John, Joseph, Increase, Ebenezer, 
Zachariah and Patience. His children by his 
second wife were : Jedediah, Henry, Benja- 
min, Meribah, David and Jonathan, Experi- 
ence and Elisha. 

(Ill) John, son of Ralph Allen, died in 
1706. In the copy of Barnstable county pro- 
bate records owned by the New England His- 
torical Society of Boston, in vol. ii, page 255 
— original vol. iii — there is a statement of the 
estate of John Allen, "late of Sandwich," 
dated May 20, 1706, and his wife, Rebecca 
Allen, is appointed administratrix. The items 
of the estate are given in vol. ii, page 275, 
then in vol. iii, page 54, there is an appraisal' 
of the estate and settlement of estate on same 
page, dated February 26, 1711-12, mentions 
his wife now as "Rebecca Saunders, late 
widow of John Allen of Sandwich," and 
speaks of the cost of bringing up the children' 
which are mentioned as follows : Isaac, Ben- 
jamin, Judah. 

(I\') Judah, son of John Allen, married 
Rebecca, daughter of Ebenezer Wing and 
Elizabeth Backhouse, November 26, 1727. 
The town records of Sandwich — Old Book 
127, copy page 100 — gives children of Judah 
Allen and Rebecca as follows : John, Ebene- 
zer, Francis, Joseph and Joshua. The land 
transfers recorded in Dartmouth and Taunton 
between Judah Allen and his sons John and 
Joshua in 1765 are signed by his wife Eliza- 
beth whom he had married, Jmie 8, 1762. 

(\') John (2), son of Judah and Rebecca 
(Wing) Allen, was born March 23, 1728-29, 
died in Danby, \''ermont. He removed to 
Danby from Rhode Island about 1778 and 
was one of the first settlers of that town. 
Danby records describe him as a "highly re- 
spected citizen." He married, January 27, 
1 75 1, at Pembroke, Massachusetts, Sylvia, 
lx)rn about 1730, daughter of Isaac and Abi- 
gail (Booth) Keen. Children: i. Prince, of 
whom further. 2. Zoeth, married Jane Har- 
per ; he was selectman nine years, member of 
the X'erinont legislature four years, and jus- 
tice of the peace for twenty-seven years ; in 
1820 he removed to Western New York. 3. 
Isaac, married Sylvia Staples and removed to 
Collins, New York. 4. John, married Sally 
Brown. 5. Judah, married Phoebe, daughter 
of Elihu Benson. 6. Rebecca. 

(\T) Prince, son of John (2) and Sylvia 
(Keen) Allen, resided in Danby. where he 
was held in high esteem. He died in that 
town, where his descendants yet reside. He 
married (first) Hannah, daughter of David ' 
and Elizabeth (Wood) Brown. He married 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



349 



'(second) Experience, daughter of Job and 
: Sarah (Pish) King-. Children of first mar- 
:riage: Abigail; Daniel; Ira, married Rebecca 
■Calkins; Prussia, married Savitl Bartlett ; Jo- 
seph ; Laura ; David. Children of second 
wife: King, Savid. Ruth, Hannah, Rhoda, 
Rhoba. 

(\II) David, son of Prince and Hannah 
(Brown) Allen, was born March 30, 1799. 
He married, at Danby, Vermont, October 16, 
1825, Dinah Rogers, born November 13, iSoi, 
died February 9, i860, daughter of Deliver- 
ance and Judith (Folger) Rogers. Children: 
Cynthia, married William De Kalb ; Emily, 
married Merritt Norton ; Marcus Bartlett, of 
whom further. 

(\'HI) Marcus Bartlett, son of David and 
Dinah (Rogers) Allen, was born March 4. 
1839, died November 18, 1906. He settled in 
Washington county. New York, where he 
■ owned a large farm and was a substantial citi- 
zen. He was a member of the Society of 
Friends. He was a man of sterling integrity, 
loved and respected by his townsmen. He 
married, December 28, 1858, Hannah Barker, 
born June 13, 1839, daughter of James and 
Susan (Barker) Norton. Children: Susan 
RL, married George H. Northup ; Florence A., 
married Joseph H. Roblee ; George Myron, of 
whom further. 

(IX) George Myron, son of Marcus Bart- 
lett and Hannah Barker (Norton) Allen, was 
born at North Bend, Washington county, 
New York, on the Allen homestead farm, De- 
cember 2, 1871. He was educated in the pub- 
lic school, and at Troy Conference Academy 
at Poultney, Vermont. He is a box manu- 
facturer and lumber dealer in his native town, 
also interested in lands and other concerns. 
He is a member of the Society of Friends, be- 
longing to the Granville meeting. Politically 
he is a Prohibitionist. He married, in Gran- 
ville, New York, January 4, 1893, Lemoyne, 
daughter of Henry and Lillys (Borden) Dil- 
lingham (see Dillingham IX). Children: Er- 
nest Leon, born November 23, 1893 ; Marcus 
Bartlett. March 14, 1899, died March 14, 
1908; Henry Dillingham, December 21, 1899. 

(The Dillingham Line). 
Edward Dillingham, born in England, died 
in Sandwich, Massachusetts, in 1666. Of his 
life in America, French's "An American An- 
cestry" says : "One of the earliest comers to 
Lynn (1632) was Edward Dillingham, Gen- 
'tleman, who bore arms and brought over con- 
siderable money to invest for his friends in 
Bitterswell, Lancastershire, England." In 
1637 he became one of the ten original set- 
tlers in Sandwich. In 1647 ^^'^ 1648 we find 



him one of those to inventory the property of 
James Halloway and George Knot. In 1657 
he was arrested and admonished for sympa- 
thizing with the Quakers. He left but two 
sons, his only daughter having died in 1650. 

He married Drusilla , born in England, 

died in Sandwich in 1656. Sons: i. John, 
born England, died May 21, 1715, in Haver- 
ick, Massachusetts; married, March 24, 1650, 
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Feake ; she died 
November, 1720. 2. Henry, of whom further. 

(II) Henry, son of Edward and Drusilla 
Dillingham, was born in August, 1627, died in 
Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1695. He was a 
resident of Sandwich and his will was pro- 
bated there August 25, 1705. To his son 
John he gave "land from my dwelling house 
to Falmouth, part of which my son John now 
dwells on." He married, June 24, 1652. Han- 
nah Perry, died June 9, 1673. Children: 
Mary, born December 25, 1653; John, of 
whom further; Deborah, born December 21, 
1659, married Daniel Wing; Dorcas, married 
Ralph Earl; Edward, born about 1669. 

(III) John, son of Henry and Hannah 
(Perry) Dillingham, was born in Sandwich, 
Massachusetts, February 24, 1658, died 1733. 
He was still a resident of Sandwich in 1702. 
He married a ' ^I /^. ' ^ ■,ttrj (..Children : Henry, 
born about 1685; Edward, born about 1687; 
John, about 1689, married, August 11, 171 5, 
Jael, daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth Tur- 
ner; Mary; Jeremiah, born 1697; Meletiah, 
of whom further. 

(IV) Meletiah, son of John Dillingham, 
was born 1699, died January 25, 1786. at 
Hanover, Massachusetts. He is mentioned in 
the settlement of his father's estate and lived 
in Sandwich until after his first marriage, but 
removed to Hanover before his first wife died. 
He was a large land owner, holding property 
in several adjoining towns. He married 
(first) in Scituate, Massachusetts, October 
28, 1723, Mary Curtis, died December 17, 
1727, aged twenty-four years. He married 
(second) in Hanover, February 18, 1730, 
Phebe Hatch, died January 20, 1732. He 
married (third) January 2, 1735. at Han- 
over, Maria Giflr'ord, born October 16, 1709, 
died December 21. 1784. Children of first 
marriage: Edward, born 1724 or 1725: Lem- 
uel, married. September 23, 1756, Sarah Pal- 
mer, of Hanover, daughter of Joshua and Sar- 
ah Palmer. Oiild of second marriage : Me- 
phibosheth, born December 29, 1730, died 
June 9, 1731. Children of third marriage: 
Lydia, born March 22, 1736, married Zacheus 
Giflford ; Hannah, February 6, 1738; Content, 
June 30, 1739; Thomas, March 17, 1740; 
Joshua, of whom further ; Meribah, born No- 



350 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



vember 4, 1745; William, September 16, 1747; 
Ann, September 9, 1749; Phebe. January 14, 

1757- 

(V) Joshua, son of IMeletiah and ]\Iaria 
(Gifford) Dillingham, was born in Hanover, 
Massachusetts, ^March 21, 1743. He married, 
July 6, 1773, Hannah, born October 4, 1747, 
daughter of Thomas and Deborah Rogers, of 
Marshfield. Children, all born in Marshfield, 
Massachusetts : Stephen, of whom further ; 
Deborah, June 6, 1775; Otis, May 3, 1777; 
Joshua, December 11, 1779, died young; Ly- 
dia. twin of Joshua, died young; Joshua (2), 
December 7, 1782; Hannah. November 3, 
1783; Sarah, December 9, 1784; Rhoda, April 

9. 1787- 

(VI) Stephen, eldest son of Joshua and 
Hannah (Rogers) Dillingham, was born in 
Marshfield. Massachusetts. Alarch 6, 1774. He 
married Amy Tucker, born September 15, 
1775, at Chappaqua, New York, died in West- 
chester, New York, October 16. 1856. Chil- 
dren : Joseph, married Ruth Smith ; Deborah, 
died young; Abraham, of whom further; Han- 
nah, married David Rogers ; Stephen, mar- 
ried Eliza Rogers ; Otis, of whom further ; 
Reuben, died young. 

(VH) Abraham, son of Stephen and Amy 
(Tucker) Dillingham, was born March 10, 
1800. He married Lydia. born June 28, 1807, 
at Danby. \'ermont, daughter of Aaron and 
Dinah (Folger) Rogers. Child. Henry. 

(VHI) Henry, son of Abraham and Lydia 
(Rogers) Dillingham, was born July 17. 1833. 
He married. August 22. 1854. Lillys, daugh- 
ter of Russell and Jane (Hoag) Borden. 

(IX) Lemoyne. daughter of Henry and 
Lillys (Borden) Dillingham, was born Octo- 
ber 28, 1865. She married, January 4, 1893, 
George Myron Allen (see .^llen IX). 

(VII) Otis, son of Stephen and Amy 
(Tucker) Dillingham, married (first) June 
12, 1832. Elizabeth Keese. of Peru. New 
York, born March 3, 1810, died January 10, 
1845. He married (second) March 11. 1846, 
Lydia, daughter of Isaac and Mary Barker, 
of Granville. Washington county. New York. 
Giildren, all by first marriage : John K.. mar- 
ried Sarah Potter; Hannah K., of whom fur- 
ther ; Deborah, married William Huntington ; 
Edwin, died young; Elizabeth, married Anson 
Rogers. 

(VIII) Hannah K.. daughter of Otis and 
Elizabeth (Keese) Dillingham, died May 4, 
1900 ; married, February 2, 1852, Nelson Hull. 



Thomas and John Wiswall, 

WISWALL ancestors of Anna Parker 

(Wiswall) White, both 

prominent among the early settlers of Dor- 



chester. Massachusetts, came from England in 
1635, leaving behind them brothers: Adam, 
Abiel and Jonathan. This record deals with 
the descendants of Thomas Wiswall. Both 
were elders of the church, both selectmen and 
subscribers to the school fund. Thomas, the 
younger brother, was a subscriber in 1641 ; 
selectman 1644 to 1652; he died December 6, 
1683. No monument marks his grave, but 
that over the grave of Elder John states he 
was born 1601, died 1687, age eighty-six 
years, which gives the approximate birth of 
Elder Thomas Wiswall. His farm of four 
hundred acres was in the limits of Dorchester 
and included a pond that bore his name. His 
house stood upon the southerly bank of the 
pond and is described in his will. On the 
day Rev. John Eliot (2) was ordained pastor 
of the Dorchester church, July 20. 1664, 
Thomas Wiswall was ordained nding elder 
and assistant pastor in inspecting and disci- 
plining the flock. He married (first) Eliza- 
beth . Children : Enoch, born 1633 ; 

Esther. 1635; Ichabod, 1637; Noah, of further 
mention; Mary; Sarah, baptized 1643; Ebene- 
zer. born 1646. Elder Wiswall married (sec- 
ond) Isabella Farmer, a widow from .-Xnsley, 
England. She survived him and died in Bil- 
lerica, Massachusetts. May, 1686. 

(II) Captain Noah Wiswall. son of Elder 
Thomas and Elizabeth Wiswall. was baptized 
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1638. He 
was killed in battle with the Indians at \Mieel- 
wrights Pond. July fi. i6go. He was a man of 
education, and was employed in 1681 to trans- 
scribe the town records ; was selectman in 
1685; assessor in 1686; served on important 
committees ; he was captain of the military 
company. In 1690 a band of I'rench and In- 
dians were committing depredations and in 
battle with them Captain Wiswall was slain. 
Tradition says he had a son John, who fell 
in the same battle. Lands were granted the 
heirs of Captain Noah ^^'iswall. in i'>83. for 
his patriotic service. He married. December 
ID. 1664. Theodosia. daughter of John Jack- 
son. Children; Thomas, of further mention; 
Elizabeth, born July 30. 1668; married. De- 
cember 28, 1693. Rev. Thomas Greenwood, of 
Rehoboth. Massachusetts; Caleb; John (per- 
haps) ; Margaret, born January i. 1672. mar- 
ried Nathaniel Parker ; Mary : Esther, born 
January 2. 1678; Sarah, born May 11, 1680, 
married, 1702. Joseph Cheney. 

(III) Lieutenant Thomas Wiswall, son of 
Captain Noah and Theodosia (Jackson) Wis- 
wall, was born February 28. 1666. died 1709. 
He inherited the homestead of his father, and 
was highway surveyor. 1694; constable, 1699; 
selectman, 1706-07. He married, July,. i696>. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



3S» 



Hannah Cheney, who survived him and mar- 
ried (second) David Newman, of Rehoboth. 
Children: Hannah, born October 15, 1697; 
Noah, of further mention ; Sarah, March 4, 
1701, married. 1730, John Newman; Mary, 
October i. 1702: Ehzabeth, August 25, 1704, 
married Nathaniel Longley ; Thomas ; Icha- 
bod. 

(IV) Captain Noah (2) Wiswall, son of 
Lieutenant Thomas and Hannah (Cheney) 
Wiswall, was born September 7, 1699, died 
June 13, 1786. He inherited the homestead, 
and in 1744 rebuilt the house. He was select- 
man three years. He was one of the earliest 
Baptists in Newton, having been baptized in 
1754, and was one of the founders of the Bap- 
tist church in Newton in 1780. The first 
meetings were held in his house, and he gave 
the land on which their first meeting house 
was erected. S. F. Smith's "life of Reverend 
Mr. Grafton" states that Captain Noah was 
in the battle of Lexington. Three of his sons 
and some of his sons-in-law were in the East 
Newton Company, commanded by his son, 
Captain Jeremiah \\'iswall. After the com- 
pany had marched for Lexington, he started 
on foot and alone to follow them, saying, "I 
wish to see what the boys are doing." It 
seems almost impossible that he could have en- 
dured the march and the fatigues of the day, 
as he was then seventy-six years of age, but 
the roll of the East Newton Company, in the 
battle of Lexington, now in the office of the 
secretary of state of Massachusetts and sworn 
to by the captain of that company before 
Judge Fuller, shows that he was in the com- 
pany, and also several other aged men were 
volunteers in the ranks of the company on that 
day. He married (first) in 1720, Thankful, 
daughter of Jeremiah Fuller ; she died in 
1745. Married (second) in 1752, Deliverance, 
daughter of Ebenezer Kenrick, of Brookline. 
Children by first wife : Thomas ; Elizabeth, 
married. December 17, 1741, William Bald- 
win ; Jeremiah, born October 27, 1725 ; Thank- 
ful. September i, 1727, died 1728: John; 
Thankful, August 11, 1729, married, 1750, 
Ebenezer Gee; Mary, April i, 1731, married, 
1752. Samuel Norcross ; Sarah, December 23, 
1734, married. 1 76 1, Dr. John King; Esther, 
December 2, 1737, married, 1768, Benjamin 
White; Noah, of further mention; Samuel; 
Ebenezer, 17^2; Margaret, February 24, 1744, 
married, 1766, Thomas Palmer; Hannah, 
March 31, 1745, married, 1769. Ebenezer 
Richards, of Dedham. 

(V) Noah (3), son of Captain Noah (2) 
and Thankful (Fuller) Wiswall. was born 
July 7, 1740. He married, December, 1769, 
Marv Palmer, and settled in Fitchburg, Mas- 



sachusetts. In 1796 his estate was set ofF 
from Fitchburg and annexed to Westminster^ 
Children: i. Mary, born April 4, 1770, mar- 
ried White ; her only child Juliet was. 

left an orphan when an infant and was reared 
and educated by her uncle, Joseph Wiswall, 
who married her when seventeen years of age^ 
a sin his Puritan mother never forgave him. 
They resided in Troy, New York, a few years,, 
then removed to Mobile, Alabama, where she- 
died ; he married (second) the widow of Gen- 
eral Yates, of revolutionary fame. 2. Noah,_ 
October 22, 1772; no authentic record of him. 
is found. 3. John Palmer, January 29, 1775 ^ 
married (first) Melita Green, settled near 
Burlington, Vermont; married (second) Sar- 
ah Thurston ; he is buried in the old Mount 
Ida cemetery, Troy, New York. 4. Ebenezer,- 
of further mention. 5. Jane, April 5, 1779.. 
6. William, March 11, 1781. 7. Joseph, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1784. 8. Japheth, November 18,. 
1785. 9. Seth, May 10, 1787. 10. Sarah, Sep- 
tember 17, 1788. II. Howard. February 18,. 
1791. 12. Nancy, November 16, 1792. 

(\T) Ebenezer, fourth child of Noah (3) 
and Mary (Palmer) Wiswall, was born in- 
Westminster, Massachusetts, March 13, 1777,. 
died July 18, 1856. His boyhood was spent 
on his father's farm in Westminster ; his first 
business venture was in Boston, where he- 
failed, and removed to Troy in 1814. Re- 
ceipts found among his papers after death 
showed that he had paid debts resulting fromi 
his failure in Boston to the amount of fifty 
thousand dollars. He was in mercantile busi- 
ness in Troy for a time, but later was exten- 
sively interested in the ferry companies be- 
tween Troy and West Troy ; also being heav- 
ily interested in land companies for the devel- 
opment of properties in South Troy, Cohoes 
and West Troy. He purchased a farm in- 
\\'atervliet from his brother Seth, and in 
1823 built a country mansion to which he re- 
moved in that year, his former residence hav- 
ing been in Troy. He was a shrewd, capable- 
business man and bore an unblemished char- 
acter. He was a member of the First Pres- 
byterian Church of Troy. He married, in- 
June, 1803. his cousin, Ann Parker, of New- 
ton, Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel and' 
Anna (Palmer) Parker. She died February 
28, 1849; 3n inmate of his home for many 
years was his mother-in-law, Anna Palmer 
Parker, who died in 1841, at the age of eigh- 
ty-eight years, the result of a fall and a broken 
hip. She was a remarkable woman, and em- 
broideries made by her of exquisite design 
and workmanship are yet preserved in the- 
family. Children: Three died in infancy; 
Eben, born August 8, 1806, lived in Troy; 



352 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



John Parker, of further mention ; Jane, fifth 
child and second daughter, was sent to New- 
ton for better educational advantages, died of 
typhoid fever in Troy, and was buried in the 
old Third street burying ground, now the site 
of the City Hall, her remains having been 
removed to her brother's lot in Albany Rural 
cemetery. 

(VH) John Parker, son of Ebenezer and 
Ann (Parker) Wiswall, was born March 20, 
1814, died October i, 1875. He was a farm- 
er by occupation, his farm, having been in- 
herited from his father, lying in the great bend 
of the Hudson ("The Boglit"). He was an 
attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and a Republican in politics. He married, 
October 21, 1840, Sarah, born July 11, 1822, 
died January i, 1906, third child of George 
and Rachel (Clute) Mark (see Mark V). 
Children : Anna Parker, of further mention ; 
George, married Althea Best ; Edward H., 
married Harriet Lobdell ; they have one child, 
Alice, who married Dr. George S. Haswell ; 
Isaac, died aged fifteen. 

(VH) Anna Parker, daughter of John 
•Parker, and Sarah (Mark) Wiswall, was 
born April I, 1842. She married at the Wis- 
wall mansion, September 11, 1879, John 
White, born May 11, 1845, son of George 
Isaac White, died December 16, 1856. George 
I. White came to the United States from 
Warminster, Wiltshire, England, married 
Clarissa Waterman, of the town of Water- 
vliet, Albany county, New York, daughter of 
Frederick S. Waterman. John White was 
born in Albany, New York, and educated in 
the public schools. He began his business life 
as clerk in his uncle's store, then clerk in the 
office of the county clerk of Albany county. 
At that time West Troy was an important 
lumber centre and one of the leading firms 
was S. H. Waterman, an uncle of John White, 
who gave the young man a good position in 
his office, where he remained several years. 
He next was employed in the office of George 
M. Wiswall, later returning with Mr. Water- 
man, where he remained until 1885. In that 
year he engaged in business for himself as a 
wholesale excelsior dealer, also including hay 
and grain, dealing in car-lot quantities; with 
offices and home at Watervliet, New York. 
He is a Republican in politics ; member of the 
Exempt Firemen's Association, having been 
a charter member of Oswald Hose Company ; 
is a member with his wife of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Children: i. George Wis- 
wall, born December 23, 1881. an expert elec- 
trician; lives in Watervliet; married .\nna 
Greis and has a son, Edward Wiswall White, 
born November 15, 1906. 2. , died in 



infancy. 3. Sarah Parker, born January i, 
1885, graduate of Watervliet high school, 
1906; took a special course at Syracuse Uni- 
versity one year; now a student at Cornell 
University, medical department, and will grad- 
uate M.D. class of 191 1 (D. V.). 

(The Mark Line). 

Sarah (Mark) Wiswall, mother of Anna 
Parker (Wiswall) White, descended from 
Isaac Mark, who was born, lived and died in 
Ellerton, Cumberland county, England, as did 
his wife Mary. They were the parents of six 
children, of whom Thomas was the second. 

(II) Thomas, son of Isaac and Mary Alark, 
was born at Ellerton, Cumberland county, 
England, died in Albany County, New 
York, October, 1812, aged eighty-four 
years. In 1775 he came to the American col- 
onies! settling in Cherry Valley, New York. 
This was a troublous time, and the settlers 
were greatly harassed by the Indians. At one 
time Thomas Mark was sent to Albany, near- 
ly one hundred miles away, for help. He 
made the journey on horseback between dawn 
and dark, returning with the needed relief. 
Soon after this Thomas ]\Iark removed with 
his family to .Albany county, where he culti- 
vated a farm under lease from the patroon. 

He married, in England, Mary , and 

had four daughters and a son, all born in 
England. They all came to America togeth- 
er, the children being of adult years. On 
the ship was a family by the name Haswell 
with whom they became acquainted, si.x mar- 
riages between the children resulting from 
this chance acquaintance. Children: i. Sar- 
ah, born August 12, 1751, died October 11, 
1823; married Robert Haswell, born March 
22, 1755, died January 11, 1820, in town of 
Hoosick, Rensselaer county. New York. 2. 
Mary, December 3, 1755, died April 14, 1812; 
married Joseph Haswell, born January 18, 
1753, died December 7, 1813, in Hoosick. 3. 
Elizabeth, married Thomas Haswell, born 
February i, 1764, died May 31, 1802, in Hoo- 
sick. 4. Isaac, of further mention. 5. De- 
borah, married (first) Richard Haswell, born 
June II, 1765, died March 2, 1792, near Wa- 
tervliet; married (second) Isaac Law.son. 

(III) Isaac, only son of Thomas and Mary 
Mark, was born in Ellerton, Cumberland 
county, England, in 1757, died April 25, 1843; 
came to America in 1775. He married (first) 
Mary Haswell, sister to the husbands of his 
sisters. She was born July 3, 1761, died Au- 
gust 19, 1782. Married (second) Margaret 
Ilaswell, sister to his first wife, born October 
13, 1767, died February 13, 1856. Isaac 
Mark was a farmer living about three miles 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



353 



north of Watervliet near the present city line 
of Cohoes. Child by first wife: Sarah, mar- 
ried Rev. Cyrus Stebbins. Children by sec- 
ond wife : Alary, married Dirck Cliite : Eliza- 
beth, married Lsaac Haswell. born February 
II, 1787; Margaret, married John Haswell; 
George, of further mention : Deborah ; Jane, 
born January 14, 1797, died July 2, 1872, mar- 
ried Jacob L. Lansing, died October 24, 1883; 
Hannah, married Rev. Joshua Poor, a minis- 
ter of the Methodist Episcopal church: .\nna, 
married Dr. Ammon Hammond; Matilda. 

(I\') George, son of Isaac and Margaret 
(Haswell) Mark, was born February 5, 1792, 
died September 18, 1864. He married Rachel 
Clute, sister of Dirck Clute, his brother-in- 
law. She was born November 4, 1794, died 
July 31, 1878. Children: George, married 
Frances Mary Haswell ; Sarah, of further 
mention; Mary; Isaac; Mai;garet. 

(\') Sarah, daughter of George and Ra- 
chel (Clute) Mark, was born on the old Mark 
homestead near Cohoes, New York, July 1 1 . 
1S22, married, October 21, 1840, John Par- 
ker Wiswall (see Wiswall \'II). 



The family name Phillips is 
PHILLIPS of ancient and classical ori- 
gin. It is derived from the 
Greek. Philos-hippos, and means "fond of a 
horse." This family trait still exists, as many 
.a Phillips can testify. The name arose in an 
age of chivalry. 

The Phillips family can be traced back in 
England to about the year 1200. In West- 
minster Abbey, in London, England, can be 
seen the tomb of John Phillips, a relative of 
■our English ancestors, a poet of reputation, 
who died in 1708. 

( I ) John Phillips, the .\merican founder, 
was born in England, June 21, 1813, died in 
Albany, New York, January 18, 1883. He 
■came to the United States when a small boy 
in company with his mother, a brother and 
two sisters. No further record of the brother 
and two sisters can be found. The family 
settled first in New York City, but later John 
with his mother located in .-Mbany, where John 
■established a business. The record of his 
mother's death cannot be found. Little is 
known of his life in the city further than that 
he was a buyer and shipper of live stock, and 
later a dealer in hay and grain. He accumu- 
lated a substantial estate that he left to his 
family. He was a man of integrity, scrupu- 
lously honorable in his dealings, and was rated 
a good citizen. He was a staunch Republican, 
and a member of the Emmanuel Baptist 
Church. He married (first) in Albany. Ruth 
A. Hughes, who died June 24, 185 1, aged 



thirty-four years. He married (second) Ella 
I'"airchild, born August 8, 183 1, died Decem- 
ber 26, 1889. Children of first marriage: i. 
De Witt Humphrey, of further mention. 2. 
John D., born February 28, 1844; enlisted in 
Eighteenth New York \'olunteers, 1861, and 
served two years; joined the Si.xty-first New 
York X'olunteers in 1864, served until end of 
civil war and was discharged as captain ; he 
located in Buflfalo, New York, in 1875, where 
he first engaged in the hide and leather busi- 
ness, later in real estate and insurance. He 
married Dridget Lomassey ; children: Harry 
G., Elizabeth L., Margaret N., Nellie, Alary 
R. and Qiarles J. 3. Mary, born February 
18, 1846; married George Young, October, 
1866, and in 1870 moved to Bay City, Michi- 
gan ; children: Frank P., born October 21, 
1868, died May 9, 1909; May A., born Febru- 
ary 15, 1876. 4. F"rank W.. who in early man- 
hood located in Summit, Alichigan, where he 
died unmarried, August 25, 1883, aged thirty- 
four years, two months, four days. Children 
of second marriage : 5. Nellie, resides in .\1- 
bany. unmarried. 6. .\nna, married Charles 
O. Britton, of Hartford, Connecticut. 7. Car- 
rie, married Dr. .-Vrthur Van Loon, a promi- 
nent physician and surgeon of Albany. 

(II) De Witt Humphrey, eldest son of 
John and Ruth .-K. (Hughes) Phillips, was 
born in .Albany, New York, .August 18, 1840, 
died November 24, 1903. He was educated in 
the public schools, and began his business ca- 
reer as a clerk. After several years spent in 
various clerical positions, about 1869 he 
formed a partnership with Qiester F. Bouton, 
and as Bouton & Phillips established and con- 
ducted a wholesale flour and feed business at 
No. 317 Broadway. The firm was a successful 
one for years, but later met with reverses. 
It dissolved and Mr. Phillips for the re- 
mainder of his days successfully engaged in 
the real estate business in .Albany. He was a 
Republican in politics, a man of high moral 
sentiment, and very devoted to his family. 
He married, in Albany, Rachel Crounse, born 
in Guilderland Centre, .Albany county. New 
York, April 17, 1843, died in .Albany, Decem- 
ber 23, 1895. Her parents removed to .Al- 
bany when she was a small child, and she was 
educated in the city schools and the .Albany 
Female Academy. She was a devoted mem- 
ber of the First Congregational Church of 
Albany, and a useful worker in the church. 
She was a daughter of Conrad .A. and Maria 
(Mesick) Crounse, and a granddaughter of 
Abraham Crounse, who was born in the town 
of Guilderland, Alay 28, 1796, a descendant of 
Frederick Crounse, born in Germany, 1716, of 
Polish ancestry, came to .America in 1740, and 



354 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



settled among the early pioneers of the town 
of Guilderland. His farm was about two 
miles from the present village of Altamont. 
Albany county, New York (see Crounse gene- 
'ilogy). Abraham Crounse, a son of Con- 
radt Crounse, born March 23, 1775, and Mar- 
garet (Livingston) Crounse, born November 
8, 1775, was a successful farmer and owned a 
fine propertv in Guilderland, Albany county, 
New York, in the Indian Ladder region of the 
Helderberg mountains. He died at the age of 
eighty-nine years, having been a life-long 
member of the Lutheran church. He married 
Magdalene Shaver, whose death preceded his 
own about one year at the age of eighty- 
eight. They had a family of five sons, includ- 
ing Conrad A., who was born on the Guilder- 
land homestead, December 7, 1818. He re- 
moved to Albany a few years after his mar- 
riage in Guilderland to Maria Mesick. of the 
same town. In Albany he engaged in busi- 
ness as a retail clothing merchant, continuing 
until within five years of his death, when he 
retired and made his home in Altamont, where 
he died February i, 1902. His wife, born 
January 3, 1826, died in Albany, March 3, 
1 881. He was a Republican, a consistent 
member of the First Congregational Church of 
Albany, and gready esteemed for his upright, 
manly character. Their only child, Rachel, 
married De Witt Humphrey Phillips, and had 
children : i. Schuyler Crounse, of further men- 
tion. 2. Blanche, born March 25, 1870, died 
November 27, 1871. 

(Ill) Schuyler Crounse, son of De Witt 
Humphrey and Rachel (Crounse) Phillips, 
was born in Albany, New York. August 29, 
1868. He was educated in the common and 
high schools of the city, supplemented by a 
course in the Albany Business College. His 
early business life was spent in clerical posi- 
tions in the city. In 1888 he accepted a posi- 
tion in the office of the Brandow Printing 
Company of Albany, and later became mana- 
ger of the commercial department, remaining 
with the company for a period of eighteen 
years. December i. 1906, he was appointed 
by the Hon. Otto Kelsey. Superintendent of 
Insurance of the state of New York, as head 
of the printing and purchasing division of 
that department, which important position he 
most capably fills. He is a most careful and 
efficient official. He is a trustee, treasurer, 
and active worker of the First Congregational 
Church of .Albany, a Republican in politics, 
and a member of Masters Lodge, No. 5, Free 
and Accepted Masons. He married, in .Al- 
bany, June 22, 1892. Katharine I. Remington, 
born in Glens Falls, New York, February 9, 
1867, daughter of William Remington, lum- 



berman and prominent business man of Glens 
Falls and Albany, born in \'ermont. May 19, 
1820, died in Glens Falls. New A'ork. Novem- 
ber 17, 1892. He married Charlotte T. 
Wicks, born January 22, 1835. died July 6, 
1872. He was of the English Remington 
family, noted inventors and gun manufactur- 
ers. Katharine I. (Remington) Phillips was 
educated at the Albany Female Academy, and 
is an active worker in the women's clubs and' 
guilds of the city. She is a member with her 
husband of the First Congregational Church 
and interested in church and benevolent work. 
Child : EUanche Crounse Phillips, born August 
26, 1903. 



The emigrant ancestor of the 
WARREN Warrens, of Troy, New York, 
was Richard Waring, who ar- 
rned in Boston on the ship "Endeavor," ac- 
companied by his young son, Richard, in 1664, 
and shortly afterwards settled on Long Is- 
land. He spelled his name Waring, and as 
such was one of the original proprietors of 
Brookhaven, Long Island, in 1665. The name 
\\'arren and Waring are both used by the de- 
scendants of the Warrens in this country, al- 
though it is distinctly proven that in England 
they are two separate families, their ancient 
armorial bearings being totally different, 
which is conclusive. 

The first Warren who came from Norman- 
dy to England was William de Warrene. who 
was a near relative of the Conqueror, and 
who married the king's daughter Gundredd. 
The name "\\'arrenne" came from A'arenne, a 
district in Normandy, not far from Dieppe, in 
which the family had a property and a castle 
called "liellencombre" (the fair mound), part 
of which was standing in 1832. He was \Vill- 
iam of Aarenne, or ^\'arrene. There were 
eight Earls of Warren and Surrey. The great 
cradle of the Warrens was in Chesliire, al- 
though from that they migrated to diiYerent 
parts of England. 

The pedigree of Richard Warren, the emi- 
grant, taken from the Herald's A'isitations of 
Devonshire and from parish registers, viz.: 
Richard Waring. Emigrant, was the son of 
Christopher Warren, a clergyman, vicar of 
Ilsington. Devon., and died there October, 
1626. He married June 15, 1613. Alice, 
daughter of Thomas W'ebb. of Sydenham, 
Devon., and had issue. He was the son of 
William Warren, married Anne, daughter of 
Thomas Alable, of Calstock, in Cornwall. He 
was the son of Christopher, who was a church 
warden in that parish in 1543-4, and son of 
John Warren, of Headborough, parish of 
.Ashburton, Devon., and so runs back in a. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



355 



direct line to William de Warrene, first Earl 
of Warrene and Surry, etc., who married 
Gimdredd, daun;hter of William the Con- 
queror. 

Richard Waring, the emigrant, owned large 
tracts of land on Long Lsland. In a deed still 
extant, he conveyed to his son Edmund two 
pieces of land in Huntington, containing the 
proviso that he should never sell them with- 
out first offering his brothers an opportunity 
to purchase. 

(H) Edmund, youngest son of Richard 
Waring (W'arren) was born at Brookhaven, 
or Oyster Bay, Long Island, in 1673, died 
August 5, 1749. He removed from Hunting- 
ton, Long Island, to Norwalk, Connecticut, in 

1703. and owned a large tract of land on 
Roton Hill and Five IMile River. He built a 
pier in the harbor of Norwalk, which leads 
to the inference that he was engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits, probably a lumber merchant, 
as he made large purchases of timber land. 
At his death at the age of seventy-six, he was 
survived by his entire family, wife, eight sons 
and "four loving daughters," to whom he be- 
queathed a considerable landed estate. He 
married, October 6, 1698, Elizabeth Bouton, 
born 1679, daughter of Jean (John) Bouton, 
a Huguenot, born in France, 161 5, came to 
America 1633, died at Norwalk, Connecticut, 

1704. John Bouton married, January i, 1673 
(third wife), Mary Stevenson, who bore him 
four children, Elizabeth being the third, and 
tenth child of her father. The name Bouton 
has had various spellings, namely : Boughton, 
Bowten, Bowtin, Boutin. Edmund and Eliza- 
beth (Bouton) Warren had twelve children. 
all but the youngest born in Oyster Bay, Long 
Island; Edmvmd, born September 16, 1700; 
Isaac, June 13, 1702; John, December 21, 
1704: Solomon. April 24, 1707: Mary, Decem- 
ber 22. 1708; Nathan, February 6, 171 1 ; Ja- 
cob, January 15, 1713; Michael, July 16, 1715, 
married Elizabeth Scofield ; Eliakim, of fur- 
ther mention; Elizabeth. March 8, 1720; Abi- 
gail, .April 19, 1723; Hannah, born in Nor- 
walk. Connecticut. September 7. 1723. The 
ancient tombstones of Edmund and his wife 
were found at Norfalk. Connecticut, in 1862. 

(Ill) Eliakim, son of Edmund and Eliza- 
beth (Bouton) Warren, was born at Oyster 
Bay. Long Island, July 8, 1717, died at Nor- 
walk, Connecticut, August 3, 1779. He was 
probably associated with his father and broth- 
ers in business, but the records do not give 
any information as to his occupation or busi- 
ness. He married. December 7. 1738. Ann. 
daughter of John Reed (2) of Norwalk. and 
great-granddaughter of John Reed ( i ) , an 
officer in the army of Cromwell. John Reed 



( I ) died in New England at the advanced 
age of ninety-eight. Children, born in Nor- 
walk, Connecticut; Zaccheus, October 19, 
1741; Jesse, June 14, 1744; Eliakim, of fur- 
ther mention. At a meeting of the Associa- 
tion of the Western churches (Congrega- 
tional) of Fairfield county convened at Mid- 
dlesex, June 6. 1744, Edmund and Eliakim 
Warren were the chosen Middlesex delegates, 
and their wives were at that time added to the 
church by letters of recommendation. A Nor- 
walk cousin. Joseph (2). son of Joseph (i) 
and great-grandson of Edmund ( i ) , was a 
personal friend of Major-General Joseph 
Warren, and showed with pride the General's 
sword, left in his keeping, calling the Revolu- 
tionary hero his "cousin." This Joseph (2) 
was in 1798 the owner of the Norwalk and 
New York packet line, which comprised two 
sloops — "Griffin"' and "Republican." 

(IV) Eliakim (2). son of Eliakim (i) and 
Ann (Reed) Warren, was born February n, 
1747. died September 4, 1824. It is with 
Eliakim (2) that the Troy history of the fam- 
ily begins. Eliakim married his neighbor. 
Phebe Bouton, daughter of Esaias Bouton, 
January 17, 1771. Before his marriage he had 
belonged to the Congregational church, but 
his wife, Phebe Bouton, was an ardent Epis- 
copalian and persuaded him to join that 
church. In 1787 he was elected vestryman 
of Saint Paul's Church, Norwalk, and there is 
extant the record of an auction of pews where 
he and others tossed pennies for seats. Elia- 
kim had three sons — Esaias, Nathan and 
Stephen. On the advice of Esaias they de- 
cided to remove to Troy, a thriving village 
at the head of navigation on the Hudson river. 
The Warren family sailed out of Norwalk 
harbor in May, 1798, and made the entire trip 
to Troy by water. The\- had just had a sail- 
ing vessel built for them at Rowayton, a sIoot 
named "The Three Brothers." It was fifty 
feet keel, twenty feet beam, and sixteen feet 
hold, and rated sixty-four tons. In 1796 
Esaias, the eldest son. had purchased a lot on 
East River street, between First and Albany 
streets. Troy, and there erected a two-story 
wooden building for a dwelling and store. 
Eliakim and Esaias. with the second son. Na- 
than, engaged in merchandising under the 
firm name of Esaias \\'arren & (Tompany. In 
1799 the firm removed their business to the 
west side of River street (now No. 217), and 
began a retail and wholesale business in dry 
goods, groceries and hardware. A feature of 
their business was the purchase and shipping 
of wheat and country produce. They safely 
invested their profits in real estate. After 
three years residence in Troy, April 6, 1801, 



356 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Eliakim sold out the old Norwalk property 
and emploj^ed the proceeds in liis sons' inter- 
ests. Esaias being the eldest and now twenty- 
seven years of age, took the lead in all mat- 
ters, and their early prosperity was largely due 
to his enterprise and sagacity. Troy at this 
period contained three hundred houses and 
one thousand eight hundred and two inhabi- 
tants. In due time Eliakim Warren retired 
from the firm and his place was taken by his 
third .son, Stephen. Eliakim Warren was a 
devout Oiristian and believed that a share of 
his fortune should be devoted to the service 
of God. This was one of his articles of faith 
and he so taught his sons. In Troy he found 
no Episcopal church. For two years, how- 
ever, Sunday services had been held accord- 
ing to the Book of Common Prayer. Phil- 
ander Chase, a young graduate of Dartmouth 
College (later Bishop of Ohio) had been sent 
up regularly from Albany by Dr. Ellison, the 
rector of Saint Peter's parish and an English- 
man, to minister unto the little band of Epis- 
copalians. But Phebe Warren was a noble 
woman, and owing to her initiative and per- 
severing effort Saint Paul's Church was built 
in 1804 on the northwest corner of Third and . 
Congress streets, and according to her darl- 
ing wish was modeled exactly after Saint 
Paul's Church at Norwalk. Trinity Church, 
New York City, contributed two thousand 
dollars to its erection. Rev. David Butler, of 
Reading, Connecticut, was chosen rector by 
the vestry, and in his letter of acceptance he 
said : "I shall endeavor to make myself ready 
to remove with my family whenever it may 
be convenient for Mr. Warren to come down 
in his vessel." Dr. Butler in his youth had 
served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
He was a man of learning and ability, and sat 
as deputy from the diocese of New York 
state in the General Convention of 1820 and 
in several succeeding conventions. He was a 
man of commanding presence and aristocratic 
manner, and wore until the close of his life 
the small clothes, buckled shoes and long- 
skirted coat of the earlier period. He served 
his people faithfully for thirty years. One 
part of Saint Paul's Church was quaintly de- 
nominated "Norwalk," as there sat the War- 
rens, Boutons, Kelloggs, Crafts, and Cannons. 
The Warren family Prayer Book was on the 
altar. At the first recorded administration of 
the Holy Communion, three lay memljers ])ar- 
took thereof, Eliakim and Phebe Warren and 
Lemuel Hawley. In 1813 the number of 
regular communicants had increased to eigh- 
ty-four, and in 1824 a new and larger church 

(the present Saint Paul's) was erected on the 
northeast corner of Third and State streets. 

\ 



^Ir. Warren was one of the first two elected 
wardens (senior), Jeremiah Pierce being the 
junior warden, and he continued to hold this 
office until his death. In 181 5 his wife. Phebe 
(Bouton) Warren, formed in the parish a 
Saturday sewing class for poor girls, which 
she conducted until her death in 1835. It 
was then carried on by her daughter-in-law, 
Mary, wife of Nathan Warren. From this 
sewing class grew the later "Church of the 
Holy Cross." 

Mr. Warren lived a life of great usefulness 
and was universally loved and respected. He 
never had a lawsuit, and avoided religious 
controversy. When the British attack was 
made on Norwalk during the Revolution he 
joined with his townsmen in the defence of 
their homes and beat the British off, not, how- 
ever, until nearly all the dwellings- were 
burned. A tablet erected by the vestry in 
Saint Paul's Church is inscribed, "In memory 
of Eliakim Warren, senior warden of this 
church from its organization in 1804 until his 
death. To his zeal and munificence the con- 
gregation, under God, is indebted for its ori- 
gin and prosperity. He died September 4, 
1824, aged seventy-seven years." The vestry 
also erected a tablet inscribed, "In memory of 
Phebe Warren, relict of Eliakim. She died 
January 17, 1835, aged eighty years. A moth- 
er in Israel. She supported and conducted a 
sewing class for the children of the poor." 
Eliakim married, January 17, 1771, Phebe 
Bouton, born March 5, 1754, died January 17, 
1835, daughter of Esaias and Phebe ( Bixby ) 
Bouton, of Norwalk. Children : Esaias, of 
whom further; Hannah, born July 19, 1773, 
died January, .1775 : Hannah, born August 30, 
1775, died June, 1776; Nathan, of whom fur- 
ther '. Stephen, of whom further. 

(V) Esaias, eldest .son-of Eliakim (2) and 
Phebe (Bouton) Warren, was born in Nor- 
walk, Connecticut, October 16, 1771, died in 
Troy, New York, April 19, 1829. Prior to 
attaining his twentieth year he was sent out as 
supercargo of a vessel of his father's, and 
made several trips to the West Indies and u]) 
the Hudson to Albany and Troy. It was thus 
he was first made aware of the advantages 
Troy offered to men of enterjirise and capi- 
tal. On his return he persuaded his father 
and brothers to remove to Troy, where within 
a short period of time the entire family was 
established, and this city is still, over a cen- 
tury later, the family seat. After the with- 
drawal of their father from the firm of Esaias 
Warren & Comjiany, aforementioned, the 
brothers continued in business until March 5. 
1822, when A. J. Rousseau was admitted. On 
Alarch 1, 1827, the firm was dissolved, the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



357 



Warrens rctiriii;;, and Rousseau. Richards & 
Company succeeding. The Warrens were 
successful business men. Esaias Warren was 
president of the Troy Bank from 1811 to 
1829: mayor of Troy from 1820 to 1828; trus- 
tee of the village, 1814 to 1816. and senior 
warden of Saint Paul's Protestant Epi.scopal 
Church, succeeding- his father, who died in 
1824, and continued until his death. After 
the great fire of 1820 he was active in relief 
measures for the impoverished people. In 
iiis ci\ic official positions he was conservative 
and honorable, conducting the business of the 
])ublic with the same care and good judgment 
that characterized his private business affairs. 
Politically the family was and had been Fed- 
eralists, having no preference for public of- 
fice. As written at the time of his death, Esaias 
Warren was "an unostentatious and ex- 
emplary citizen, a vigilant and faithful chief 
magistrate of the city, and was distinguished 
for persevering industry in whatever he un- 
dertook." Esaias Warren married, January 
16, ijgf^). Lydia Scofield, born in Norwalk, 
Connecticut, April 4, 1772, daughter of Ger- 
shom and Lydia (Bell) Scofield, the former 
named born in Norwalk, Connecticut, No- 
vember 2, 1750, an officer in the Revolution- 
ary war. Children : George Bouton, of whom 
further: Eliza Ann, born March 22. 1801, 
married. 1827, John Paine": Phebc, born Sep- 
tember 6, 1804, married April 17, 1849, Ben- 
jamin Ogle Tayloe, of Washington: D. C. ; 
Lydia, born December 27, 1808, married, 
1833, Alfred Brooks, of Medford, Massachu- 
setts, died 1836; William Henry, born July 
29, 1814, died April 6, 1815. 

(\'L) George Bouton, eldest son of Esaias 
; and Lydia (Scofield) Warren, was born in 
Norwalk, Connecticut, September 25, 1797, 
died in TroV, New York, May 8, 1879. He 
was but an infant when the Warrens removed 
from Norwalk to Troy. While yet a young 
man he became a partner in the dry goods 
firm of Southwick. Cannon & Warren. He 
acquired large property interests in Troy and 
was prominently connected with many leading 
enterprises of that city. When the Troy City 
Bank was incorporated in 1833 he was chosen 
director, and on retiring from mercantile life 
became president, serving from 1844 to 1857. 
He was a director in the Troy Insurance Com- 
pany, the Troy Gaslight Company, and presi- 
dent of the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad 
Company until his death. He manifested more 
than usual interest in political affairs. He 
served as alderman from the third ward. 1835 
to 1842, and in 1844 was elected to the state 
i legislature. In 1846 he was the unsuccessful 
i candidate of the ^^ big party for congress. He 



was a great lover of nature, an enthusiastic 
ornithologist, possessing a rare and valuable 
collection. He was a member of the Episcopal 
church and an exemplary Christian. His 
standing among the early business men of 
Troy was of the highest. He married (first) 
Mary Myer Bowers, December 15, 1823, born 
in Cooperstown, New York, February 7, 1804, 
died in Troy, August 25, 1851, daughter of 
John M. Bowers, born September 25, 1772, 
died February 27, 1846, a resident and large 
land owner of Cooperstown. John AI. Bow- 
ers married Margaretha Martha Stewart Wil- 
son, born in Landsdowne, New Jersey, April 

15, 1778, daughter of Robert Wilson, an of- 
ficer who served in the siege of Boston, 1775, 
and granddaughter of Colonel Charles Stew- 
art, commissary general of issues and on the 
staff of General Was]iin.;lon during the Revo- 
lution. .She died in ( 'ooperstown, February 
6, 1872, aged ninety- four years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bowers were the parents of nine chil- 
dren, of whom Alary Alyer (Bowers) Warren 
was the eldest. Mr. Warren married (sec- 
ond) Emily (Bowers) Collins, of Coopers- 
town. Children of the first marriage : i . John 
Esaias, born January 18, 1827: married, 1852, 
Charlotte Grain (born July 4, 1836, died April 
II, 1903), died in Brussels, July 6, 1896. 
As a young man he was attached to the 
American Legation in Spain, and later to the 
L'nited States Legation in Brazil. He pub- 
lished two books, "The Attache in Spain" and 
"Para." He was mayor of St. Paul, Minne- 
sota, i860, and afterward resided for manv 
years with his family in Chicago, Illinois. 
Children: Alary Narina, born April 4, 1855, 
married Georges Aloreau, died in Paris, No- 
vember 14, 1895: Paul Warren, born .\ugust 

16, 1859, married Alarch 26, 1891, Hedwig 
Von Behr. 2. George Bowers, of further 
mention. 3. Charles Stewart, born 1830, died 
1833. 4. Charles Stewart, born 1834. 5. 
Mary Bowers, born February 2j, 1836, mar- 
ried October, i860. John A. Manning: chil- 
dren : Jane Brinsmacle : George \\'arren. de- 
ceased, married Julia Southgate ; \\'illiam 
Henry, married Frances Alorton : John A., 
married Edith Baker; Alary Emily: Charles 
Stewart, deceased. 

(\TI) George Bowers, son of George 
Bouton and Alary Alyer (Bowers) Warren, 
was born in Troy, New York, June 9, 1828, 
died in that city October 8, 1905. He was edu- 
cated in private schools, and for a time attend- 
ed L'nion College, but was compelled to re- 
linquish a college education on acount of ill 
health. He was never actively engaged in 
business beyond caring for his private prop- 
erty interests, although he was for some \ears 



358 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



extensively engaged in the wool business. He 
served the city in various capacities, and was 
interested in many of the leading institutions 
of Troy. In 1853 he was president of the 
Young Men's Association. In 1861-62 he was 
mayor of Troy, and successfully met the try- 
ing conditions of that troublesome period. He 
was secretary of the Troy & Albia Horse 
Railway Company, organized January 21, 
1866. He was a director of the United Na- 
tional Bank for many years and later was 
chosen president, holding that office until the 
time of his death, and also was president of 
the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad Com- 
pany. He was active in the Young Men"s 
Association and Lecture Lyceum, and a mem- 
ber of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. In 
politics he was a Democrat. 

He married, April 29, 1856, at Washing- 
ton, D. C, Eugenia Phebe Warren Tayloe, 
daughter of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe. of Wash- 
ington, D. C, and Virginia, where he had 
large estates. Mr. Tayloe was born in An- 
napolis, Maryland, May 21, 1796, in the home 
of his maternal grandfather, Governor Benja- 
min Ogle, of Maryland. His father, Colonel 
John Tayloe, owned an estate of four thou- 
sand acres, Mt. Airy, of Richmond county, 
\'irginia, and in i8oi built for himself a win- 
ter residence, the "Octagon House," on New 
York Avenue, in Washington. D. C. Here, 
after the burning of the White House by the 
British in 1814, President and Mrs. Madison 
took up their residence and remained over a 
year. The Treaty of Ghent, 1815, was signed 
in this house. Mr. Tayloe died in Rome, 
Italy, February 25, 1868, where he was trav- 
eling for his health. He was not engaged in 
any business save that connected with his 
landed interests in Washington, D. C, and his 
cotton plantations in X'irginia and Alabama. 
He was an old-fashioned Whig in ])olitics, 
and an Episcopalian in religious faith. He 
married Julia Maria Dickinson, born in Troy, 
November 19, 1799, daughter of John D. 
Dickinson. They had six children, of whom 
Eugenia Phebe was the fifth. 

Children of George Bowers and Eugenia 
Phebe Warren (Tayloe) Warren: i. Julia, 
born October 11, 1857, died July 19, 1859. 2. 
Mary Bowers, of Troy. 3. Anna Tayloe, born 
in Troy, October 23, 1863: educated in pri- 
vate schools and Emma Willard .Seminary, 
died in Luzerne, New York, November 7, 
1892; married, April 29, 1885, H. Casimir de 
Rham, of New York City. 4. Ogle Tayloe, 
born June 15, 1865; graduated at Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, class of 1886, 
with degree of civil engineer. He is now in 
Detroit, Michigan, connected with the Ocat 



Lakes Engineering Company. 5. George 
Thornton, born April 18, 1868, died Decem- 
ber 31, 1908; graduated from Trinity College, 
A.B.. class of 1890. from Columbia Law 
School, LL.B., class of 1893, ^nd admitted to 
the bar of Albany, New York. 6. Ethel, born 
April 22. 1871. died November 27. 1873. 7. 
Eugene, born May 24, 1873; educated at Saint 
Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire. He 
was for a time employed in the United Na- 
tional Bank of Troy, and is now with the firm 
of J. A. Manning, paper manufacturers of 
Troy. He was a member of the Troy Citi- 
zens' Corps, enlisted during the Span- 
ish war, and was sent with the Second Regi- 
ment of Volunteers to Florida. Later for 
eight months he was in the Philippines in the 
employ of the United States government. He 
married, November 4, 1903, Helen Francis, 
daughter of Charles S. and Alice (Evans) 
Francis. 

(V) Nathan, second son of Eliakim (2) 
and Phebe (Bouton) Warren, was born in 
Norwalk, Connecticut, May 11, 1777, died in 
Troy, New York, August 13, 1834. He was 
of the firm of Esaias Warren & Company, 
Troy, 1798, continuing until March i, 1827. 
He was one of the proprietors of the "Earth- 
ern Conduit Company," formed to "supply the 
inhabitants with water." He was one of the 
first board of managers of the Troy Savings 
Bank in 1823. He was an original incorpora- 
tor of the Troy Steamboat Company in 1825, 
vestryman of Saint Paul's Church, 1S27, and 
in the same year erected the "Mansion 
House," corner of Second and Albany streets, 
Troy. He was an incorporator of the Troy & 
Bennington Turnpike Company in 1827, and 
an incorporator and one of the first directors 
of the Rensselaer & .Saratoga Railroad Com- 
pany in 1832. 

He married. .April 24, 1808, Mary, daughter 
of Nathan and Abigail (Curlock) Bouton, 
born April 21, 1789, died February 8, 1859, a 
descendant of John Bouton, the Huguenot. 
She continued the Saturday sewing class 
founded by Mrs. Phebe (Bouton) Warren, 
her mother-in-law. and after the death of the 
latter converted it into a day school. After 
she had been left a widow Mrs. Warren gave 
her time almost entirely to church and phil- 
anthropic work. .She was the founder and 
donor of the Church of the Holy Cross, Troy, 
in 1844, "A house of prayer for all people, 
without money and without ])rice." The .girls' 
day school was incorporated by act of legisla- 
ture, March 19, 1846. I'y it Mary Warren 
(the founder). Rev. John Ireland Tucker, and 
Amos S. Perry, became a corporate body, by 
name "The Warren Free Institute," for "the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



359 



purpose of maintaining and conducting a free 
school." December 7, 1848, Rev. John Ire- 
land Tucker was ordained to the priesthood 
and became the first rector of the Church of 
the Holy Cross. April 5. 1849. The name of 
the "Warren Free Institute" was changed by 
act of legislature to "The Mary Warren Free 
Institute of the City of Troy." In 1889 the 
church was handsomely improved, Dr. Nathan 
!>., Stephen E. and George Henry Warren 
contributing the necessary funds. The en- 
larged chancel was dedicated December 24, 
1889. on which occasion the choirman of the 
church wore for the first time an ecclesiastical 
habit. This church was one of the earliest 
of the free churches of the Episcopal com- 
munion built in the United States. In it was 
first iutruduced the choral service, and mainly 
through the liberality of Dr. Nathan B. \Var- 
ren. The girls of the school who composed 
the choir had been dressed in English fash- 
ion, in a uniform of long scarlet cloaks and 
black hats. Proverbs xxxi:2i, reads: "For 
all her household are clothed with scarlet," 
and ap])lied to Airs. Warren's birthdav, .\];)ril 
21. The children of ]\Iary (Bouton) War- 
ren were the donors of the organ, the chime 
of bells, and the richly colored windows. Oth- 
ers of the family contributed the beautiful 
brass lectern, a fac-simile of the one in Exe- 
ter Cathedral. England, and the brass corona. 
A stone tablet set in the west wall of the ante- 
chapel reads : 

"This church, free to all people, was founded by 
Mary. widow of Nathan Warren, A.D., 
MDCCCVLIV. The antechapel contemplated by 
the founder was built by her children as a memo- 
rial to their venerated mother, who on the VIII 
day of February A.D. MDCCCLIX in tlic LXX 
year of her age entered into that rest whicli re- 
mains lor the people of God." 

The children of Nathan and Mary (Bouton) 
Warren are: i. Harriet Louise, married Cap- 
tain Edmund Schriver, who rose to the rank 
n| general. I'nited States Army, in the civil 
war ; she was thrown from a sleigh January 
15, 1859, and instantly killed. 2. Nathan 
Bouton, Mus. Doc, a musical composer of 
note and author of numerous anthems ; his 
literary work is also of a high order; he nev- 
er married. 3. Stephen Eliakiin. graduate of 
Trinity College, unmarried. 4. George Henry, 
born in Troy, November 18, 1823; graduate 
'if I'nion College, metnber of the New York 
State bar; he married, April 29, 1851, Mary 
Caroline Phoenix, daughter of Jonas Phillip 
and Mary (Whitney) Phrenix ; children: 
Mary Ida, married Robert Percy Alden, .of 
New York City; Harriet Louise, married 
Robert Goelet, of New- York City ; George 
Henry. LL.B.. Columbia College, lawyer, mar- 



ried Georgia Williams, of Stonington, Con- 
necticut ; Emmeline Whitney ; Whitney 
Phoenix, died March 22, 1863 ; Edmund 
Warren, deceased ; Whitney Warren, married 
Charlotte A. Tooker, and resides at Newport, 
Rhode Island: Anna Phcienix. twin of \Vhit- 
ney W.. died .August 9, 1865; Edith Caroline, 
married William Starr Miller, of New York 
Citv ; Llovd Elliot, graduate of Columbia Col- 
lege, 1888. 

(V) Stephen, third and youngest son of 
Eliakim (2) and Pliebe (Bouton) Warren, 
was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, 1783, clied 
in Troy, IVIay 9, 1847. Pie was admitted to 
the firm of Esaias Warren & Company on the 
withdrawal of the father, and in association 
with his two brothers Esaias and Nathan con- 
ducted the business until March i. 1827, when 
the firm was dissolved. The good feeling and 
perfect confidence that existed between these 
brothers is rarely equaled. In 1806 Stephen 
Warren w'as ensign of the "Trojan Greens." 
a local military company. In 1832 he was a 
member of the first board of directors of the 
Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad Company, in- 
corporated by the legislature that year ; in 
1829 one of the incorporators of the Troy 
W'ater Works Company, that later surren- 
dered its rights to the city of Troy; in 1810- 
II, fire warden from the third ward of Troy. 
In 1829 he was chosen president of the Bank 
of Troy, holding that position until his death 
in 1847, succeeding his brother, Esaias War- 
ren, who had served since the bank was or- 
ganized in 181 1. Stephen Warren was fol- 
lowed in the office of president by his son. 
Joseph M. Warren, the intervening president 
being Nathan Dauchy, 1847 to 1853. Stephen 
Warren was also president of the Troy Sav- 
ings Bank from October 7, 1839, until his 
death. He was a member of the state legis- 
lature in 1823. and a presidential elector. 

He married. August 17. 1808. Martha Cor- 
nell Mabbett. of Lansingburgh. New York, 
born July 5, 1791, died December 23, 1879. in 
Troy, New York. She was a devout church- 
woman and exceedingly liberal. The grand 
organ in Saint Paul's Church was her gift, 
while one-half the cost of the chapel and 
parish house was defrayed by her sons as a 
memorial to her memory. Children: i. Mary 
Mabbett, born October 3. 1810. died Novem- 
ber 18, 1831; married, April 5. 1831, John 
Le Grand Knox, of Troy. New York, born 
November 15, 1803, died July, 1880. 2. Jo- 
seph Mabbett. of further mention. 3. Will- 
iam Henry, born September 14. 181 5. grad- 
uate at Washington (now Trinity) College; 
died January 9, 1867; married. December 12. 
1839. Mary Rogers, born June 2, 1820, died 



36o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



June 1 8, 1865, daughter of Judge Halsey and 
Deborah (Wing) Rogers, of Moreau, Sara- 
toga county, New York. Qiildren : i. Halsey 
Rogers, born July 25, 1841, died February 18, 
1908 ; ii. Martha ]\Iabbett, born December 
22, 1842, married Walter Phelps Warren (see 
forward ) : iii. Mary Rogers, born May 6, 
1853, died July 17, 1859: iv. Stephen Warren, 
born August 12, 1856, died April 8, 1878; v. 
Edward Ingersoll, born July 18, 1858, died 
April 8, 1878. 4. Phebe Elizabeth, born July 
5, 1819, died January 3, 1894; married, July 
8, 1841, Henry Pratt ^McKean, of Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, born May 3, 1810, died 
January 5, 1894. Children: i. Thomas Mc- 
Kean. born November 28. 1842, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Wharton, of Philadelphia ; 
ii. Stephen Warren, born February 4, 
1844, died April 28. 1846. 5. .\nna Ches- 
ter, born September 15, 1826, died November 
24, 1891 ; married Edward Ingersoll, of 
Philadelphia, born April 2, 1817, died Febru- 
ary 19, 1893. Children: i. Stephen Warren, 
born April 8, 1851, died October, 1864, mar- 
ried Josephine Bond, of P^hiladelphia ; ii. 
]\Iary Wilcocks, deceased, born August 19, 
1853, married James Logan Fisher, of 
Philadelphia : iii. Phebe W' arren, born 
March 23, 1854, married Harry Wil- 
cocks McCall, of Philadelphia: iv. Anna 
Warren, born September 7, 1855, mar- 
ried Charles Morton Smith, of Philadelphia ; 
V. Charles Edward, born June 17, i860, mar- 
ried Rita Sturgis, of Philadelphia; vi. Henry 
McKean, born January 29. 1862: vii. Jennie 
Hobart, born October 27. 1865. 6. John Ho- 
bart. born September 3, 1829, died January 28, 
1908; married (first) Eliza Attwood Tibbits, 
of Troy. New York, died April, 1870; he mar- 
ried (second) Harriette M. Coulter, of New 
York City. No issue. 

(\T) Honorable Joseph .Mabbett, eldest 
son of Stephen and Martha Cornell (Mab- 
bett) Warren, was born in Troy, New York, 
January 28, 181 3, died in that city, Septem- 
ber 9, 1896. He graduated from Washing- 
ton, now Trinity College, and was admitted 
to the firm of Hart, Lesley & Warren. March 
I, 1840, who were the successors (through 
many firm changes) of the oldest hardware 
house in Troy, founded in 1809 by Jacob Hart 
and Henry Xazro. at No. 6 Lane's Row. for 
the sale of "hardware, ironmongery, cutlery 
and saddlery." On the admission of Joseph 
M. Warren and William Henry Warren to 
the firm, the name was changed to Warrens, 
Hart & Lesley. February i, 1855, Jo.seph M. 
Warren and Charles W. Tillinghast succeed- 
ed to the business as J. M. Warren & Co. In 
1864 Walter P. Warren was admitted. Feb- 



ruary 10, 1887. the proprietors incorporated 
the business under the J. M. Warren & Com- 
pany, with Joseph M. Warren president of 
the corporation, continuing until his death. 
This company continues one of the solid sub- 
stantial business houses of Troy. Mr. War- 
ren was a capable head of their large business 
and thorough master of the situation at all 
times. In 1909 the firm celebrated its one 
hundredth anniversary. Mr. Warren had oth- 
er interests, both public and private in their 
nature. He was one of a committee of nine 
to arrange for the sale by the city of Troy 
of the Schenectady & Troy railroad, which 
had become a heavy burden upon the taxpay- 
ers. He was director of the Farmers' Bank 
and of the Bank of Troy, later consolidated 
in the United National Bank of Troy, of which 
he was the first president. In 1833 he was 
chosen jjresident of the Bank of Troy, con- 
tinuing in that office until 1865. His father, 
Stephen Warren, was president of the same 
bank from 1829 to 1847, succeeding his broth- 
er, Esaias Warren, who served from 181 1 to 
1829. Save for an interval of six years, 1847 
to 1853, a Warren was president of the bank 
during its entire life of fifty-four years. He 
was a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute; water commissioner of the city of 
Troy from 1855-57; mayor of Troy 1851-52; 
one of the organizers and members of the 
board of managers of the Troy Club. 1867. 
He was a Democrat in politics, and represent- 
ee! the Troy district in congress, 1871-73. 
This record of a busy life but hints at the 
measures of his activity. He was interested 
in everything that pertained to the business, 
religious, educational or civic life in Troy. 
His support for any worthy object could al- 
ways be relied upon. His charity, was unos- 
tentatious, but extensive. He was senior war- 
den of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, and a 
devout churchman.' His life was a success- 
ful one, and he left to his posterity an honor- 
able record. 

He married. Sc])tember 9, 1835, F.lizahcth 
.Adelaide Phel])s. liorn March 3, 181 5. died 
July 20, 1891, daughter of Walter and Julia 
.Steel (Beach) Phelps, of Hartford, Connec- 
ticut. The Phelps family is an old and hon- 
ored one in New England. Children: i. 
Stephen, born August 23, 1836, died October 
16. 1837. 2. Mary Mabbett. born May 6, 1838. 
married, January 29, 1861. John Isaac Thomp- 
son, of Troy (see Thompson), born April 2, 
183 1 ; children: i. Hobart Warren, born .\pril 
2, 1862, married Grace. McLeod ; ii. Marie 
Warren, born March. 1868. married Edward 
Courtland Gale (see Gale). 3. W'alter I'helps, 
of whom further. 4. Josephine, born .\ugust 



HUDSOxX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



361 



22. 1842, died April 2, 1843. 5- Phebe Mc- 
Kean. born August 6, 1844; married, October 
II, i856, Isaac McConihe. of Troy, born 
1830; children: i. Anna Pruyn, born Novem- 
ber 30, 1867, died September. 1868; ii. War- 
ren, born July 8, 1869; iii. Malcolm Stewart, 
born August, 1871 ; iv. Elizabeth, born July, 
i88i. 6. Anna, born February 21, 1849; mar- 
ried, October 21, 1869, John M. Glidden, of 
I'oston, born July 4, 1843; children: i. Mary 
Warren, born May 10, 1871 ; ii. Joseph War- 
ren, born July 17, 1872: iii. Amy Gardner, 
born November, 1873: iv. William Cjernon, 
born December, 1874 ; v. John, born May. 
1876; vi. Susette Adelaide. December. 1879; 
vii. Anna ; viii. Arthur Boynton. 7. Stephen, 
born January 28, 1852, died September i, 
1864. " 

(\'II) Walter Phelps, second son of Joseph 
Mabbett and Elizabeth Adelaide ( Phelps ) 
\\'arren, was born in Troy, New York, June 
13, 1841. He was educated at the Troy Acad- 
emy and at Walnut Hill School. Geneva. 
New York. He early entered business and 
has spent a life of continuous activity. In Feb- 
ruary, 1864, he was admitted a member of the 
firm of J. M. Warren & Company, of Troy. 
He withdrew from that firm in 1871, and at 
once became associated with Fuller, Warren & 
Company, of Troy, which firm was incorpor- 
ated in 1881 under the name of Fuller & \Var- 
ren Company. This company enjoys the dis- 
tinction of perpetuating the business of manu- 
facturing stoves in Troy begun in 1828 by the 
firm of L. Stratton & Son. at the Rensselaer 
furnace. 42 Fifth Avenue. There were many 
changes in firm personnel prior to Fuller & 
A\'arren Company, whose works, covering six 
acres in Troy, are known as the "Clinton 
Stove Works." They have an e.xtensive plant 
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and salesrooms in 
the principal cities of the country. Mr. War- 
ren was trustee and vice-president of the orig- 
inal corporation, and on the death of Joseph 
W. Fuller, the president, in i8go. was elected 
president, which office he still fills (191,1). 
Among his many other business activities are 
the following: \'ice-president of the Troy 
Savings Rank ; director of the Fuller- Warren 
Company of Milwaukee: Rensselaer & Sara- 
toga Railroad Company: Albany & \crmont 
Railroad Company ; Saratoga & Schenectady 
Railroad Company : Troy & Cohoes Railroad 
Company, and the National City I'ank of 
Troy. In May, 1905, he was elected president 
of the Stove ?ilanufacturers" Association of 
the L'nited States, and is now (igio) vice- 
presiik'nt of the Troy Chamber of Commerce. 
In 1889-90-91 he was a member of the Public 
Improvement Commission of Troy. In 1889 



he was president of the Troy Citizens' Asso- 
ciation, and was vice-president of the Troy 
Centennial Association that so splendidly ar- 
ranged and carried through the one hundredth 
anniversary celebration of Troy, 1889. 

He is a director of the Samaritan Hospital, 
and of the Church Home, both of Troy. He 
is also a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, 
and is a member of the Citizens' Corps, and 
was elected president of the reorganization in 
1878. and lieutenant in Sixth Separate Com- 
pany, now Company A, Second Regiment, 
New York National (iuard. From 1864 to 
1868 he served on the staff of Governor HofT- 
man. with the rank of colonel. Through his 
colonial and revolutionary ancestry, he de- 
rives membership in the patriotic orders. He 
is regent of \\'illiam Floyd Chapter, Sons of 
the Revolution : a member of the Founders 
and Patriots, Colonial ^^'ars, Colonial Gov- 
ernors, and Mayflower societies. He is also 
a member of the New York Genealogical and 
Biographical Society. His clubs are the Union 
and Manhattan of New York City; the Phila- 
delphia. Lenox and Troy, the latter of which 
he is president, elected first in 1899. He is 
a member of the Episcopal church, founded 
in Troy by his ancestors, and was a trustee 
of Saint Paul's Free Chapel (now Saint Bar- 
nabas Chapel, an independent organization), 
appointed by the vestry of .Saint Paul's 
Church to manage the affairs of the chapel, 
then a mission of the mother church. In poli- 
tics Mr. Warren is a Democrat, but has never 
espoused any of the financial heresies of re- 
cent years, but has always taken a deep in- 
terest in all reform movements affecting mu- 
nicipal, federal or state politics. He is a ready, 
eft'ective and pleasing public speaker, and an 
untiring worker for the interests of his native 
city. His ancestors on both sides date back 
to those hardy, self-sacrificing colonists who 
endured the privations and bravely overcame 
the perils of their period and rendered ])ossi- 
ble the establishment of civil and religious 
liberty, that rich inheritance of the ]irij<ent 
generation. 

He married, July 11, i8(i6, Martha Mabbett 
Warren, born December 22, 1842, daughter 
of William Henry and Mary (Rogers) War- 
ren, of Moreau. New York (see Rogers). 
Children: i. William Henry, of whom fur- 
ther. 2. Joseph Mabbett, born December 14, 
1868. died -March 7, 1872. 3. Mary Eliza, 
born February 5, 1870: married, November 
5, 1896. Thomas \'ail (see Vail) of Troy, 
born October 26. i860: children: i. Martha 
Warren, born February 28. 1899: ii. Frances 
Hart, November 24. igoo: iii. Mary Warren, 
February 7, 1902; iv. Phebe Hart, March 30, 



362 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



1908. 4. John Hobart, born May 9, 1873, died 
June 10, 1873. 5. Walter Phelps, junior, born 
December 31, 1874; educated in private 
schools and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- 
tute. He is a director of the Fuller & War- 
ren Company, and a member of Saint Paul's 
Episcopal Church, and is independent in poli- 
tics. 

He married. June 20, 1900, Sarah Tib- 
bits Lane, born March 4, 1878, daughter of 
George Tibbits and Annie (Mead) Lane. 
Children: i. Anne Lane, born November 10, 
1902; ii. Walter Phelps Warren (3d), born 
June II, 1905. 6. Elizabeth, born April 14, 
1876, died February 3, 1878. 7. Chester In- 
gersoll, ALE., born February 22, 1880, grad- 
uate of Cornell University, class of 1905; 
member of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, 
and independent in politics. He married, Oc- 
tober 2^, 1907, De Ette Samson, born Sep- 
tember 20, 1882, daughter of Frederick and 
Sarah De Ette (Welch) Samson, of Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. 

(Vni) William Henry, eldest son of Wal- 
ter Phelps and Martha Mabbett (Warren) 
Warren, was born June 3, 1867, in Troy, New- 
York. He was educated at Saint John's 
School at Sing Sing, now Ossining, New 
York, and Trinity College, Hartford, Con- 
necticut. He entered the employ of Fuller & 
Warren Company as clerk, and is now ( 1910) 
vice-president of that corporation. He is a 
vestryman of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, 
and independent in politics. His college fra- 
ternity is LK.A. He is a member of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His 
clubs are the Troy and Elks. He married, 
January 5, 1893. Caroline E. Gleason, daugh- 
ter of Samuel O. Gleason, a banker of Troy, 
and Mary (Burdick) Gleason. One child, 
Alary Rogers, born July 7, 1896. 



The ancestor of the De Witt 
DE WTTT family in America was Tjerck 

Claessen De Witt, of whom 
the first mention made is to be found in the 
"Trouw Boeck," or register of marriages of 
the Reformed or Collegiate Dutch church of 
New York City. There it is recorded that 
on April 24, 1656, "Tjerck Claessen De Witt 
van Grootholdt en Zunderlandt" (Westphalia) 
married "Barbara Andriessen van Amster- 
dam." He was the son of Nicholas De Witt, 
.of Holland, one of the members of a most 
intluential family. It is not known whether 
other of his relatives actually came over from 
Holland at the same time that he did ; but it 
is thought probable, as he had a sister, Em- 
merentje. who married Martinus Hoffman in 
1662, at New .Amsterdam, and his brother, Jan 



Claessen De Witt, died, unmarried, at Kings- 
ton, New York, in 1699. 

Tjerck C. De Witt resided in New York for 
a short time following his marriage in 1656, 
where his first child was born ; but removed 
in the spring of the following year to Albany, 
where he purchased a house and lot. He ex- 
changed this in September, 1660, with Ma- 
dame de Hutter, for land in Wiltwyck (Kings- 
ton), Ulster county. New York, with "posses- 
sion to be given May i, 1661." Here he lived 
until his death, and for two centuries and a 
half the place remained in the family. He 
was undoubtedly a man of means, as is shown 
by the fact that in 1661 he was taxed one hun- 
dred and twenty-five guilders (equal to about 
$50) to help pay for a new church building in 
Esopus, and in 1662 he owned No. 28 of the 
"New Lots." His eldest daughter, Taatje, 
was carried away from him by the Indians, 
June 7, 1663, during the destruction of Kings- 
ton and Hurley, but was rescued. Governor 
Lovelace deeded to him "a parcel of bush-land, 
together with a house, lot, orchard, and calves' 
pasture, lying near Kingston, in Esopus," on 
June 25, 1672, and Governor .-^ndros, October 
8, 1677, deeded to him about fifty acres of 
woodland west of the town. He was, on 
February 11, 1679, one of the signers of a re- 
newal of the Nichols treaty with the Esopus 
Indians. He joined with others, in 1684, pe- 
titioning Governor Thomas Dongan that there 
might be "liberty by charter to this county 
(Ulster) to choose our ovvne officers to every 
towne court by the major vote of the freehold- 
ers." The petition greatly offended the au- 
thorities, so that the signers were arrested and 
fined for this display of a desire for free or 
local self-government. The trustees of Kings- 
ton conveyed to him one hundred and eighty- 
nine acres of land, February 13, 1685, and 
Jine 6, 1685, he claimed two hundred and 
ninety acres lying upon the north side of 
Rondout Kill, known as Momboccus, which 
was granted to him by i)atent May 14, 1694. 
lie was elected a magistrate of Ulster county, 
March 4, 1689. He died at Kingston, New 
York. February 17, 1700. By his will, dated 
March 4, 1698, he left his property to his wife 
for life, and directed that after her death it 
be divided between his oldest and youngest 
sons, in trust, and by them divided into twelve 
equal shares, to he given to each of his chil- 
dren or their heirs ; but to Lucas he devised 
the one-half of a sloop he had built the year 
before, and his widow was named executrix. 

Tjerck Claessen De Witt married, at New 
Amsterdam. April 24, 1656, Barbara Andries- 
sen, who died July ft. 1714. Children: i. An- 
dries. liorn in New ^'ork City ( New .\mster- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



363 



dam), in the early part of 1657 (see for- 
ward ) . 2. Taatje, born at Albany, New 
York, about 1659, died previous to 1724; was 
carried off by Esopus Indians at the burning 
of Kingston in 1663: but was rescued; mar- 
ried, 1077, Matthys .Mattliyssen Van Keuren, 
son of Matthys Janson and Margaret (Hend- 
rickse ) \'an Keuren, who in 1685 was com- 
missioned captain and served against the 
French on the northern frontier. 3. Jannetje, 
baptized February 12, 1662, died in 1744; 
married Cornelis Swits, born 1651. died 1730, 
son of Cornelis Claessen and Ariantje (Trom- 
mels) Swits. 4. Klaes, baptized February 17, 
i()C)4. died previous to 1698. 5. Jan, baptized 
I'ebruary 14, 1666. died previous to probating 
of will, April 12, 1715; married Wyntje, 
daughter of Dr. Roeloff and Ikee (Aaghe) 
(Roosa) Kiersted. 6. Geertruy, baptized Oc- 
tober 15. 1668: married, March 24, 1688, 
Hendrick Hendricksen Schoonmaker, bap- 
tized May 17, 1665, son of Hendrick Jochem- 
sen and Elsie (Janse) Schoonmaker. 7. Ja- 
cob, married Grietje, daughter of Cornelis C. 
and Annatje ( Cornclissen ) Vernooy, and 
lived at Rochester, Ulster county, New York, 
where he was one of the trustees of the place. 
8. Rachel, married Cornelis Bogardus, died 
October 13, 1707, son of Cornelis and Helena 
(Teller) Bogardus. 9. Lucas, married. De- 
cember 22. 1695, Annatje. daughter of An- 
thony and Jannetje ( Hillebrants) Delva ; was 
commander and joint owner witli his father 
of the sloop, "St. Barbara," and died in 1703. 
10. Peek, married (first), at Albany, January 
2, 1698, Marytje Janse \'anderberg ; mar- 
ried (second), December 21, 1723, Maria 
Tennis : he was first a resident of New York, 
subsequently buying land in Dutchess county, 
September 6, 1698, and in 171 5 removed to 
Ulster county. 11. Tjerck. 12. Marritje, 
married (first), November 3, 1700, Hendrick 
Hendricksen Kortreght, son of Hendrick Jan- 
sen and Catharine Hansen (Weber) Kort- 
reght: married (second), September 6, 1702, 
Jan Macklin. 13. Aagje, baptized January 14, 
1684: married, August 23, 1712, Jan Pawling, 
son of Henry and Neeltje (Roosa) Pawling. 
(H) Andries, son of Tjerck Claessen and 
Barbara (Andriessen) De Witt, was born in 
New .-Vmsterdam (New York City), between 
1657 and i56o, and died at Kingston, New 
York, July 22, 1710. For some years he lived 
at Marbletown, Ulster county, New York, on 
a farm given to him by his father ; but re- 
moved to Kingston previous to 1708. His 
death is recorded in the family records in this 
wise: "Captain Aiidries De \\'itt departed this 
life in a sorrowful way; through the breaking 
of two sleepers (beams) he was pressed down 



and very much bruised ; he spoke a few words 
and died." He was buried in the church-yard 
at Kingston. He married, March 7, 1682, 
Jannetje Egbertsen. She was baptized in 
New .Viusterdam, January 11, 1664, died No- 
vember 23, 1733, and was the daughter of 
Egbert ^Meindertse and Jaepe (Jans) Egbert- 
sen. Children: i. Tjerck, baptized January 
12, 1683; died at Kingston, August 30, 1762: 
married (first), January 18, 1708, Anne Paw- 
ling, baptized June 19, 1687, daughter of 
Henry and Neeltje (Roosa) Pawling; mar- 
ried (second), October 17, 1739, Deborah, 
baptized September 14, 1684, daughter of 
Egbert Hendricksen and Annatje (Berry) 
Schoonmaker, widow successively of Jacob 
Vernooy and Hendrick Vroom. 2. Jacob, bap- 
tized September 28, 1684, died young. 3. 
Barbara, baptized August 22, 1686, died 
young. 4. Klaes, baptized April 30, 1688, 
died young. 5. Barbara (2d), born October 
30. 1689; married, March 25, 1715, Johannes 
\'an Leuven ; died November i, 1715. 6. Ja- 
cob, born December 30, 1691 ; married, Alay 
9, 1731, Hevltje \'an Kampen, baptized Oc- 
tober 6, 1700, daughter of Jan and Tietje 
Janse (Decker) Van Kampen. 7. Maria, 
born January 21, 1693; married, October 30, 
1713, Jan Roosa, Jr., baptized November 6, 
1692. son of Jan and Hillegond (\'an Buren) 
Roosa. 8. Helena, born December 7. 1695; 
married, June 6, i/ig, Jacob Swits, baptized 
at .\lbany, June 26, 1695, son of Isaac and 
Susanna ((jroot) Swits. 9. Andries. born 
April I, 1697, died July 2, 1701. 10. Egbert, 
born March 18, 1699, see forward. 11. Jo- 
hannes, born March 26, 1701 ; married, June 
27, 1724, Mary Brodhead. baptized August 6. 
1699. daughter of Charles and Maria (Ten 
Broeck) Brodhead. 12. Andries, baptized 
February 20, 1704, died at Rochester, Ulster 
county. New York, in 1764; married. Decem- 
ber 3. 1731, Bredjen Nottingham, baptized 
December 23, 1711, daughter of William and 
Margaret (Rutsen) Nottingham. 

(Ill) Egbert, son of Andries and Jannetje 
(Egbertsen) De Witt, was born March 18, 
1699. He settled at Napahanoch, in the town 
of Warwarsing, Ulster county. New York. 
He married, November 4, 1726, Mary Not- 
tingham, born May 19. 1704, daughter of Wil- 
liam and Margaret (Rutsen) Nottingham. 
Children: i. Andries, baptized October 15, 
1727, see forward. 2. Jacob Rutsen, baptized 
April 13, 1729; married, April 15, 1756, Jen- 
neke, daughter of Moses and ^largaret 

(Schoonmaker) Depuy ; purchased land on 
the Navesink river, and was a captain of a 
militia company during the revolution. 3. 

William, born in 1731 ; married. May 30, 



364 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



1762, Susanna Chambers. 4. John E., bap- 
tized September ig, 1733: married. October 
26, 1765, Catherine Newkirk, baptized Feb- 
ruary 26. 1738, daughter of CorneHus, Jr.. and 
Neeltje (Duliois) Xewkirk. 5. Stephen, bap- 
tized December 14. 1735 ; married. December 
8. 1770, Wyntje. baptized February 23, 1746, 
died July 7. 1830, daughter of John and 
Venni (Nottingham) Brodhead. 6. IMary, 
born September 5, 1737, died September 12, 
1795; married. February 18, 1765, General 
James Clinton, born August 9. 1736. died De- 
cember 22. 181 2, son of Charles and Elizabeth 
(Denniston) Clinton, and had son, DeWitt 
Clinton, governor of New York state. 7. Eg- 
bert, baptized April i, 1739. 8. Thomas, born 
May 3, 1 741, died at Kingston, New York, 
September 7, 1809; married, February 28, 
1782, Elsie, born March 20, 1750, died June 
28. 1832, daughter of Jacob and ?\Iaria 
(Hoornbeck) Hasbrouck; during the revolu- 
tion commissioned as captain in the Third 
New York Regiment; was promoted to be 
major ; assisted in the defence of Fort Stan- 
wix (Rome, New York) when besieged by 
Colonel St. Leger, in August, 1777, and ac- 
companied General Sullivan's successful expe- 
dition against the Indians. 9. Benjamin, bap- 
tized January 19, 1743. 10. Reuben, baptized 
October 20, 1745; married. November 11, 
1772. Elizabeth, baptized May 20. 1753, 
daughter of Moses and Ehzabeth (Clearwa- 
ter) Depuy. 

(I\') Andries (2), son of Egbert and Mary 
(Nottingham) De Witt, was baptized October 
15, 1727, died at New Paltz, New York, Sep- 
tember 30, 1799. He was a physician of ex- 
cellent standing in his profession, and prac- 
ticed in his native country for more than half 
a century. He married, .-\pril 24, 1748, Jan- 
netje Yernooy, baptized March 3, 1728, died 
February 7, 1795, daughter of Johannes and 
Jenneke (Louw) Vernooy. Children: i. 
Anna, born April 6, 1749, baptized May 23, 
1749, died January 20, 1819; married, April 
5, 1778, Hugo Freer, of New Paltz, New 
York, born July 26, 1749, died October 13, 
1808, son of Gerrit and Maria Freer. 2. Eg- 
bert, born October i, 1750, died March 25, 
1816; married Elizabeth Smith, baptized De- 
cember 18, 1755, daughter of Hendrick and 
Sarah (Keator) Smith. 3. Maria, born .April 
24, 1752. 4. John A., baptized November 15, 
1753, died October 4, 1818; married, April 19, 
1776, Rachel Bevier. 5. Cornelis, baptized 
July 21, 1755. 6. Simeon, born December 26, 
1756. died December 3, 1834: married (first), 
October 12, 1789, Elizabeth Lynott, born Jan- 
uary 3, 1767. died December 13, 1793; married 
(second), janneke (Varick) Hardenberg, 



born May 18, 1760, died April to. 1808, 
daughter of John and Jane (Dey) \'arick, 
and widow of Abraham Hardenberg ; married 
(third), October 29, 1810, Susan Linn, born 
October 30, 1778, died May 5, 1824. daughter 
of Rev. \\'illiam and Rebecca (lilair) Linn. 
7. William, born December 17, 1758. 8. Jan- 
neke, born 1760; married John C. Harden- 
berg, of Hurley, Ulster county. New York, 
baptized February 22, 1756, died 1833. son of 
Charles and Catherine (Smedes) Hardenberg. 
9. Catherine, baptized September 20. 1762, 
died .\ugust 24, 1850; married Nathaniel Be- 
vier, baptized April 17, 1756, son of Johannes 
and Magdalena (Lefever) Bevier. 10. .An- 
dries A., baptized January 20. 1766. died 
March 10, 1851. 11. Sarah, baptized Febru- 
arv 2, 1767. 12. Elizabeth, born June 24, 
1769; married. December 22, 1801, Henry 
Guest. 13. Levi, born October 7, 1771. 14. 
Benjamin, born December 26, 1775, died. New 
York City, September 10. 1819; married, Sep- 
tember 27, 1800, Eve, born, Albany, March 27, 
1777, died May 21, 1832, daughter of James 
and Lydia (\'an Valkenburg) Bloodgood. 

(V) General Simeon, son of Dr. Andries 
(2) and Jannetje (\'ernooy) De Witt, was 
born at Warwarsing, L'lster county. New 
York, December 26, 1756. died at Ithaca. New 
York, December 3, 1834. The baptismal rec- 
ord shows that he was baptizefl on the day 
following his birth, into the faith of the Re- 
formed Protestant Dutch church. Young De 
Witt, after receiving such an English educa- 
tion as a scattered agricultural population af- 
forded, was placed for classical instruction 
with Rev. Dr. Romeyn. of Schenectady, an 
intimate friend of his father. He was thus 
prepared for college, and was sent to Queen's 
(afterwards Rutgers) College, under Rev. 
Dr. Hardenbergh. graduating in I77'>. the 
only one in the class. It was impossible to 
follow the course in quietude, for those were 
stirring times of revolutionary conflict. The 
battle of Long Island was followed by the 
evacuation of New York City, and the .Ameri- 
can forces were not permitted to retreat across 
the Hudson river unmolested, for General 
Howe pursued them to New Brunswick, 
burned Princeton, and then marched on to 
Trenton. De Witt continued his studies at 
home, passing much time in the family of his 
uncle, General James Clinton, of the revolu- 
tionary army, and the father of De \\'itt Clin- 
ton, afterwards governor of New York, with 
whom he was a great favorite. Tliis intimacy 
kindled a patriotism which resulted in De 
Witt's achieving prominence throughout his 
long career. 

The news of General Bnrgoyne's coiUcm- 






^^^J^^^^r 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \AI,LEYS 



365 



plated excursion by way of Canada into the 
United States aroused both old and young. 
A battalion was organized in Ulster county 
under General Gates, to join the American 
army, and with this De Witt marched 
as a volunteer adjutant. On arriving at 
the seat of war, the men were incor- 
porated into a regiment already existing 
and lieing thus deprived of his temporary com- 
mand, he fell into the ranks as a private, and 
in this capacity was present at the battles 
which decided the fate of Burgoyne. as well 
as lieing present at the surrender of the Brit- 
ish following the battle of Bemis' Heights, 
October, 1777. The service being ended for 
which he and his companions had volunteered, 
he returned to his father's house, where he 
pursued his mathematical studies in connection 
with the practical business of surveying. Not 
niany months had elapsed before General 
Washington, in a letter to General James Clin- 
ton, inquired whether he knew of any person 
who was qualified to act as geographer ; in 
other words, to be a topographical engineer 
for tlie army. De Witt was immediately rec- 
onunended, and was appointed in 1778 to be 
assistant to Colonel Robert Erskine, then 
geographer-in-chief. He performed his duties 
so admirably that when his superior died in 
1780. De Witt was appointed head of the de- 
partment, which commission was signed Sep- 
tember 8. 1780, by Thomas McKean, presi- 
dent of congress, and took effect on December 
4. 'He was ordered, December 16, 1780, by 
General Washington to go to headquarters at 
New Windsor, and continued attached to the 
main army until the end of the campaign. He 
was constantly employed in the survey along 
the route of the army to Yorktown, and was 
present both at its siege and surrender, thus 
having witnessed the two important surren- 
ders, of Burgoyne and Cornwallis. The maps 
made by him were tendered to Washington 
with the suggestion that if printed by the 
government they would be of great value to 
the public ; but although Washington advo- 
cated De Witt's idea, congress deemed the 
country too low in funds to attempt the under- 
taking. He was appointed surveyor-general 
on Alay 13, 1784. and he held the position for 
more than fifty years. He established, with 
James Clinton, the boundary between New 
York and Pennsylvania, completing the survey 
in the years 1786-87, in satisfactory manner. 
In 1786 the state legislature had requested 
him to prepare a map of New York, which 
he finished and published in 1802. being a 
most creditable effort on his part, and an in- 
dex at this day of what the state was at that 
time. 



In 1796 General Washington, without Gen- 
eral De Witt's knowledge or solicitation, nomi- 
nated him to the senate of the United States 
as surveyor-general, and the appointment was 
cordially ratified, but he was obliged from 
force of circumstances to decline. The fol- 
lowing is the official record : 

General De Witt considered this as the 
most gratifying event in his whole career, 
especially as he had gained, as shown by nu- 
merous private letters, the fullest confidence 
and friendship of George Washington. In 
1798 he was elected a regent of the University, 
to succeed Hon. Lewis Morris, deceased, 
which office he held until his death, and for 
many years was senior member of the board. 
In 1817 he was elected vice-chancellor, and 
in 1829, chancellor of the University. He was 
a charter member of the Society of the Cin- 
cinnati, of which Cicneral Washington was 
president. 

On the inception of the canal policy in New 
York, Mr. De Witt was officially directed to 
cause surveys to be made of all streams and 
rivers between the Hudson and Lake Erie, 
and for several years he was associated as one 
of the board of canal commissioners. He 
was a member of the American Philosophical 
Society, the oldest in the United States, join- 
ing in 1790, on the recommendation of Rit- 
tenhouse. to which he made one communica- 
tion, published in the 6th volume, "Observa- 
tions on the Eclipse of the Sun." He was 
president of the Lancaster school's board, Al- 
bany, and succeeded Chancellor Livingston as 
president of the Society for the Promotion of 
Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures, incor- 
porated by him and others in 1793 in New 
York state, before which he read two scien- 
tific papers, "On a Plan for a Meteorological 
Chart." and "Establishment of a Meridian 
Line in the City of Albany." His writings on 
drawing and perspective were published in a 
volume entitled "The Element of Perspective," 
1813. In his annual address he introduced 
the novel idea of the rotation of crops. To 
the "Transactions of the Albany Institute" he 
contributed a table of variations of the mag- 
netic needle: observations on the function of 
the moon, deduced from the eclipse of 1806, 
and a description of a new form of rain gauge. 
In Sillimaii's Journal he discussed the theory 
of meteors, and altogether he was thoroughly 
conversant with many important fields of sci- 
ence, but particularly agriculture and meteor- 
ology, ever exhibiting a most cultured mind, 
and a desire to advance the people's interest. 

(ieneral Simeon De Witt married (first), 
October 12, 1789, Elizabeth Lynott, born 
January 3, 1767. died December 13, 1793; 



366 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



married (second), Janneke (Jane) Varick 
Hardenberg, born May i8, 1760, died 
April 10, 1808, daughter of John and 
Jane (Dey) Varick, and widow of Abraham 
Hardenberg: married (third), October 29, 
1810, Susan Linn, born October 30. 1778, 
died May 5, 1824, daughter of Rev. William 
and Rebecca (Blair) Linn. The third wife 
of General De Witt. Susan (Linn) De Witt, 
wrote a novel,- "Justina," and also a poem en- 
titled "The Pleasures of Religion." 

General De Witt's second wife was a sis- 
ter of Colonel Richard \'arick. and with ex- 
cellent reason the descendants are proud of 
the relationship. He was a noted revolution- 
ary officer and recorder and mayor of New 
York. The latter office he occupied for twelve 
years, the longest term of service on record 
since the revolution. Colonel \'arick was born 
of Dutch parentage, at Hackensack. New Jer- 
sey, in 1752. the common American ancestor 
of the family being Rev. Adolphus Van 
Vork, minister of the Reformed Dutch church 
at Jamaica, Long Island, who died in 1694. 
Colonel \'arick was educated at King's, now 
Columbia, College, and embraced the profes- 
sion of law. At the beginning of the revolu- 
tion he tendered his services, and was ap- 
pointed military secretary of General Philip 
Schuyler, then commanding the Army of the 
North. Congress appointed him deputy com- 
missary-general in February, 1776, with the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel, and he was pres- 
ent as such at the memorable battles of Still- 
water and Saratoga, fought in September and 
October, 1777. After the surrender of Bur- 
goyne, he was stationed at West Point as 
inspector-general, and then became Washing- 
ton's recording secretary until the close of 
the war. To him Washington wrote from 
Mount X'crnon. January i, 1784. a letter cher- 
ished by his relatives living at Albany, which, 
in ])art, is as follows: "I pray you will be per- 
suaded that I shall take a pleasure in assert- 
ing on every occasion the sense I entertain of 
the fidelity, skill and indefatigable industry 
manifested by you in the performance of your 
public duties." In the possession of the Var- 
ick family is a small pair of silver spurs. As 
George, the young son of Governor Clinton, 
was one day riding down Broadway, in the 
city of New York, he was sto])ped by 
President Washington, who buckled these 
spurs on his boots with his own hands. Colonel 
\'arick participated prominently in the forma- 
tion of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which 
Washington was the first president, and he 
was elected president of the New York l^ranch 
of that society, July 4, t8o6. He served in 
the assembly in 1787-88, and in both years 



was chosen speaker. He was made attorney- 
general. May 14, 1789, and was a reviser of 
the New York laws in 1778-89. The town 
of \'arick was named in his honor, by act 
of legislature passed February 6, 1830. He 
died July 30, 1831. 

Children of General Simeon and Jane ( \"ar- 
ick) De Witt: i. Richard Varick, born Feb- 
ruary 6. 1800, see forward. 2. George Wash- 
ington, born February 17, 1801, died August 
2. 1814. 3. Susan Linn, born September 3, 
181 1 : married, in 1835, Levi Hubbell. 4. Cor- 
nelia Lansing, born September 10, 1813. died 
March 15, 1820. 5. William Linn, born Jan- 
uary 13, 1817, died at Ithaca, New York. Oc- 
tober 12, 1903. 6. Mary Linn, born Febru- 
ary 23, 1819, died March 20, 1871. 

(\'I) Richard \'arick, son of General Sime- 
on and Jane (\'arick) (Hardenbergh ) De 
Witt, was born at Albany, New York, Feb- 
ruary 6, 1800, died at Albany, February 7, 
1868. He inherited his father's scientific 
tastes, and was one of the founders of the 
old Albany Institute, as well as one of its 
first officers. Before that learned body he 
fre(|uently displayed his scientific and literary 
attainments. He graduated at Union College, 
and after finishing his studies in the office 
of the late Harmanus Bleecker, afterwards 
I'nited States Minister at The Hague, was 
called to the bar. He possessed a large prop- 
erty at Ithaca, New York, and while his 
natural tastes led him to literary pursuits, his 
])rominent position forced him to a inore 
active life. He established and maintained a 
line of steamboats on Cayuga lake, in their 
day consiilered models of speed and comfort. 
It was his pleasure to devote much spare time 
to architectural drawing: he has left behind 
many drawings of buildings and paintings in 
both water color and oil of the early types 
of steamboats, notably that of Fulton's "Cler- 
mont." Through his exertions and means, the 
Ithaca & Oswego railroad was constructed, 
which was one of the earliest lines in New 
"\'ork state: but unfortunately in the financial 
disaster of 1837, he lost much of his pro]ierty 
by the forced sale of this road. He was for 
manv years both an elder and superintendent 
of the .Sunday school of the Middle (or Sec- 
ond) Dutch Reformed Church of Albany. He 
was vicc-jiresident of the State Cincinnati So- 
ciet\ . and during the absence of Governor 
Fish in Europe, acting president. His re- 
finement was only one of his many charms, 
and throughout his whole life he maintained 
a spotless Christian character. 

Richard Varick De W'itt married, at .-Xl- 
bany. New York. May 18. 1831, Sarah \\'alsh, 
horn in Albany, December 20, 1805, died 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



367 



there May 5, 1842. Her father was Dudley 
Walsh, who married, September 24, I/'JT,, 
Sarah, daughter of John and Magdalena 
(Douw) Stevenson. Dudley Walsh was born 
in Dublin, Ireland, 1756, died at Albany, May 
24, 1816, and Sarah Stevenson, his wife, was 
born September 29, 1772, died at Albany, 
June 22, 1816. John Stevenson died April 
24, 1810, and Magdalena Douw, his wife, died 
December 20, 1817. Children: i. Richard 
\'arick, born at Albany, New York (as were 
all his brothers and sisters), August 30, 1832, 
see forward. 2. Catherine Walsh, born No- 
vember 26. 1833, died at Albany, January 8, 
1907. 3. Dudley Walsh, born October 31, 
1835. died at Albany, June 20, 1904. 4. Sarah 
A\"alsh, residing in Albany in 1910. 5. Jus- 
tina. born August 9, 1839, died May 8, 1840. 

6. Alice Justina, born February 22, 1841, died 
April 24, 1869; married, April 27, 1865, Au- 
gustus de Peyster, of Boston, Massachusetts. 

7. Infant, born April 13, 1842, died April 14, 
1842. 

(MI) Richard Varick (2), son of Richard 
Varick ( i ) and Sarah (Walsh) De Witt, was 
born in Albany, New York, August 30, 1832, 
died, after a brief illness at his home. No. 202 
Lancaster street, Albany, August 21, 1901. 
He was educated at the Albany Academy, and 
after finishing his education, in 1849. entered 
the employ of the Albany Insurance Com- 
pany. In 1854 he was employed in the 
New York State Bank, which position he held 
until 1868, when he again entered the insur- 
ance field. From 1872 to 1890 he was secre- 
tary of the Commerce Insurance Company, of 
Albany, and was secretary of the Albany In- 
surance Company from 1890 to 1896, when 
he resigned to engage in similar business for 
himself. He was appointed a member of 
the board of fire commissioners, September 

8. 1S87, and was for a long period the secre- 
tary of that board, serving with distinction 
until the board was legislated out of office 
in 1900. No man in Albany was more widely 
or more favorably known. His commercial 
career was most highly honorable, and he was 
noted for his geniality and humor. For sev- 
enteen years !\[r. De Witt was a valued trus- 
tee of the Madison Avenue Dutch Reformed 
Church ; at one time a director of the Albany 
Exchange Savings Bank ; trustee of the Al- 
bany Medical College; member of the stand- 
ing committee of the Society of the Cincinnati 
of State of New York, and president of the 
Albanv branch of the Fire Insurance Agents' 
Association of New York State, and was a 
charter member of the Albany Academy 
Alumni Association. In his younger days 
he was fond of athletic sports and participated 



in rowing and baseball contests. He was well 
known as a clever writer on miscellaneous 
and historical matters, contributing most en- 
tertaining articles to the local and metropolitan 
press. He was wise in counsel, of excellent 
judgment, and ever exerted himself for the 
welfare of others and for the benefit of the 
public good. When he died Mayor Blessing, of 
Albany, ordered the flags to be lowered upon 
the City Hall and on all houses of the fire 
dei>artnient. He was buried in the family plat 
with his ancestors in the Albany Rural Ceme- 
tery. A handsome memorial was dedicated 
September 25, 1910, in the IMadison Avenue 
Reformed (Dutch) Church, in his memory 
and that of his family, by his only surviving 
sister. 



The actual origin of the Hilton 

HILTON family is lost in the obscurity 
of distant ages, centuries ago; 
but it is reported to be the oldest family en- 
titled to bear arms in Great Britain. Certain 
it is that the vast number of legends related 
of the origin and of the early members are 
convincing evidence of great antiquity. 

The first official mention of Hilton is that of 
1 166, when it is recorded that "Romanus, 
Knight of Hilton, holds of ancient feoffment 
three knights' fees." On June 27,. 1295, in 
the reign of Edward I., Sir Robert, Baron 
Hilton, was summoned to Parliament, and his 
son. Sir Alexander, Baron Hilton, was sum- 
moned in 1331, under Edward III. While 
these are the only summonses known to exist, 
there is abundant evidence that the Barons 
attended many other parliaments. 

The Hiltons quarter their arms with the 
Nevill, Skirlaw, Percy, \'ipont, Percy-Lo- 
vaine, Lumley, Eure, Washington, Ogle, 
\escy, Felton, Heron, Surtee and Bowe fam- 
ilies, and the arms of these families, with oth- 
ers too much worn by the ages to be accurate- 
ly deciphered, as well as with the arms and 
banners of England and France, and these 
are, with their own, beautifully sculptured on 
the walls of Hilton Castle, at the original 
family seat, which is in Durham, England. 

In the vale of Wear, on the old road to 
Newcastle, three miles west of Wearmouth 
Bridge, county of Durham, stands Hilton 
Castle, low and sequestered, which is, in fact, 
according to the original name, Heltun. It is 
an unusually large structure, consisting of a 
main or central tower, built during the rule 
of the Danes and Saxons, to which the family 
undoubtedly belonged, and there are additions 
erected by the Barons of the Norman and 
later periods. 

On the records their estates consisted of 



368 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



the manors of Hilton, Barmston, Grindon, 
Ford, Clowcroft, North Biddick, Great Us- 
worth and Fallowsby, in the county of Dur- 
ham : Carnaby and \\'harram-Percy, in the 
County of Yorke ; Elryngton and Woodhall, in 
Xortlnimberland ; Aldstone ]\Ioor, in North- 
umberland and Cumberland, with the advow- 
sons of Kyrkhaulght and Monk-Wearmouth. 

(I) In the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury Edward, a son of this ancient house, left 
Durham, his native county, to follow the sea. 
He engaged in the fishing industry, serving his 
apprenticeship, and became master. In 1621 
he joined the Fishmongers' Guild at London. 
No doubt, being familiar with the New Eng- 
land coast through his voyages to the fishing 
banks of North America, and attracted there- 
to, he, early in 1623, brought a colony, with 
servants, cattle, implements and the like, to 
a place called by the Indians Cocheco, about 
■six miles up the Piscataqua river, in the dis- 
trict known to the natives as Wecanacohunt. 
Here he settled, naming it Northam. It was 
later on called Hilton's Poynt, and is now 
known as Dover, New Hampshire. He like- 
wise named neighboring localities in memory 
of his home county, such as Durham, New- 
castle, Stratham, etc. Thus he was the first 
settler in what is now New Hampshire, and 
with reason is known as the father of that 
state. 

In 1628, Edward Hilton, of Cocheco, was 
assessed the sum of one English pound as his 
share of the expense of an expedition set afoot 
by the Plymouth colony, which captured and 
expelled Thomas Morton from Merrymount, 
now W'allaston, IMassachusetts. His owner- 
shi]) of the lands upon which he had settled is 
confirmed in the following interesting docu- 
ment, and leaves all such beyond any dispute : 

Now know yee that the said President and Coun- 
cell by Virtue & Authority of his Maj'ties said Let- 
ters Patients and for. and in consideracon that Edward 
Hilton and his .Associates hath already at his and 
their owne proper costs and charges, transported 
sundry servants to plant in New England aforesaid 
at a place there called by the natives Wecanacohunt. 
•otherwise Hiltons Point lying some two leagues 
from the mouth of the River Paskataquack in New 
England aforesaid where they have already Built 
some houses and planted Come, and for that he doth 
further intend by Gods Divine Assistance, to trans- 
port thither more people and cattle, to the good in- 
crease and advancement & for the better settling and 
strengthening of their plantacon as also that they 
may lie the better encouraged to proceed in soe pious 
a work which may especially tend to the propagacon 
of Religion and to the increase of trade to his Maj'- 
ties Realmes and Dominions, and the advancement 
of puhliquc plantacons. Have given. Granted, En- 
feoffed and Confirmed and by this their p'sent writing 
doe fully, clearly and absolutely give, grant, en- 
feoffe and Confirme unto the said Edward Hilton his 
heires and assigncs for ever, all that part of the 



River Pascataquack called or known by the name of 
Wecawacohunt or Hiltons Point, with the south side 
of the said River, up to the ffall of the River, and 
three miles into the Maine Land by all the breadth 
aforesaid, Together with all the Shoares. Creeks. 
Bays. Harbors and Coasts, alongst the sea within the 
limitts and bounds aforesaid with the woods and 
Islands next adjoyneing to the said Lands, not being 
already granted by the said Councell unto any other 
person or persons, together alsoe with all the Lands, 
Rivers, Mines, Mincralls of what kinds or nature 
soever. Woods, Quarries, Marshes,. Waters, Lakes, 
(fishings. Huntings. Hawkings, flfowlings, Comodities, 
Emoluments and hereditaments whatsoever withall 
and singular their and every of their app'ts in or 
within the limitts or bounds aforesaid or to the said 
Lands lying within the same limitts or bounds be- 
longing or in any wise appertaining. To have and to 
hold all and singular the said Lands and p'mises, 
with all and singular the Woods, Quarries, Marshes, 
Waters, Rivers, Lakes, ffishings, flowlings, Hawkings. 
Huntings, Mynes, Mineralls of what kinde or nature 
soever. Priviledges, Rights, Jurisdicons, Libbertyes, 
Royalties and all other profits * * * in w'itness 
whereof the said Councel! for the affaires of New- 
England in America aforesaid, have hereunto caused 
their comon Scale to be putt the twelfth day of 
March Anno Dmi 1629 and in the fifth yeare of the 
Reigne of our Soveraigne Lord Charles by the Grace 
of God of England, Scotland, fifrance and Ireland, 
defender of the fTaith &c. 

Ro: WARWICKE. 

It will be noted that this important family 
document was signed by the celebrated Earl. 

It was only a few years later that this same 
Edward Hilton took an active part in protect- 
ing the inhabitants from pirates infesting the 
coast and high seas, for the following is re- 
corded under date of December 5. 1632: "By 
letters from Captain Neal and Mr. Hilton at 
Pascataquack it was certified that they had 
sent out all the forces they could make against 
the pirates, viz., four pinnaces and shallops, 
and about forty men." In 1633 Mr. Hilton 
sold a large portion of his patent to some mer- 
chants of Bristol. England. 

On the fourth day of the first week of the 
loth month of 1639, the authorities of the ad- 
joining town of Exeter made Mr. Hilton a 
large grant of land, and shortly afterward he 
moved there, where, in 1652, it was "voted 
that Mr. Hilton be requested to go along with 
Mr. Dudley to the General Court to assist 
him." In 1653 another grant of land of about 
two miles square, comprehending the site of 
the whole village of Newmarket, was made to 
him, "in regard to his charges in setting up a 
saw-mill." In 1665 "it is testified that Major 
Shapleigh hath lately made leases of lands for 
1.000 years to Mr. Hilton of Exeter, Dr. Bare- 
foot an<l others." 

That the people of his neighborhood re- 
garded him in esteem is clearly shown by this 
entry in the records of May 19, 1669: "The 
Court on Perusall of the articles of agreement 
between this Colony and the inhabitants of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



369 



Dover, etc., several of them well rememberinq; 
that Mr. Edward Hilton was one of those that 
WL-re commissioned to agree with this Court 
in behalf of the inhabitants of Piscataqua, doe 
declare that Mr. Edward Hilton is according 
to the articles, justly exempted from the coun- 
ty rates and that accordingly he be freed from 
.such impositions." 

Mr. Hilton was, like his friends, Mason 
and Gorges, an ardent supporter of the Church 
of England. He was neither of the Pilgrims 
of the Plymouth colony nor of the Puritans, 
who soon after settled Massachusetts, and 
consequently he settled in a distant part to be 
free from their quarrels and able to manage 
his own alYairs. He maintained a garrison on 
his plantation, and as he was a gentleman of 
good judgment the settlers looked to him for 
protection and advice when in danger or in 
trouble, and when, in 1641, Massachusetts 
usurped the jurisdiction of New Hampshire, 
he was the first one named in the list of mag- 
istrates. He was a man of wealth, enterprise 
and influence, possessed of the friendship of 
the governors of Massachusetts, and was 
their confidential correspondent. He died in 
Exeter, early in 1671, at a considerably ad- 
vanced age, leaving an estate which in the 
equivalent of to-day would be reckoned at 
about $100,000, on which letters of adminis- 
tration were granted to his sons, Edward, 
\\'illiam, Samuel and Charles, March 6, 
1670-1. 

The name of his first wife is unknown, but 
by her he had the following six children: i. 
Edward, born 1626 (see forward). 2. Will- 
iam, born 1628; a sea captain and comman- 
der : made the noted voyage to the southward 
on the .Atlantic coast in 1662, when he discov- 
ered and named many places, among them 
Hilton Head, South Carolina, and of this voy- 
age he wrote a full report which his step- 
uncle. Major Nicholas Shaplcigh, mapped, the 
reprint of which was recently published dur- 
ing a celebration in Charleston, South Caro- 
lina ; died in 1690, leaving three sons, Rich- 
ard, John and \Villiam. 3. Samuel, remained 
in Exeter. 4. Charles, born about 1638; died 
at Exeter, 1684, unmarried. 5. Mary, mar- 
ried Christopher Palmer, of Hampton, New 
Hampshire. 6. Sobriety, married, November 
20, 1651, Henry Moulton, of Hampton, New 
Hampshire. 

Edward Hilton married (second) Katharine 
Shapleigh (Treworthy), daughter of Alexan- 
der Shapleigh, who was agent for Mason and 
Gorges, and widow of James Treworthy, who 
had been killed by Indians ; by whom he had 
a daughter Elizabeth, who married, at Exeter, 
in 1659, Captain John Gihnan. 



(U) Edward (2), son of Edward (i) Hil- 
ton, was born at Northam, New Hampshire, 
in 1626. 

By reason of a conflagration and careless- 
ness, vast numbers of the early records of 
about this period have been destroyed ; hence 
the family historian lacks statistics, many 
dates, and much of the story of the first set- 
tlers and their children, and nearly all the data 
had to be compiled from what had been pre- 
served by individuals or recorded in state 
and provincial documents. The Hiltons fought 
the Indians for a foothold in America. They 
were numerous in all the Indian and colonial 
wars, and all those who were able took an ac- 
tive and some a prominent part in the revolu- 
tionary army. William Hilton was a pall- 
bearer at General Washington's funeral. The 
muster-rolls of the civil war will reveal many 
of them at the front, and altogether they have 
had no inconsiderable part in preparing and 
establishing the country the later descendants 
now enjoy. 

Edward Hilton, the eldest son, received the 
major share of his father's property. He was 
active in the affairs of his community, taking 
his father's place on the plantation, maintain- 
ing the garrison to defend it, and interesting 
himself in local matters. He was not promi- 
nent in politics, and we find few traces of him 
in the larger concerns of public life; but he 
was a highly respected citizen and a soldier. 
He seems to have been much in the company 
of his father, as their names appear together 
on many documents. 

On January 17, 1660, he received a tract 
of land from the Indians, as here set forth : 
"Wadononamin, Sagamore of Washucke and 
Piscataqua, for ye love I bear to Englishmen, 
and especially to Edward Hilton of Piscata- 
qua, eldest son of Edward Hilton of ye same 
Piscataqua, Gent'm of ye said Collony, as for 
divers other reasonable causes and con- 
siderations nie thereunto moving, have vol- 
untarily and freely given ... to said Ed- 
ward Hilton, Jun., all my lands lying bounded 
between two branches of Lamprell river called 
Washucke, being about six miles in length 
and in breadth about some places of it six 
miles. . . . Reserving for himself only a con- 
venient planting place for life." 

In 1693, Edward Hilton strengthened his 
garrison by the addition of two more men. 

He married Ann Dudley, born at Salisbury. 
Massachusetts, October 16, 1641, daughter of 
Rev. Samuel Dudley, who was born at Canons 
Ashley, England, 1606; eldest son of Thomas 
Dudley, many times elected governor of Mas- 
sachusetts Colony, and his first wife, Dorothv 
Yorke. Rev. Samuel Dudley came to America 



370 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



in 1630 with his father and Governor Win- 
throp. Ann Dudley's mother was Mary, eld- 
est child of John Winthrop, first governor of 
the Massachusetts colony, and his first wife, 
Mary Forth, of Great Stambridge, Essex 
county, England. Children: i. Winthrop, 
born about 1671 ; was the celebrated Colonel 
Winthrop Hilton, soldier and statesman, lead- 
ing the expedition against Port Royal, as well 
as several expeditions against the Indians to 
the eastward. He was the scourge of the red- 
skins, and in 1705 destroyed the mission vil- 
lage of Norridgewock. In 1706 he was ap- 
pointed a judge of the court of common pleas, 
in 1709 was appointed a councilor for the 
province. On June 23, 1710, the Indians, who 
had made many previous attempts, succeeded 
in surprising him while at work on his farm, 
and killed him and two of his men, capturing 
at the same time his brother Dudley. 2. Dud- 
ley, who was carried off by the Indians when 
they killed his elder brother, Winthrop, and 
was never afterward heard of by his friends. 
3. Joseph, born about 1681 (see forward). 4. 
Jane, married Richard Mattoon, of Newmar- 
ket. 5. Ann, married Richard Hilton, son of 
her uncle William. 6. Mary, married Joseph 
Hall, of Exeter, New Hampshire. 7. So- 
briety, married Jonathan Hilton. 

(HI) Joseph, son of Edward (2) Hilton 
and Ann Dudley, was born about 1681. He 
was a sailor, and is called in the records "En- 
sign." He married (first) October 16, 1709, 
Hannah, daughter of Richard Jose, sheriff of 
the province, by whom one child, a daugh- 
ter; married (second) October 10, 1716, Re- 
becca Atkinson (Adams), widow of Israel 
Adams (who had died in 1714 in less than 
two months after her marriage to Adams ) and 
daughter of Theodore Atkinson, a very promi- 
nent citizen of Portsmouth. Children: i. 
Hannah, born August 11, 1710. 2. Israel, 
born October 10, 1717; went to the Carolinas. 
3. Joseph, followed his brother. 4. Theodore, 
of Newmarket; married Mary Sinclair, and 
became father of Colonel Joseijh Hilton, of 
Deerficld ; active officer in the revolutionary 
army; died in 1826. 5. Dudley, married Sarah 
Taylor (see forward). Ensign Joseph died 
1765, aged eighty-four years. 

(IV) Dudley, son of Joseph Hilton and 
Rebecca Atkinson (Adams), resided in New- 
market. Xew Hampshire. He married .Sarah 
Taylor. Children: i. Dudley, lived at Par- 
sonsfield, Maine. 2. Daniel, born at New- 
market, June 16, 1758 (see forward). 3. 
George, of Newmarket, died September 2, 
1821 : married Mary Wiggin ; had one child. 
George Oliver, long a member of the New 
Hampshire house of representatives. 4. Ward. 



of Newmarket. 5. Nathan, of Deerfield. 6. 
Ann, married Major William Norris, of New- 
market. 7. Chace, of Newmarket; died July 
26, 1786. 

(V) Daniel, son of Dudley Hilton and Sar- 
ah Taylor, was born at Newmarket, New 
Hampshire, June 16, 1758, and died in Mere- 
dith \'illage. New Hampshire, shortly after 
March, 1822. He was a merchant and trader, 
holding several government offices by appoint- 
ment. He served in the revolution, and was 
a corporal in Captain Robert Pike's company, 
in 1777. He joined his only son Daniel at 
Meredith Milage, New Hampshire, March 9, 
1822, and died there shortly after. He mar- 
ried, in 1783, Sarah Wiggin, born June 5, 
1761, daughter of Simon Wiggin, the son of 
Lieutenant Simon Wiggin, whose father was 
Captain Simon \\iggin, son of Andrew Wig- 
gin and his wife, Hannah Bradstreet. An- 
drew Wiggin was son of Governor Thomas 
Wiggin, who came to Piscataqua in 1630. 
Hannah Bradstreet was daughter of Governor 
Simon Bradstreet and his wife, the first 
American poetess and celebrated writer, as 
well as social leader, Anne Dudley, daughter 
of Governor Thomas Dudley, and sister of 
Governor Joseph Dudley. The Dudleys trace 
their ancestry back to Henry I., of France, and 
Edward the Elder, of England. Daniel Hil- 
ton's children were all by his first wife, Sarah 
Wiggin, who died July 24, 1799, and he mar- 
ried (second) in 1801, Elizabeth Rowe, who 
died December 8, 1819. Children: i. Sarah, 
born August 11, 1784; died in infancy. 2. 
Charlotte, born November 2, 1785, died aged 
two years. 3. Chace, born May 9, 1788, died 
in infancy. 4. Charlotte, born September 4, 
1789, married Dr. Odell, of Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire. 5. Nancy, born March 20, 1792, 
married Mr. Weeks, of Portsmouth. 6. Dan- 
iel, born April 21, 1794 (see forward). 

(VI) Daniel (2). son of Daniel (1) Hil- 
ton and Sarah Wiggin, was born at Newmar- 
ket, New Hamjjshire, .April 21, 1794, and died 
at Meredith Village, New Hampshire. When 
young he removed from Newmarket to Mere- 
dith \'illage. where he engaged in farming, 
and resided there all his life. He married, 
I'^ebruary 10, 1822, Elizabeth Lamprey Moul- 
ton. born May 12, 1799. died May 12. 1869, 
(laughter of Benning Moulton and Sally 
Leavitt. and granfldaughtcr of General Jona- 
than Moulton, noted Indian fighter, revolu- 
tionary officer, merchant, and crony of Gov- 
ernor Benning Wentworth, after whom he 
named his son. Jonathan Aloulton was a resi- 
dent of Hampton, New Hampshire, and is the 
hero of many traditions ; celebrated in song 
and storv. He left a large estate including 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



3/1 



80,000 acres of land, to a family of no less 
than eighteen children. The general was a 
grandson of Lieutenant John Moulton, called 
"the Giant," born in Newbury, Massachu- 
setts, March 16, 1638, son of John Aloulton, 
who came to New England witli a wife and 
five children from the county of Norfolk. Eng- 
land, early in 1O37, and was the first settler 
of W'innacunnet, now Hampton. Children : 
1. Amanda Moulton, born December 7, 1822; 
married Mr. Garman ; had daughter, died un- 
married. 2. George, born December 27, 1825, 
died in childhood. 3. Charles, born at Mere- 
dith Milage, New Hampshire (see forward). 
4. George Oliver, born February i, 1832, died 
young. 5. Huntington Porter, born Decem- 
ber 4, 1835 (named for uncle, Rev. Hunting- 
ton Porter), died Rochester, New York, 
1886; married, no issue. 6. George Selwyn, 
born February 21, 1840; moved to Paterson, 
New Jersey, where he became a lawyer of re- 
pute; married, no issue. 

(VH) Charles Hilton, son of Daniel (2) 
Hilton and Elizabeth Lamprey Moulton, was 
born in Meredith Village, New Hampshire, 
July 24, 1829. and died at Albany, New York, 
December i, 1884. 

\\'hen a youth he was very prominent in 
the affairs of his native village. He was a 
leader in the debating society and a member 
of the Rifle Corps, distinguished by perma- 
nent organization and regulation uniform and 
equi]iment from the "slam-bangs," as the train 
bands that met for drill once a year were 
called. After three years' study in Brown's 
architectural and engineering office in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, he joined the Boston, Concord 
& i\lontreal Railroad as civil engineer, and 
two years later transferred his energies to the 
Attica & Alleghena Railroad, shortly after- 
wards entering the service of the New York 
Central railroad, with headquarters in Al- 
bany, where in 1858 he established his home. 
In 1865 he became chief engineer of the Cen- 
tral, and was in charge of many large and 
important works, including both bridges over 
the Hudson river and the Broadway viaduct 
in Albany, and the Grand Central Station and 
grain elevators in New York City. He was 
sometime division engineer on the Erie Canal, 
deputy state engineer, and major of engineers 
of the Ninth Brigade, N. G. N. Y., on the staff 
of General Dickerman. In 1878 he organ- 
ized the Hilton Bridge Construction Com- 
pany, located in North Albany. As an engi- 
neer he was eminent and successful, and his 
position and reputation in the profession were 
of the highest, while his expert opinion was 
in great demand in and out of the courts. 
Socially he was much sought after. He was 



prominent in Masonic circles, and reached the 
thirty-second degree, Ancient and Accepted 
Scottish Rite. In 1863 he was master of 
Temple Lodge, No. 14, and from 1865 to 
1867 was high priest of Temple Chapter. He 
was also for several years eminent command- 
er of Temple Commandery. Major Hilton 
was a member of the Old Guard of the Bur- 
gesses Corps. In politics he was an earnest, 
consistent and unwavering Democrat. 

He married, at La Salle, Niagara county, 
New York, February 15, 1856, Mary Etta 
McWhorter, born at Cincinnatus, Cortlandt 
county. New York, September i, 1832, died 
at Albany, September 15, 1907, daughter of 
Zurial McWhorter and Polly Fairchild. The 
McWhorter family line of descent is as fol- 
lows : 

The Mc\Miorters desccr.d from Mortough, 
otherwise Murchertach MacEarcha, son of 
Muiredach, son of Eogan, and grand- 
son of Niall the Great. He was called 
MacEarcha, that is, son of Earcha, from 
the name of his mother, who was the 
daughter of Loarne, the eldest of the six 
brothers who had led the colony to Albania, as 
Scotland was anciently called. Mortough 
succeeded Lugha \TI. as monarch of Ireland, 
in the year 503, and reigned until 533. He 
was no less remarkable for his Christian piety 
than for his valor as a warrior. He afforded 
particular protection to religion, as did his 
wife Sabina, who died with a high reputation 
for sanctity. In the reign of this monarch, 
Oilioll, son of Murtough, reigned in Leinster, 
and Cormac, descended in the eighth degree 
from Oilioll Olum by Eagan-More, in Mun- 
ster. The Daliads of Ulster made their last 
colonization expedition into Albania at the 
close of the fifth century, when some of the 
family of Murchertach settled there, and are 
now to be found a small clan in the Galloway 
district, spelling the name McWhirter. 

In Armagh. Ulster, Ireland, the original 
seat of the Murchertachs. or McWhorters, as 
it is now written, some differences of opinion 
amongst those of the Arminian view of wor- 
ship led to a separation in the congregation, 
and in 1759 about three hundred of the mem- 
bers, mostly from Monoghan and Ballibay, 
formed a new church organization in the lat- 
ter town, where they called the Rev. Thomas 
Clark to be their pastor. Persecution caused 
them to sail in a body. May 10, 1764, to New 
York, where they landed July 28th. and re- 
mained for a short time in order to look about 
for a place of settlement, finally going to Still- 
water, New York, where they waited until 
Dr. Clark had closed negotiations for a large 
tract of land in Charlotte, now Washine;ton 



Z72 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



county, New York, and in 1766 they founded 
a town, calling it New Perth, now known as 
Salem, New York. Here they organized the 
first Presbyterian church. 

One of- these immigrants, an enthusiastic 
supporter of and large contributor to the en- 
terprise, was Elder Matthew ]\IcWhorter, 
whose kinsman, Solomon Barr, was the first 
of the colony to die. Elder Matthew was an 
active citizen. He enlisted in the revolution- 
ary army and received land grants for his 
services. He also represented Charlotte in the 
New York legislature in 1780-81-82, sitting 
in Poughkeepsie, Kingston and Albany. 

Matthew McWhorter"s son John studied 
medicine, became a physician, and started 
practicing in Unadilla, New York, from which 
place he went with a number of others, 
through Oxford, into Cortland county, where 
in 1795 they settled on some military land 
tracts, thus founding the town of Cincinnatus, 
New York. One of the company, Zurial Ray- 
mond, had married the widow Young, in 
Williamstown, and obtained through her land 
grants given her deceased husband for his 
services in the war, and his stepdaughter. Miss 
Young, a very interesting and accomplished 
young lady, as it is related, became wife of 
Dr. John McWhorter. He was the first phy- 
sician in Cortland county, built in 1802 the 
first frame house in Cincinnatus, and his was 
the first marriage there. He was a man of 
more than ordinary ability, an active and 
prominent citizen, and was elevated to respon- 
sible positions at various periods. From 1802 
to 1809 he was a member of the legislature, 
and was several times appointed surrogate. 
He had one son and four daughters, the son 
being named Zurial. 

Zurial McWhorter was born in Cincinnatus, 
New York, January 12. 1803. and died at 
Niagara Falls, February, 1882. He married, 
at Pitcher, New York, August 17, 1824, Polly 
Fairchild. born in that place, September 2^, 
1805. died at La Salle. New York, October 
2. 1881. In 1848 Zurial McWhorter moved 
with his family to La Salle, Niagara county, 
where he settled on a farm; all' his children 
were born in Cincinnatus, New York. Chil- 
dren of Zurial McWhorter and Polly Fair- 
child : Tames Benjamin, born September 2, 
1826: William Henry, August 10, 182S: John 
Raymond, July 26, 1830: Mary Etta, Septem- 
ber I. 1832, married Charles Hilton: Frank- 
lyn. February 7. 1835; Zurial, Jr.. April 27, 
1837: Sarah Amelia, August 9, 1844, mar- 
ried George T. Briggs; Pratt Fairchild, Julv 
2. 1845. 

Children of Charles Hilton and Mary Etta 
McWhorter: i. Charles McWhorter, born at 



Cortland, New York, May 2, 1857; civil en- 
gineer, located in New York City in 1910; 
married, Peekskill, New York, April 2, 1882, 
Mary Ida Cassells, born at Tompkins Cove, 
New York, September 16, 1863, daughter of 
James Cassells and Anna Cushman ; by whom : 
Harriet Kidd, born at Tompkins Cove, New 
York, December 24, 1882. 2. George Porter, 
born at Albany, New York, March 19, 1859 
(see forward). 3. Frank Ferine, born at Al- 
bany, July 12, 1861 ; engaged in brokerage 
business in New York City in 1910; married, 
at Cohoes, New York, February 15, 1885, 
Emma Adelaide Brockway, born at Cohoes, 
daughter of Henry Brockway and Ellen 
Paine ; by whom : Alice Brooks, born at Co- 
hoes, November 20, 1886. 4. Harriet Kidd, 
born at Albany, September 15, 1870; married, 
Albany, November 15, 1899, Henry Alden 
Ten Eyck, born at New York, New York, 
March 23, 1869, son of Leonard Gansevoort 
Ten Eyck and Alice Mary Alden ; by whom : 
George Hilton, born at Albany, New York 
(as were all the other children), September 
10, 1900; Charles Alden, July 11, 1904; Theo- 
dore, October 26, 1905; Robert Earle, June 
19, 1907; Mary Hilton, March 4, 1909, died 
at Albany, February 20, 1910. 

(Vnij George Porter Hilton, son of 
Charles Hilton and Mary Etta McWhorter, 
was born in Albany, New York, March 19, 
1859, and died at his home, No. 240 State 
street, Albany, October 7, 1909. 

He received his education partly in the .Al- 
bany Academy and then at the Albany high 
school, from which he was graduated in 
1877. Thereafter he entered Amherst Col- 
lege, graduating in 1881 and receiving the de- 
gree of B.A. In July of the same year he be- 
gan his business career, taking a position in 
the office of the Hilton Bridge Construction 
Company of Albany, located near the Erie 
canal in North Albany, of which his father 
was the head. He was made vice-president 
and engineer of the concern, and upon the 
death of his father he and the late Elnathan 
.Sweet continued the business until its absorp- 
tion by the American liridge Company in 
1900. During his administration of its affairs 
the Hawk street viaduct and also that of the 
Northern Boulevard were constructed at the 
works for the city, being two of the greatest 
engineering improvements in .Mbany. In 
1902 he became manager of the John G. My- 
ers estate, giving his close attention to the 
large establishment, and it was while he was 
at the head of it that the handsome new build- 
ing was erected on North Pearl street, which 
is widely known as one of the leading dry 
goods stores in the entire state. After the 




WTB<i.:\.^m- 



^^^^^y^ Pf^^4^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



373 



change to a copartnership he was one of the 
tirm. 

He was known as a man much concerned in 
military matters, athletics, business, religion, 
and advancement of civic affairs, in the strict 
sense that- all these drew his close attention 
and absorbed his time, yet he ranked none of 
them ahead of his strong love for an ideal 
home life. His association with the National 
Guard extended over a long period and gave 
him a wide acquaintance with both men and 
officers both at home and in other cities, for 
in 1898 he was made colonel and inspector- 
general of the New York State National 
Guard. The minutes of the Old Guard of 
Company A, Albany Zouave Cadets, record 
the fact that he was "one of its most lovable 
and best loved members,'' and that his inti- 
mates regarded him as being unusually "pub- 
lic-spirited, genial, genuine, honorable in all 
things — a thorough gentleman and a good sol- 
dier." 

Possibly he was known best for his ener- 
getic work as president of the Albany Cham- 
ber of Commerce, in which effort for the im- 
provement of the whole city and for the good 
of all its citizens he took the greatest delight. 
One can find no more fitting expression or 
estimate his personal worth more closely than 
in the words of that body when his activities 
were over : 

"The shadow of a great sorrow is now resting 
heavily upon this Chamber of Commerce in the sud- 
den death of its President, Major George P. Hilton. 
A member of this body since its organization ; for 
three terms its vice-president and twice chosen its 
president, its success and efficiency are in a large 
measure owing to his intelligent interest in all its 
activities and to his splendid executive ability. In 
the full strength of bodily vigor, with mental powers 
unimpaired, bearing the multitudinous details of the 
great civic festival of the Hudson-Fulton Celebra- 
tion, the success of which in so large a measure de- 
pended upon his intelligent direction and untiring 
zeal, the summons came, and the ties of business, 
social life and family relationship are suddenly sev- 
ered, while the city pauses in its rejoicings and sor- 
rowfully pays its silent tribute of respect to one of 
its foremost citizens. Possessing great executive 
ability, he gave to this organization in full measure 
his time and strength, and with infinite patience met 
its every demand with cheerful and efficient service. 
Genial and lovable in his personality, and with a 
cheerful optimism that was unruffled under any 
stress of work, he found time in the midst of exact- 
ing duties of the great business interests in which 
his own fortune and that of his family were largely 
invested, to give to the performance of civic duties a 
strength rarely equalled. To his church he freely 
gave his services as custodian of its finances, and to 
the financial institutions of our city, upon whose 
boards of directors he was an efficient member, he 
gave a measure of personal attention rarely equalled, 
and yet he found time and abundant opportunity to 
devote a large measure of his business talent to this 
organization, in an unselfish love for the city of his 
birth. He was a man of strict integrity, spotless 



reputation, warm-hearted, tender and beneficent, his 
benefactions many and various." 

He was a director of the First National 
Bank of Albany, and was appreciated by his 
confreres, who said of him : 

"Mr. Hilton was a man of stalwart physique, in 
the prime of life at the time of his death, surrounded 
by all that makes life happy, with every prospect of 
continued success, engaged in pub'ic affairs as well 
as large private enterprises, and ui every position 
which he occupied he was fearless, determined, ag- 
gressive, and at the same time sagacious, considerate 
and kind. By birth, education and practice he was 
a gentleman. Free from ostentation and desire for 
public applause, he nevertheless was recognized as 
one of our foremost citizens, occupying positions of 
honor and trust. A man of wide e.xperience. a mind 
enriched by travel and reading, an excellent judge of 
human nature, acquired by years of personal acquain- 
tance with men of all stations in life, a man of 
decision and promptitude, he was unusually equipped 
with that which makes most valuable the managing 
head of an institution." 

Major Hilton was identified with many oth- 
er important institutions, and was trustee and 
treasurer of the Corning Foundation of 
Christian Work in the Episcopal Diocese of 
Albany ; treasurer of the Cathedral of All 
Saints ; trustee of the Albany Medical Col- 
lege ; director of the National Exchange Bank 
and of the Schenectady Trust Company ; vice- 
president of the Albany Trust Company; tenor 
soloist of St. Peter's Church under Organist 
Philip Hale ; and had membership in the Fort 
Orange, Albany University, Racquet, Camera 
and Albany Country clubs, the Albany Insti- 
tute and Historical and Art Society, American 
Association of Engineers, New York Yacht 
Club, the Triton Club of Canada, and New 
York University Club. 

His death took place on the eve of the Hud- 
son-Fulton celebration in Albany, for which 
he had worked indefatigably and of which he 
was the moving spirit. It consequently was 
a shock to the people of Albany, and when his 
funeral occurred on October 10, 1909, it was 
attended by a vast concourse of people in 
every walk in life, all moved by a feeling of a 
deep and sincere loss. 

Bishop Doane read the following tribute to 
George Porter Hilton at a meeting of the 
Chapter of the Cathedral of All Saints, and 
it was adopted by the Chapter : 

"Meeting under the sudden and severe shock of a 
second sorrow ; meeting to elect one and finding our- 
selves called upon to elect a second member of the 
Chapter of the Cathedral of All Saints, those of us 
who survive make record here of our great personal 
grief and of our grave and irreparable loss. We 
have just, in a few and simple words, recorded our 
loving memory of William Bayard Van Rensselaer, 
and now the death of George Porter Hilton reopens 
the old wound. Rich in intelligence and cultivation, 
with tireless energy of resource, with the reserve 
force of a young, active, strong physical frame, Mr, 



374 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Hilton early won his way to leadership and dom- 
inant influence in the affairs of the city. As presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce, he had the 
chance of inaugurating and directing many of the 
public movements along the line of business activity. 
His dauntless courage when the falling in of the 
foundations and the following fire wrecked his big 
business building was simply heroic, and won the 
victory. With all the tireless activity and constant 
absorption in public affairs, he had time and taste for 
other things; for genial companionship, for reading, 
for the joys and delights of his dear home, and for 
the outdoor life. He had a genius for friendship and 
won and held men to him. In all his 
home relations he was devoted to the 
older as well as to the present generation. 
People didn't stop to think of Mr. Hilton's 
integrity, but only of his individual responsibility in 
anything he ever undertook to do. As treasurer of 
both St. Agnes School and of the Cathedral, he was 
an essential part of all our work here, and the sub- 
stratum of all his power was his devout, consistent, 
reverent religious faith. His worship was his delight 
and his joy in the Cathedral services intense. And 
so, ready on every hand, he passed instantly from 
what seemed full-blooded physical life into the life 
that has in it the fullness of all joy. physical and 
spiritual, in the power of a perfect, unhampered 
service." 

Major George Porter Hilton married, in 
Albany, September 14, 1899, Jessie Kenyon 
Myers, daughter of John G. Myers and Mary 
Augusta Young. (See Myers). Issue : John 
Gillespy Myers Hilton, born at Albany. New 
York, May 11, 1901. 



The Myers family of Albany, 
MYERS New York, is one of the old 

Dutch line families of the prov- 
ince of New York, entitling its members to 
admission in the Holland Society of New 
York. The progenitor of the family in Amer- 
ica was Stephanus Myers, or Alyer. who came 
from Holland and settled first in \'ew Amster- 
dam, now New York City. 

(T) Benjainin Myers, a descendant of the 
progenitor, was born October 21, 1728, and 
died December 12, 18 19. He married Leah 
Osterhoudt. the banns of which marriage were 
published .August 13, 1756. She was the 
daughter of Teunis Osterhoudt and Catrina 
Legg. Children: i. Teunis, born 1756, died 
November 22, 1831. 2. Christian, born June 

5, 1759; died unmarried. 3. Stephanus, born 
December 27, 1760, died March, 1841 ; mar- 
ried Helen Low. 4. Petrus, born November 
17. 1762, died March, 1841. 5. Catherine, 
born April 10, 1769; married David Myer. 

6. .Annatje (or Anna), born June 23, 1772; 
married Isaac Vandenherg. 7. Marytje, born 
May TO, 1775 : married Tjerck Schoonmaker, 
Sr. 8. Solomon, born October ], 1786; died 
unmarried. 

(II) Teunis Myers, son of P)cnjamin My- 
ers and Leah Osterhoudt, was born in 1756, 



and died November 22, 1831. He resided at 
Saugerties, New York, where he owned con- 
siderable property, and on which was a stone 
house, typical of the colonial period, and bear- 
ing upon its portal the date of its erection, 
1746. This was not far from Mount Marion, 
in the Catskill mountains, and a beautiful loca- 
tion for a residence. This house was long 
and low, with an unusually steep roof, and 
was still standing in 1910. He married, in 
178 1, Cornelia, daughter of John Legg. who 
resided where in 1910 was the Sheffield place, 
now Henry Barclay's, Saugerties. Cornelia 
Legg Myers was an intimate friend of Gov- 
ernor George Clinton's wife, and when the 
British proceeded up the Hudson working 
devastation, she witnessed the burning of 
Kingston, New York, October 13, 1777. Chil- 
dren: I. Benjamin Teunis, born at Plattskill, 
New York, May 9, 1783, died at Saugerties. 
January 31, 1869; married, Plattskill, Septem- 
ber 2, 1804, Sarah Snyder. 2. Jane, born Sep- 
tember 17, 1793, died November, 1872 ; mar- 
ried Peter G. Post, born January 19, 1792. 
3. Solomon, born July 14, 1798; married Eliz- 
abeth Goodwin. 

(HI) Benjamin Teunis Myers, son of 
Teunis Myers and Cornelia Legg, was born at 
Plattskill,' Ulster county. New York, May 9, 
1783, and died at Saugerties, New York, Jan- 
uary 31, 1869. He was originally a farmer 
on a somewhat large scale, supplying the 
neighborhood and river towns with the pro- 
duce from his estate ; but in the later years 
of his life he was able to retire from business 
cares and all activities in Saugerties, where 
he lived the greater part of his life. He mar- 
ried at Plattskill, New York, September 2, 
1804, Sarah, only daughter of Johannes Sny- 
der and Leah Alyer, and granddaughter of 
Colonel Johannes Snyder, of Ulster county, 
who was colonel of the First Regiment of Ul- 
ster, May I, 1776: also delegate to the pro- 
vincial congress, membei* of council of safety. 
member of assembly, president five terms of 
board of trustees of Kingston corporation. 
Sarah Snyder inherited a number of slaves as 
a portion of her dowry, one of whom. Flora, 
who taught Mrs. S. M. Taylor to knit, and 
another was known as "Old Rub." Child: 
John I'enjamin, born at Brabant, New York, 
February 27, 1806, died at Mentr, New York, 
February 27, 1861 : married, at Saugerties, 
New York, August 12, 1828, Arriet Gillespy 
(see forward). 

(I\') John B. Myers, son of Benjamin 
Teunis Myers and Sarah Snyder, was born at 
Brabant, near Kingston, New York, February 
27, 1806. and died in the town of Mentz, near 
Port Byron, New York, February 27. 1861. 



HUDSON AND ]\IOHA\VK \'ALLEYS 



375 



I lis hirth took place on a farm rented of a 
Mr. Cockburn, by his father, who soon pur- 
chased a farm, where the other children were 
born. He resided at Mentz most of his life, 
where he had an extensive farm of his own ; 
on his death, he was buried in Fort Hill ceme- 
tery, at Auburn, New York. He married, at 
Saugferties. New York, August 12, 1828, Ar- 
riet. daughter of Captain John Gillespy. He 
iiad a record as a fighter in the American 
cause, and was the son of Major John Gilles- 
py, who engaged in the Frencl: and Indian 
wars, and afterwards was a participant in the 
revolution as a member of the Fourth Ulster 
countv militia. Captain John Gillespy fought 
at the head of his company in the war of 1812 
against the British. For a time he was sta- 
tioned on Staten Island. Children: i. Ben- 
jamin Gillespy, born at Saugerties. New York, 
August 20, 1829, died at No. 372 Clinton 
avenue, Albany, March 5, 1901 ; married, Port 
Byron. New York, November 23, 1858, Mi- 
nerva Kerns, by whom : Howard Gillespy, 
born at Port Byron ; Leila Whitney, born at 
New^ York, New York. : Lotta Wright, born 
at New York, New York. 2. John Gillespy. 
August 4, 1832, died, Albany, December i, 
1901 : married, Cayuga, New York, August 
19- 1857, Mary Augusta Young (see for- 
ward). 3. Sarah, September 21, 1833: resid- 
ing in Albany in 1910: married. Port Byron, 
New York. May 28, 1863, Captain David Aus- 
tin Taylor : by whom : John Myers, born near 
Port Byron : Lawrence Hartshorne. born at 
Camden, New York ; Grace Brown, born at 
Oneida. New York; Ernest Chandler, born at 
Guineys, \'irginia ; Marion Lee, born at Al- 
bany. New York; Bessie Myers, born at Al- 
bany. 4. Jason Gillespy. January 25, 1840 : 
unmarried. 5. Lavinia, died at Albany, Oc- 
tober 29. 1885 : buried at Auburn, New York. 
6. Elizabeth, born near Port Byron, New 
York, died young. 7. Selina. married. Auburn, 
New York, July 10, 1878, S. Henry Atwater, 
by whom: Winifred Moore, born at Wind- 
ham. New York : Donald Brown, born at 
Windham. New York: Reginald Myers, born 
at Canon City, Colorado. 

(V) John Gillespy Alyers, son of John 
Benjamin Myers and Arriet Gillespy, was 
born in Saugerties, New York, August 4. 1832, 
and died in Albany, New York, December i, 
190 1. Until eight years old, he lived with 
his parents upon their farm in their typical 
Dutch farmhouse in the shadow of Mount 
Marion, of the Catskill mountain range. 
About that time his father picked out better 
land than the rocky soil of Ulster countv, 
purchasing a tract near Montezuma, Cayuga 
countv, and here his son aided him in agricul- 



tural pursuits. When fourteen years of age 
lie returned to Saugerties and began his busi- 
ness career as a store boy and general clerk 
for his uncle. P. ^l. Gillespy. He had been 
accustomed as a youth to dispose of the fruits 
grown upon the farm, and he accjuired a 
strong tendency for trade, made keen by his 
competition with other lads of the neighbor- 
hood. The connection with the store in a 
minor capacity simply interested and aroused 
him to make more rapid progress in something 
better : but until he became of age he remained 
in the employ of his uncle, excepting at such 
times as he was engaged in study in the little 
red school house. He was fond of reading 
and very quick to observe, so he acquired 
much knowledge even when not in school, and 
what he learned in this fashion he was suffi- 
ciently clever to turn to good account later 
in his life. Even in those days, he had a keen 
insight into character, a faculty for quick de- 
cision and rapid action. Those characteristics 
governed him all through his life. 

When twenty-one years old. he became as- 
sociated with two men in the conduct of a 
general country store at Port Byron, Cayuga 
county. New York, but this firm did not last 
long, and finally he was left in sole possession 
to dispose of the stock for the benefit of the 
creditors. He succeeded in carrying this out 
by means of a trip through the west, and the 
result was that by his ability every one was 
paid in full. After this he obtained a position 
in the large wholesale house of Clapp & Kent, 
clothing and dry goods merchants. New York 
City, and was rapidly promoted. .\t the be- 
gining of the rebellion he started in business 
for himself in New York, securing for a loca- 
tion the corner of Bleecker and Christopher 
streets, and here made some money. In 1865 
he formed a partnership with Mr. \\'illiam M. 
Whitney, in .Albany, they succeeding the firm 
of L'bsdell, Pierson & Lenox, in the dry goods 
business, and the store on North Pearl street 
was known as "The New York Store." It 
was by all means the largest of any in Albany, 
and won a pronounced success. This partner- 
ship continued five years, when it was dis- 
solved, each partner continuing the drv goods 
business by himself. Mr. Myers opening an- 
other large store at Nos. 39-41 North Pearl 
street. An incident in its history was a catas- 
trophe on the morning of August 8, 1905, 
when during the course of repairs and altera- 
tions the floors sank, and as a result the hand- 
some new building was erected immediately 
upon the same site, which is a leading adorn- 
ment of the business section of the Capital 
City. But of far more importance than a 
beautiful building in showing the character of 



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37i 



HUDSON AND IMOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



ton. Children: i. Etta, unmarried; resides in 
West Fulton. New York. 2. Michael (2), suc- 
ceeded his father in the business which he 
still continues ; is a practical blacksmith and 
carriage builder ; he is an active Democrat, 
has served as town clerk several terms, and 
is one of the leading citizens of his town ; he 
is a member of the I. O. O. F. ; is unmarried. 
3. John, died 1903; was a farmer; member of 
the Baptist church, and a Republican. He 
married Lottie Zeh, who survives him ( 1910) ; 
children: Ada, graduate of Oneonta Normal 
School ; now a teacher in the public schools 
of Yonkers, New York; Nina, resides with 
her mother; Erwin Z., now with firm of John 
G. Alyers Company, Albany. 4. James, has 
been for many years with Hodge Brothers, 
merchants, of Cobleskill, New York ; married 
Edith Olendorph ; child : Ethel. He is a 
member of the Lutheran church, and a Demo- 
crat. 5. Matthew, died at age of six years. 
6. Thomas Edward, see forward. 7. Mary, 
married Norman L. Spencer, of Richmond- 
ville. New York ; children : Floyd, married 
Emma Sutphen ; Harry, Lena, L'na. The 
members of this family attend the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. 

(H) Thomas Edward, son of Michael and 
Ann (Welch) Finegan, was born at West 
Fulton, Schoharie county. New York, Sep- 
tember 28, 1866. He was educated in the 
common and hi,gh schools of West Fulton 
and Cooperstown. New York, and was grad- 
uated from the State Normal College at .-M- 
bany, class of 1889. and received the degree 
of A. M. from Hamilton College, in 1894, 
and the degree of Pd. D. from the New York 
State Nornnal College in 1909. He chose the 
profession of law. and read law with E. A. 
Dox. of Richmondville, com])leting the re- 
quired studies and years of service with 
Charles J. Buchanan, of Albany. He was ad- 
mitted to the New York bar June, 1894. Pri- 
or to his college graduation lie taught in the 
public schools. He was principal of the pul>- 
lic school of West Fulton, New York. 1889- 
90; elected school commissioner for the sec- 
ond district of Schoharie county and served 
from January i, 1891, to December i, 1892, 
when he resigned and accepted an appoint- 
ment from James F. Crf)oker, state sujierin- 
tendent, as sujiervisor of examinations in the 
State Dej^artment of Public Instruction. He 
served twelve years, during which period the 
present system of examination and certifica- 
tion of teachers in New York state was devel- 
oped. In December, 1904, he was appointed 
by .State Commissioner .Andrew S. Draper to 
the position of chief of the law division, .State 
Education Department. He served in this po- 



sition until October i, 1908, when he was ap- 
pointed by Commissioner Draper to be assist- 
ant commissioner of education, and placed in 
charge of elementary education, which in- 
cludes the elementary and normal schools of 
the state, training schools and training classes, 
teachers' institutes, and the certification of 
teachers. He is a member of the board of 
question revision. Besides the vast amount of 
labor Mr. Finegan has performed in behalf of 
the educational system of the state, he is the 
author of te.xt books principally on legal edu- 
cational subjects. His principal works are 
"New York School Law," "Education Code," 
and "Judicial Decisions of State Superinten- 
dents and Commissioners of Education," the 
latter treating of all the important decisions 
since 1820, when the department of educa- 
tion was given judicial powers. He stands 
very high in educational circles, and is a 
member of state and national associations de- 
voted to education. He is a trustee of the 
New York State Normal College, trustee of 
the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, 
trustee of the .Albany Exchange Savings 
Bank, trustee of the .Albany Chamber of 
Commerce, trustee of New York State His- 
torical Association, charter member of the 
Aurania Club, and president for the first three 
years of its existence. He is also a member 
of the L^niversity Club, and of the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is 
a Democrat. He married. December 10, 1894, 
Grace E. Browne, of Schenectady, New 
York, and has a son, Edmund Randolph, born 
October 22, 1898. 

Grace E. (Browne) Finegan is a descen- 
dant of W'olston Brockway, the first of the 
name in .America as far as known. 

(I) U'olston Brockway, the progenitor of 
the New England family bearing his name, was 
probably born in some part of England, not 
far from i'')38. In a deposition made by him 
July 10, 17 14, and recorded in Lyme, his age 
is stated at seventy years or thereabouts, and 
he stated that he had dwelt in Lyme for fifty 
years past, but there are indications that both 
his age and the length of his residence in 
Lyme were placed too low. He bought land 
with a house and barn thereon of John Rey- 
nolds, of Saybrook, Connecticut, Decem- 
ber 3, 1659, the land being described as "one 
ye east sid of ye river ouer against he towne 
of Saybrooke" and the consideration was 
twenty pounds sterling. The natural inference 
is that he was of full age when he made this 
purchase, and that he settled at once in his 
new home, which would fix the date of his 
birth about i()38 and make his residence in 
Lyme cover nearly fifty years in July, 1714. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



379 



river, at some distance south of the present 
His first home in Lyme was probably on Duck 
village of Lyme, and near Lon<T Island Sound. 
He was frequently elected to some office in the 
town, the most important of which was sur- 
veyor. He owned land at Fantum JMoran- 
tum, near what is now Brockway's ferry, as 
early as February i, 1703, at which date he 
bous^ht forty acres of land of Rev. Moses 
Noyt's, which was already in Brockway's pos- 
sessi(in, hut it is not known that he lived 
there. 

He married (first) Hannah Briggs, widow 
of John Harris, of i5oston. She was born at 
Boston, August 28, 1642, daughter of Wil- 
liam and RIary Briggs. She died at Lyme, 
February 6. 1687-88. William Rriggs lived 
most of his life in Boston ; but he piu-chased 
land in Lyme, October 27, 1680, of his son- 
in-law, Wolston Brockway, and sold the same 
to his son, John Briggs, February 15, 1680-1, 
"with the frame of a house thereon, stand 
which I purchased of John Lareby." He re- 
turned to Boston about 1685. He married a 
second wife whose name was Hannah, but her 
maiden name has not been found. He gave 
his land to his children during his life. Per- 
haps the latest deed was to his daughter, Han- 
nah Wade, dated May 16, 17 17, giving her 
certain personal property to take efTect on the 
death of himself and wife. He died not long 
before November 11, 1717, at which date his 
son Richard Brockway was granted adminis- 
tration on his estate. He was probably buried 
in the Duck River cemetery, in the village of 
old Lyme. Children ; born in Lyme, Connec- 
ticut : I. Hannah, born, September 14, 1664, 
married there, August 23, 1682, Thomas 
Champion, born at Saybrook, Connecticut, 
.April, 1650, son of Henry and Deborah Cham- 
pion ; he died at Lyme, in 1705. She married 
(second) John Wade, and as "my daughter 
Hannah ^^'ade, of Lynije," received a deed 
from her father May 16, 1717, conveying to 
her certain personal property on the death of 
himself and wife. 2. \^'illiam, born, July 25, 
1666: married there, March 8, 1692-3, Eliza- 
beth Gregory Wilterton, of Hartford, Connec- 
ticut, by his will of 1674, gave him a legacy 
of ten pounds in consideration of which his 
father deeded land to him in 1709. He set- 
tled at Brockway's Ferry, in that part of Lyme 
to which Joshua, son of Uncas, gave the name 
of Joshuatown, and died there March 29, 
1755, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, as 
testified by his gravestone, still legible in the 
family cemetery at that place. His wife, it is 
said, was buried by his side, but no stone is 
there to tell the date. His father deeded land 
to him at Tantum Morantum, (Joshuatown) 



June 8. 1697. On this land he probably set- 
tled. At the May session, 1724, the general 
court granted to him, in connection with Wil- 
liam Pratt, who lived on the west side of Con- 
necticut river, the right to keep a ferry, still 
known as ISrockway's l-'crry. 3. Wolston, of 
whom further. 4. Mary, born January 16, 
1669-70; married Sam.uel Mott, ' of Lyme, 
April 6, 1692, and they had a gift of land 
from her father, March 27. 1697; her name 
on town record is written Marah, that being 
the form which town clerk, Joseph Peck, was 
in the habit of using for Mary. 5. Bridget, 
born January 2, 1671-2; married 1714, Jona- 
than Beebe. She died in East Haddam, Con- 
necticut, .-\pril 6, 1758, aged eighty-six years, 
according to her gravestone. 6. Richard, born 
September 30, 1673: married, (first) Octo- 
ber 25. 1697, Rachel . She died at 

Lyme, .April 9, 17 18. He married (second) 
Rlay 5, 1720, Elizabeth Tiflfany. He joined 
the First church in Lyme, October, 1739. 7. 
Elizabeth, born May 24, 1676; married, about 
1701, William Harris, of Lyme, and her father 
gave land to them January 23, 1705-6. He 
probably died as early as 17 10, and she mar- 
ried (second) March, 1711-12, Roger Alger, 
Sr. "Elizabeth, widow of Roger Alger, late 
of Lyme, deceased, formerly the wife of Wil- 
liam Harris, dyed in July in ye yeare 1729." 
8. Sarah, born September 23, 1679: married, 
January 20, 1703, Nathaniel Beckwith ; they 
were living at East Haddam, November 23, 
1704, when her father gave land to his "well 
beloved son-in-law, Nathaniel Beckwith, of 
Haddam, of the east side of the river." 9. 
John : his father, in deeding his homestead to 
Richard Brockway, March 13, 1708, provided 
that Richard should pay fifteen pounds ster- 
ling to John Brockway on the death of his 
father. He was probably the son of the first, 
liut possibly of the second wife. 

(H) Wolston (2). son of Wolston (i) and 
Hannah (Briggs) Brockway, was born at 
Lyme, Connecticut, February 7, 1667-8; mar- 
ried, Decemil>er 4, 1688, Margaret . He 

died at Lyme early in 1707. Letters of ad- 
ministration on his estate were granted to his 
widow, June 4, 1707. and the estate was dis- 
tributed March 17, 1713-14. She married 
(second) at Lyme, February 7. 1710-11, 
Thomas Ennis, and died there January 17, 
1738-39, aged seventy-three years. By her 
second marriage she had one son, Thomas 
Ennis. born at Lyme, May 28, 17 12. 

(HI) Samuel, eldest son of Wolston (2) 
and Margaret Brockway, was born at Lyme, 
February 11, 1691-2. He settled in Branford, 
Connecticut, before January 21. 1734-5. when 
he joined his brothers Edward and Ephraim 



38o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



and his sisters Deborah Champion and Mar- 
garet Smith in selling a part of their heri- 
tage in Lyme to Samuel Seoden. The land 
lay at Fishing Cove. 

(IV) Wolston (3), son of Samuel Brock- 
way, was born in Branford, Connecticut. He 
married, in 1744, Dorcas Weeden. or Whe- 
den, of Branford. and settled in Sharon, Con- 
necticut, about 1750. Their homestead is still 
occupied by their descendants. It lies in the 
south part of the town, bordering on Kent, 
about one mile from the west line of Connecti- 
cut. A Congregational church was formed at 
what is now called Amenia Union in the fall 
of 1759, and in this church he and his children 
were publicly baptized on November 16, 1760. 

(V) Joseph, son of Wolston (3) and Dor- 
cas (Weeden) Brockway, was born at Sharon, 
Connecticut, about 1755, baptized there in the 
Kniljloe church, December 28, 1760; married, 
January 19, 1775, Jane Doty, born November 
27, 1756. 

(VI) Artemas, son of Joseph and Jane 
(Doty) Brockway, was born at Sharon, Con- 
necticut, December 16, 1789. He married, 
November 2, 1809, Desire Dillay, born May 
7, 1787, died April 18, 1841. He died July 
26, 1857. 

(VII) Emma, daughter of Artemas and 
Desire (Dillay) Brockway, was born March 
20, 1823 ; married Henry L. Browne. 

(VIII) William Henry, son of Henry L. 
and Emma (Brockway) Browne, was born 
May 25, 1843; married, June, 1867, Acelia 
Bertrand Cramer. He enlisted in the civil 
war in October, 1863, in the 8th New York 
Light Artillery, October 9, 1864, detailed by 
order of Brigadier-General I. Bodges as hos- 
pital steward. Battery B, 2d United States 
Light Artillery ; assigned to duty as hospital 
steward of artillery brigade, 25th Army Corps, 
by order of Captain L. L. Langdon, command- 
ing brigade artillery ; was in active service 
continuously from time of enlistment ; from 
May. 1864. was in active hosjMtal field service 
in General (irant's Peninsula campaign to the 
surrender, April 9, 1865 ; ordered on detached 
service as hospital steward on expedition to 
Mexico, June, 1865. August 4, 1865, ordered 
to report for muster out at New York City; 
mustered out August 14, 1865. 

(IX) Grace Emma, daughter of William 
Henry and .-Vcelia Bertrand (Cramer) Browne, 
born at Troy, New York, October 29, 1870; 
married Thomas Edward Finegan. 



The name Potts is to be found 

POTTS in isolated instances in different 

parts of Great Britain at a very 

early period, but it was not until the reign of 



Queen Elizabeth that it became of special so- 
cial importance and well seated in any par- 
ticular locality. An important branch of the 
family settled in Wales, another in southern 
Scotland, and they are found in nearly every 
county in the north and east of Ireland, all of 
whom are believed to be of English descent. 

The branch herein recorded, of whom Jesse 
Walker Potts, of Albany, is a representative, 
descends from the Welsh family, although all 
had a common origin no doubt. At the mid- 
dle of the seventeenth century a family of 
Pott or Potts was settled in Montgomerv- 
shire. Wales, and believed to have been of 
the Cheshire family. The principal seat of 
the family was in the parish of Llangirrig, 
where Thomas Potts was an old man in 1654. 
He had many descendants. Some or all of the 
family became members of the Society of 
I'Viends and suffered much persecution for 
their peculiar belief. From the year 1683 to 
1700 and later, several persons appear about 
Germantown, in Philadelphia county, Penn- 
sylvania, bearing the name of Potts, who were 
closely associated and evidently related. 

(I) Among these was David Potts, born in 
Montgomeryshire, Wales, died in Philadelphia 
county, Pennsylvania, Monday, November 16, 
1730. The date of his coming to Pennsyl- 
vania is not recorded, but the first mention of 
him is in 1692 \yhen he became a bondsman. 
In 1695 he purchased one hundred and fifty 
acres of land in Bristol township, Philadel- 
phia county, in the vicinity of Germantown, 
where he seems to have settled and spent the 
remainder of his life. In 1716 he had a grant 
of one hundred acres in the manor of Spring- 
field, but it does not appear that he lived there. 
He was a member of the Society of Friends, 
belonging to the Germantown Preparative 
Aleeting, under the care of Abington J\Ionthly 
Meeting. His name frequently appears on the 
minutes, and he was often appointed to attend 
quarterly meeting. When a Friends' meeting 
was established at Germantown he was trans- 
ferred to it, and in 17 12 was appointed one of 
the two overseers of the newer congregation. 
He was a man of good standing in the com- 
munity, and the confidence reposed in him by 
his neighbors is evidenced by their choice of 
him to represent Philadelphia county in the 
provincial assembly for the years 1728-29-30. 
He married, in Friends" Meeting, Alice Croas- 
dale, youngest daughter of Thomas and Ag- 
nes (Hathernthwaite) Croasdale, of York- 
shire, England, and Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania, who came to America in the ship "Wel- 
come" with William Penn. Alice Croasdale 
was born in England, 8 mo. 3, 1673 • their in- 
tentions of marriage were declared before the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



381 



Philadelphia Meetinof, 10 mo. 29, 1693, passed 
the meeting the following month, and a cer- 
tificate granted to marry under the care of 
Mifldletown .Monthly Meeting in Bucks coun- 
ty, where the ceremony was performed "in 
an orderly manner." March 22, 1694. David 
and Alice Potts had ten children. 

(H) Daniel, third son of David and Alice 
(Croasdale) Potts, was horn in Bristol town- 
ship, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, 2 
mo. 10. 1698. \'cry little seems to be known 
of him. as he died when quite a young man, 
prior to 1729. In 1722 he was 'a signer to a 
marriage certificate, and in 1725 his name ap- 
pears as a contributor to the fund for building 
a stone wall around Ujjper ( iermantown Burv- 
ing Ground. He married Sarah, eldest daugh- 
ter of Peter J. and Margaret (Opden Graeff) 
Shoemaker. They passed the Abington 
Monthly Meeting the second time, 10 mo. 25, 
1695, and were doubtless married very soon 
after. Peter J. Shoemaker came from Kris- 
heini. in the German Palatinate, to Penn- 
sxlvania, in 1685, settled in Germantown, 
bringing with him his son Peter, and three 
daughters. Sarah Potts survived her hus- 
band and married James Dilworth. She was 
living in 1765. 

(HI) Samuel, eldest of the three children 
of Daniel and Sarah (Shoemaker) Potts, was 
born in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, 
August 12, 1723. He was a blacksmith by 
trade and a resident of Germantown until 
1755. when he removed to a "plantation upon 
Scliolkill. on the west side of the Great Road 
■called W'issahickon Road in the Northern 
Liberties" (now Philadelphia), which he 
leased from Thomas Hood for a term of five 
years. He built a smith shop on the premises 
and carried on smithing in connection with 
keeping a public house. He was subsequently 
proprietor of the "Rising Sun" and "Wheat 
Sheatt," noted hostelries above Philadelphia 
during colonial and revolutionary times. He 
was a member of Society of Friends, German- 
town Meeting, but in 1757 a complaint was 
made against him for being concerned in mili- 
tary service and neglecting attendance at 
Friends' meetings. He was eventually dis- 
owned. He married (first) in 1751, Mrs. 
Ami Ashmead, widow of John Ashmead and 
daughter of James and Rachel (Peart) Rush. 
She was born October 23, 1716, died .August 
16, lybo. He married (second) October 20, 
1772, Sarah Fritz. Samuel Potts died Octo- 
ber 13. 1784. at the Falls of Schuylkill. Sar- 
ah, his widow, survived him until October 23, 
1808. dying at Frankford, Pennsylvania. 

(IV) Jesse, eldest of the three children of 
:Saniuel and Sarah ( Fritz) Potts, was born in 



1774, in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, 
died in Albany, New York, December 21, 
181 1. He removed from Pennsylvania to Al- 
bany in 1790. He was a tailor by trade, and 
carried on business until his death. He was a 
I'riend, or Quaker, a member of the Masonic 
order, and stood high in his community. He 
married, in 1796, Elizabeth Duns, born in 
Cdasgow, Scotland, died in Albany in 1852. 
.Mthough she was left a widow with six small 
children and limited means, through thrift ,-ind 
energy she supported them and brought them 
up in respectability. 

( \' ) Jesse Charles, youngest of the six chil- 
dren of Jesse and Elizabeth (Duns) Potts, 
was born in Albany, New York, September 
30, 1811, died there February 2, 1891. He 
was educated in Albany, attending the old 
Lancaster school on the corner of .Chapel and 
Columbia streets, and later on the site of the 
present .Albany Medical College. At the age 
of thirteen he became self-supporting, work- 
ing at various occupations until he reached the 
age of seventeen, when he began an appren- 
ticeship at the molder's trade with Corning & 
Norton, owners of the Eagle Foundry. In 
1830 this firm sold their business to Many & 
\\'ard. and he finished his apprenticeship with 
Francis Low at the Clinton Foundry in 1832. 
He worked as a journeyman molder in Al- 
bany until 1835, when he formed a partner- 
ship with Benjamin Thomas for the manufac- 
ture of stove castings, under the firm name of 
Thomas & Potts, afterwards Thomas, Potts & 
Wells, their foundry being located on the site 
of the First Baptist Church. After continu- 
ing in the business a short time he disposed of 
his interest to his partners and took a posi- 
tion as foreman of the De Grafif Foundry. In 
1837 he formed a partnership with Levi S. 
Hoffman, and as Hoffman & Potts began the 
manufacture of stove castings in May of that 
year. This firm continued in successful oper- 
ation imtil 1846, when he bought Mr. Hoff- 
man's interest and for the succeeding four 
years conducted the business alone, when he 
.sold it to Shear & Packard. In 1852. with 
Jacob H. Shear and Joseph Packard, he 
formed the firm of Shear, Packard & (Com- 
pany, and built the foundry on Grand street, 
at the head of Arch, and continued the manu- 
facture of stoves. The fimi did an extensive 
business and contributed largely to the fame 
-Vlbany then enjoyed as the great stove manu- 
facturing center of the world. In February, 
1857, at the expiration of their partnership 
agreement, Mr. Potts sold his interest to his 
partners and retired from active business life. 

In 1850 and 1851 he became interested in 
Albanv real estate, and from that time until 



382 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



i860 was engaged in the improvement of 
parcels of land he had acquired in different 
parts of the city. In 1851 he made a tour of 
Europe in company with his friend George 
Dawson, of the Albany Evening Journal. His 
activities were not confined to his private 
business, but included all departments of city 
life. He was one of the organizers of the 
Commerce Insurance Company in 1859, and a 
director from that time : he was also a director 
of the First National Bank. He served his 
time in the volunteer fire, department and was 
foreman of truck No. i, enlisting in that com- 
pany August I, 1835. In 1852 he represented 
the old third ward in the board of supervisors, 
being elected as a Whig. He continued a 
Whig until 1856, when he transferred his al- 
legiance to the Republican party. He took a 
deep interest in American coins and medals, 
and liad a fine collection. He belonged to 
Fireman's Lodge, Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, being one of the charter members at 
the institution of that lodge, March 10, 1837. 
For half a century or more he had been a 
member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, and 
was for many years a vestryman, and in i860 
was one of the committee that had charge of 
the erection of the present sightly building. 
His career demonstrates what pluck, energy, 
brains, and clean living can accomplish. Start- 
ing in life a poor boy, he became one oi Al- 
bany's influential, prosperous, and most hon- 
ored citizens. 

He married, December 22, 1835, Eunice U. 
Walker, born in 1812, died June 23, 1890, 
daughter of Ashbel \\'alker. Children : Sarah 
Bcnham ; Jesse Walker, of further mention. 

(\"I) Jesse Walker, .son of Jesse Charles 
and Eunice L;. (Walker) Potts, was born in 
Albany, November 4, 1843. After prei)aring 
at private schools and the Albany Boys' Acad- 
emy, he entered Harvard University and was 
graduated in the class of 1865 with the degree 
of .\.V,.. later receiving that of .\.M. He is a 
member of the Phi lieta Kajjpa Society. .A 
man of cultivated tastes and tendencies, his 
life has been spent in the management of his 
private estate and in the service of institu- 
tions, philanthroijic, charitable, religious and 
educational. He is a governor of Albany Hos- 
pital : a trustee of Albany Medical College; a 
trustee and vice-president of the Home for 
Aged Men: a director of the Albany Institute 
and Historical and Art Society ; a life-fellow 
of the American Geographical Society ; a 
member of the American ]\Iuseum of Natural 
History; a life member of the American Nu- 
mismatic Society, and a member of the Amer- 
ican Numismatic Association. Mr. Potts is 
greatly interested in .American coins and med- 



als, of which he has a valuable collection. He 
is a member of the Circle of Friends of the 
Medallion. In 1895 he and his sister. Miss 
Sarah B. Potts, gave to St. Peter's Church 
the rectory as a memorial to their father and 
mother. He is devoted to the interests of St. 
Peter's Episcopal Church, of which he is a 
vestryman. His clubs are the Fort Orange 
and L'niversity of Albany, and the Harvard 
of New York City. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican. He resides at No. 342 State street, .-\1- 
ban\'. 



( \'I ) John G. \'ander 
\'ANDER\'EER \eer, son of Garret 
(q. V.)* and Rachel 
(Couwenhoven) \'ander \'eer, was born in 
Florida. Montgomery county, New York, 
May 10. 1798, died July 7, 1813. Shortly 
after the close of the revolution an exodus of 
farmers began from New Jersey to New York 
state. Among the many who settled in Mont- 
gomery county were the parents of John G. 
\'ander ^'eer. He became a successful farm- 
er of the town of Glen, in his native county. 
He secured a large tract of unbroken land 
which he improved and cultivated. A part 
of this farm is now owned by his grandson,, 
Ira \'anderveer, and is known as "Willow- 
dale" stock farm. John G. died on his farm 
at the age of seventy-two years. He mar- 
ried, in Glen, Ann \'oorhees, born in Florida. 
Montgomery county, in 1790, died in Glen 
about 1852. John G. and Ann Vander \eer 
were prominent in the church and social life 
of Glen, where their upright, conscientious 
lives gained for them the highest regard. 
Children: i. Tunis, born December 8, 1822, 
see forward. 2. James, died at Benton Har- 
bor. Michigan, where he settled shortly after 
his marriage to Nancy , whom he mar- 
ried in Michigan: children: i. John, a farmer 
of Watervliet. Michigan : ii. William Al., of 
Pienton Harbor, Michigan ; iii. Elizabeth, mar- 
ried John Downing, whom she survives ; iv. 
Ernest, of Benton Harbor, Michigan. 3. 
John traveled to California with Jacob End- 
ers who died there; John returned to Mis- 
souri, where he died : the party traveled across 
the Isthmus of Panama, following the Nic- 
aragua route: he left a wife but no chil- 
dren. 4. William B.. died in Glen, his native 
town : he married Elizabeth Putman, of the 
ejrly Montgomery family of that name; chil- 
dren: i. John, of the state of California: ii. 
Mary, born June i, 1848, died April i. 1909; 
married J. S. Glen Edwards, of Glen \'il- 
lage. and left Florence, married Guy Moore, 

*Varioiis family lines used varfoiis forms of the- 
family name. 



HUDSON AND AFOHAWK \ALLEYS 



383 



of Glen ; Deborah, married Charles J. Nietsch. 
5. Newton, late in life removed to Benton 
Harbor, Michigan, and engaged in mercantile 
business; was a director in the First National 
I!ank of Ilenton Harbor, which he helped to 
organize and establish, and where he died : he 
married, in Glen, Jane Edwards, born July 9, 
1833; they had three daughters: Fannie, 
(jrace, Jennie. 6. Ruth, married David End- 
ers, of Glen, whom she survives, a resident of 
Benton Harbor. ]\Iichigan : children : i. Wil- 
liam, of Boise City, Idaho; ii. Arthur, D.D.S., 
of I'.enton Harbor; iii. .Sheldon, of Cali- 
fornia. 

(\'II) General Tunis \"anderveer. eldest 
son of John G. and Ann (\'oorhees) \'ander 
\'eer. was born December 8, 1822. in Glen, 
Montgomery county, New York, where he 
lived his entire life, dying September 30, 
1898. He occupied the Enders homestead 
farm near Glen \'illage and was a successful 
farmer, a man of high principle, strict in- 
tegrity, public spirit, unstinted liberality, and 
universally loved and respected. He was a 
member and a leader of the Reformed church 
and contributed greatly to its temporal and 
spiritual prosperity. He married, in Glen, 
Nellie Enders, born October 9, 1821, died on 
the Enders homestead, February i, 1899, 
daughter of Peter and Eleanor (Newkirk) 
Enders. Peter Enders was born in Glen, Oc- 
tober 7, 1786, died May 29, i86g ; married 
Eleanor Newkirk, born Alarch 19, 1788, died 
September 23, 1854. Their children ; I.Cath- 
erine, born July 17. 1807, died January 11, 
1891 ; married William Enders. her cousin. 

2. Garrett, born June 11, 1809, died in Am- 
sterdam, New York, having passed his nine- 
tieth year : married Phillips. 3. Jacob, 

died on his way to California in 1849; un- 
married. 4. Samuel, born May 12, 1813, 
lived and died in Glen ; married Hester Per- 
rine, who died very old in Oneonta, New York. 

3. Rachel, married (first) Preacher \'an 
Buren : married (second) Peter \'an Ant- 
werp ; left a son John H. \'an Antwerp, post- 
master of Fultonville, New York, who mar- 
ried Una Hubbs, of Florida ; has a daughter 
Ethel \"an Antwerp, who married Heath 
White, and resides in Philadelphia. 6. Chris- 
tina, born July 24, 1819, died in Glen; mar- 
ried Eckerson, a millwright, who died 

in Brazil. South America. 7. Nellie, mar- 
ried General Tunis \'anderveer. 8. Eliza- 
beth, died young. 9. John E., died young. 
10. Cornelius, died young. Children of 
Tunis and Nellie (Enders) \'anderveer : i. 
Henriette, born December 22, 1846, died 
March 29, 1848. 2. Ira. see forward. 3. Vir- 
ginia, born September 4. 1855, resides in 



Glen, unmarried. 4. John E., born October 
22, 1859 ; married Elizabeth \'an Home, of 
.\msterdam, no issue ; he is a merchant of 
Amsterdam and interested with his brother 
Ira in "Willowdalc" stock farm. 

(VIII) General Ira Vandervecr, eldest son 
of Tunis and Nellie (Enders) \"anderveer, 
was born on the Enders homestead in Glen, 
November 7, 1850. His birthplace is part of 
the original Enders homestead, which he now 
owns and operates as a stock farm known 
far and w^ide as "'W'illowdale." He carries 
on the business of a general farmer in con- 
nection with stock raising. His specialty is 
Percheron horses and Guernsey cattle, and he 
owns some of the finest specimens of these 
breeds in the state. He is a constant and win- 
ning exhibitor at the state and county fairs, 
and has a wide reputation as an authority oit 
the breeding and care of fine stock. His 
farm, lying in the beautiful Mohawk \'alley, 
is one of the best in that fertile region, and 
as shown has been in the family three male 
generations, nearly or quite a full century. He 
is interested in the prosperity of the Reformed 
church. His political preference is for the 
men and measures of the Republican party. 
He married, in Johnstown, New York, June 
25, 1890, Cora E. Lewis, born in the state 
of Iowa, where she was reared and educated. 
She is a daughter of John Lewis, born in 
Canajoharie, Montgomery county. New York, 
in October, 1858, and is now a resident of 
Johnstown, New York. He married Sarah 
Stokes, born in England, June 7, 1859, daugh- 
ter of John and Sarah Stokes, of England, 
who came to the United States in i860. John 
Stokes died in Canajoharie. Sarah Stokes 
died in Gloversville, New York, after passing 
her eightieth year. Children of John and 
Sarah (Stokes) Lewis: i. Cora E., married 
Ira \"anderveer. 2. Ray Lewis, married 
Mamie Ecker, and has a son Clarence W. 3. 
Gertrude, married Jacob Burton, of Johns- 
town, foreman for the Decker Manufacturing 
Company, and has Emily. Jacob. Catherine 
and Clayton Burton. Mrs. Ira \"anderveer is 
a member of the Reformed church, with her 
husband, and equally interested in its welfare. 
Thev have no children. 



The coat-of-arms of the Douw 
DOUW family, as it was depicted u])on 

the window of the old Dutch 
church in Albany. New York, and as was 
borne by \'olckert Jansen Douw, is as follows: 
Field ; Argent, on a fess azure a demi-female 
robed gules, holding in her de.xter hand a bird 
sable, behind an anchor sable. In chief on dex- 
ter a tree proper, and on sinister a mountain- 



384 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



proper. In base a bird sejant, with wings dis- 
played sable. Lambrequin crimson, lining 
■white. Crest: Over an esquire's helmet a 
wreath azure, surmounted by a cross-crosslet 
with a ring azure. Motto : Criici diim fido 
^piro. 

The family descent is traced to Jan Douw, 
of Leuwarden, province of Friesland, Holland, 
who was a burgher. He had, besides other 
children, the following: i. A"olckert, married 
Dorothe Janse \'an Breestede while in Hol- 
land : came to America and settled in the 
Rensselaer wyck colony in 1638 ; died 1681 
(see forward). 2. Neeltje, married (first) 
Jan Jansen Van Ditmarsen, ancestor of the 
Ditmars family; (second) Louis Joriszen 
A'an Der \'eer, in Teal't. January 9, 1650. 3. 
Andries. who came to this country, married, 
and settled in New York City. 4. Lysbeth, 
married Johannes Van Eps, one of the earli- 
est settlers of Schenectady. 

(H) A'olckert Jansen Douw, son of Jan 
Douw, of Holland, was a captain in the Dutch 
army when driven from his home in Leuwar- 
den by the persecutions waged against the 
Mennonites. He fled to Friedrichstadt, Den- 
mark, taking his family along, and intent 
upon finding a place to live where religious 
liberty was accorded every one. When the 
same feeling began to make headway there 
as had been experienced by him in his former 
home, he set sail for America. He settled 
first at Catskill, but remained only a short 
time, when he decided to join those who were 
planting the colony of Rensselaerwyck. The 
exact date of his reaching there is not known, 
but he is mentioned in 1638 as a prominent 
member of the little settlement, and it was 
not long before he became an extensive land- 
bolder. He owned more than one brewery, 
and had a house-lot on the .southwest corner 
of Broadway and State street. It has been 
said that he procured this site, still in the fam- 
ily in igii. in a ])eculiar manner. The story 
is that, living on Papsknae Island, on the east • 
bank of the Hudson, below Albany, he came 
to town regularly to attend service at the 
Dutch church, located in the middle of the 
street where Broadway now intersects State 
street, and he required a place of shelter be- 
tween tlie morning and afternoon services and 
a shed for his horse. He therefore acquired 
tile place adjoining the smithy, standing on 
the corner, and although it was but a trivial 
sum to pay for the object in those days, it is 
now the center of the business section of the 
Capital City, and a most prominent corner. 
This seems hardly true, without knowing 
other particulars, in the light of the record 
tliat he bought the corner, known to-day as 



the Douw building, directly from the Indians 
in 1640, which conveyance he confirmed to his 
widow in 1693, for the corner-stone of the 
first of two churches erected on that site was 
laid on June 2, 1656. However, he was dea- 
con of that church, and much concerned in its 
affairs, especially in the work of erecting the 
new edifice, after the one established in 1642 
near Fort Orange (Steamboat Square) be- 
came too congested as the population grew. 
His brewery was diagonally opposite the site 
of the present post-office, and the lot extended 
for several hundred feet to the Hudson river. 
This property was sold in 1675 to his nephew, 
Harman Rutgers. His other, or summer 
home, was on Papsknae Island. This was a 
decidedly disadvantageous location for a 
house, for in 1666 there was an extraordinary 
flood, causing the island where he dwelt to be 
completely inundated, and sweeping away 
houses, breweries (of which he had two im- 
mense ones), cattle, and all his personal prop- 
erty. In this way many of the valued family 
records were lost, but the inmates managed 
to escape. The only property rescued was a 
small round table and his colt, which were 
carried by the swift current through the 
hoist-door of his home into the second story. 
It was in this year that he bought a tract on 
the mainland, situated on the east bank of 
the Hudson, and to this day known to boat- 
men as Douw's Point. It is a locality where 
there has been considerable trouble yearly in 
the spring when on the breaking up of the 
ice, crowded by that forcing its way from the 
Mohawk, ice gorges have been wont to form 
at the bar thus created, known as the Over- 
slaugh. Douw's Point, in changing the course 
of the current, was responsible for these con- 
ditions, and necessitated dredging the channel 
nearly every year. 

X'olckert J. Douw owned much land at Eso- 
pus, and was one of the original patentees 
of that settlement. On some occasions he 
bought in conjunction with his partner, Jan 
Thomase, other times individually. They had 
bought Apjen's (Pap.sknae, or Little Mon- 
key) Island together. Douw Ixjught Consta- 
pei's Island, lying opposite the township of 
Bethlehem, just south of Albany, half of 
which he sold in 1677 to Pieter Winne, an- 
other prominent early settler. In 1672 he 
owned Schutter's Island, below Beeren Island, 
fourteen miles south of Albany, which he sold 
to Barent Picterse Coeymans, from whom the 
town of Coeymans derives its name. 

He was made deacon of the Dutch Re- 
formed church in 1654, about twelve years 
after its projection by Patroon Kiliaen Van 
Rensselaer, who sent over to his colony Dom- 



HUDSON A\D MOHA\\-K \-ALLEYS 



385 



inie Mejjapolensis, the pioneer in church 
work in the province of New York outside of 
New Amsterdam. This was some sixty years 
before any other church was established in 
Albany, the English church coming next, in 
1712, and its first edifice. St. Peter's church, 
was opened for worship November 25, 1717. 
From 1654 to i66o he was a magistrate, and 
in those days they were the most learned men 
of the community. At various times he was 
attorney and guardian for several large es- 
tates. He occupied the position of commis- 
sary, and continuously that of Indian com- 
missioner. He made his will in 1680, and 
died in 1681, at Albany. 

\'olckert Jansen Douw married, in New 
Amsterdam, April 19, 1630, Dorothe Janse 
\'an Breestede, of Breestede, Denmark (now 
Germany). She died in Albany, November 
22. 1701. Children: i. Jonas \'olckert, mar- 
ried (first), September 20, 1683. Magdalena 
Ouackenbush : (second), April 24, 1696, Ca- 
trina W'itbeck (see forward). 2. Andries, mar- 
ried (first). June 24, 1685, Annetje; (second), 
June 23, 1697, Elsje Hanse : (third) October 
21, 1702, Lydia De Meyer; (fourth), in New 
York, February 24. 1708, Adriana Vender- 
•grift. 3. Volckertje, married Claes \'an 
Brockhoven. 4. Dorothe. 5. Catrina (Caat- 
je). married, .April 30, 1684, Hendrick Jans 
'Oothout. 6. Engeltje (Angelica), married, 
about 1683, -Andries Jans \\'itbeck. 7. Hen- 
drick, married, October 3, 1697, Neeltje 
Myndertse Van Yveren, widow of Captain 
Marten Gerritsen \'an Bergen, who died be- 
fore 1704. 8. Elsje. 9. Rebecca. 10. \'olck- 
•ert, married, November 16, 1701, Margareta 
\'an Tricht. 11. Greitje. married Gerrit Ten- 
nis \'an Vechten. 

( HI ) Captain Jonas Volckert Douw. son of 
Captain \'olckert Jansen Douw and Dorothe 
Janse \"an Breestede, was a lieutenant of foot 
in the year 1700, and was later promoted to 
the rank of captain. He was born in Green- 
bush (Rensselaer, N. Y.), and dying October 
7, 1736, was buried in the family burial 
ground of Wolvenhoeck, at Douw's Point. 
He married (first), at Beverwyck, September 
20, 1683, Magdalena. daughter of Pieter 
Quackenbush and his wife Alartje, bv whom 
"he had four children. After her death he 
married, .April 24, 1696, at Schenectady, Ca- 
trina, daughter of Jan Thomas Witbeck and 
widow of Jacob Sanders Glen, of Schenec- 
tady, by whom no children. Children: i. 
Marytje. baptized October 19. 1684. 2. \'olck- 
-ert, baptized November 14, 1686, at .Albanv, 
died April 17, 171 1. 3. Dorothe. baptized 
June 22, 1689. 4. Petrus, baptized, .Albany, 
IMarch 24, 1692 ; married, October 8, 1717, 



Anna Van Rensselaer; died August 21, 1775. 

(IV) Captain Petrus Douw, son of Jonas 
Douw and Magdalena Petrus Quackenbush, 
was baptized at Albany. ?ilarch 24, 1692, and 
died at his home in Greenbush, August 21, 
1775. He was the sole surviving son of his 
father, and became a man of great impor- 
tance throughout the province. He was a 
member of the twenty-seventh council and 
general assembly of the Province of New 
York, "begun and holden at the house of 
Jacob Dyckman in the Out Ward of the City 
of New York." 

On the eastern bank of the Hudson river, 
about a mile below Albany, was a point of 
land, which was known in 1717 as Wolven 
Hoeck, because it was infested with packs of 
wolves. It was a beautiful location other- 
wise, covered with a heavy growth of elms 
and sycamores of enormous growth, and it 
was there that the wolves came down to the 
shore to drink. Captain Petrus Douw select- 
ed this spot for the location of his home, and 
building a house there in 1724, named it 
Wolvenhoeck. His great-great-granddaugh- 
ter, Mrs. Mary Lanman Douw Ferris, has 
made considerable research to learn all she 
could about the family homestead, which de- 
scended for many generations in the family, 
and from these discoveries one may form an 
excellent impression of the quaintness of the 
old place. The original house was a story 
and a half high, and well spread out on the 
ground. It was built of wood, and bricks 
brought from Holland, it is said, as ballast in 
a sailing vessel, and the roof was shingled 
with white fir. The top of the gable wall was 
notched into corbel steps, and the black fore 
bricks of the kiln were laid, alternating with 
yellow ones, to make checks on the gable 
fronts. The roof sloped from the ridge pole 
and dormer windows broke its uniformity. 
The heavy, wooden, outside shutters swung 
upon massive iron hinges, with a crescent cut 
near the top to admit the early light. Above 
the front door was a free-stone slab with the 
initials "P. D., A. \'. R.," cut into it, they 
being the first letters of his own and his wife's 
name. The front wall was pierced at places 
for the use of muskets in case of a sudden 
emergency, for at that period there were fre- 
quent attacks at the hands of savage Indians ; 
in fact, a particularly desperate raid was once 
made upon the place by what were called the 
River Indians, coming from below. The front 
door of this house was divided into two parts 
across the middle. The upper half, which 
usually swung wide open in the summer 
months, had two bull's-eyes of glass, so as 
to light the hallway, and was graced with a 



386 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



heavy, brass knocker, brought from Leuwar- 
den. The lower half had a heavy latch. The 
great hall was to some extent a living room, 
and through its center was the hoist door, 
through which wheat was hoisted by employ- 
ing a crane, for storage in the loft, for every 
house of any pretensions had its cock-loft 
within the steep roof, where house slaves 
slept, and also used for storage purposes. A 
little to one side was a staircase with a flight 
of steps leading to the loft. Over the front 
door was a shelf with steps by which it might 
be reached, and here was placed the tobacco 
box. The rooms were wainscoted to a height 
of about three feet, excepting the dining- 
room, which had a chair-board running about 
it. The windows were of small, diamond- 
shaped panes of glass, set into leaden frames. 
Chintz calico formed the curtains, put up 
without cornices. The only carpet in service 
was in the parlor. The chairs were stiff, 
straight, high-backed, covered with haircloth, 
similarly to the claw-footed sofa, which were 
all ornamented with triple rows of brass nails. 
These articles of furniture were of San Do- 
mingo mahogany, and reckoned of value in 
the present age. Very interesting were the 
stand with a turning top, and a small table 
with claw feet, holding the family Bible, in 
which accurate records were entered by fath- 
er and son. Hanging on the whitewashed 
walls were oil portraits of those left in the 
Fatherland, some painted by Frans Hals and 
Gerhardus Douw. The tiles in the chimney- 
jamb were laid in cement, made from pow- 
dered clamshells, displaying pictorial de- 
signs of scriptural nature, brought from Leu- 
warden, The fireplace was so large that one 
might easily stand therein, and it held a 
hickory log eight feet long : the brass shovel 
and tongs standing at the corners, brought 
from Harlem. Over the mantel was a long 
glass separated in three divisions by strips of 
moulding, and alongside hung the bellows. 
On each side of the chimney was a sort of al- 
cove with low benches. Between the front 
windows was a sconce. The Dutch tea-table 
stood in one corner, upon it spread a linen 
cloth, once the property of Anneke Jans, Mrs. 
Douw's great-grandmother. The china was 
of delicate texture and was valued highly, for 
it was brought all the way from China in 
the sailing vessel of Captain Stewart Dean, 
of Albany, on the first journey ever made to 
that far country by a vessel docked at -Al- 
bany. It was made to order, with initials 
worked into the pattern. The napkins in use 
were spun at home. These and other napery 
were kept in an oaken, iron-bound chest. 
Back of the living-room was the "meister's 



bedroom,"' containing an enormous bedstead, 
with its four corner posts handsomely carved 
and an elaborate canopy above, a fringed val- 
ance to match hanging below. The sacking 
bottom was pierced with holes bound with 
linen thread, and by this means it was 
stretched by a stout rope to corresponding 
pegs in the framework. Back of this room 
was a small library and office, a large mahog- 
any desk with numerous pigeon-holes and 
books above, being the principal piece of fur- 
niture beyond the heavy, comfortable arm- 
chair. Off the library was the dood kamer, or 
death chamber, where those of the family 
who died were placed until the funeral cere- 
mony was held. These ceremonies were made 
events of great importance, and the little silver 
spoons, marked with initials, given on that 
occasion, are still treasured as heirlooms. It 
is related that when Judge Douw died in 
1801, a keg of wine which he had prepared 
for that specific occasion was brought out. 
He had it spiced so carefully under his direc- 
tions that many of the guests, having imbibed 
too freely, had to be carried to their homes 
on ox-sleds. 

The Wolvenhoeck house was surrounded 
by a circular stockade. It stood twelve feet 
high, and was made of oak posts which had 
been pointed and bolted to transverse timbers, 
having a gate, pointed on both the upper and 
lower sides, which was raised by weights in a 
gallows frame. Many Indian treaties were 
executed inside this little stockade, and at 
such times the chiefs and their squaws slept 
on their buffalo robes inside the limits, while 
their band found shelter under the trees along 
the river bank. 

It was while he was living here that Gen- 
eral Abercrombie's army was encamped in 
1758 opposite his house, while recruiting be- 
fore proceeding to Ticonderoga. They dug 
from the steeps banks to form places wherein 
to hang their kettles and perform their cook- 
ing, and these lioles were pointed out as curi- 
osities until nearly 1900, when the elements 
and improvements of the river had eradicated 
most of them. 

Captain Petrus Douw married, at Albany, 
October 8, 17 17, Anna Van Rensselaer, born 
at her father's home, known as Fort Crailo,. 
Greenhush (Rensselaer, N. Y.) ; was bap- 
tized February 2, 1696, and died at Green- 
bush, March 29, 1756. Her father was Ma- 
jor Ilendrick Van Rensselaer, born in Rens- 
selaerwyck, October 23, 1667, died in Green- 
bush, July 2, 1740, who married, in New 
York City, March 19, 1689, Catharina Van 
Brugh, born in New York, baptized there 
April 19, 1665, died in Grenbush, December- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



387 



6. 1730. Petrus Doinv and Anna Van Rens- 
selaer had nine children, six of whom lived 
to marry and raise families which became 
prominent wherever they settled. Children : 

1. ^lagdalena, born August i, 1718, died 
October 12, 1796; married, May 29, 1740, 
Harmen Gansevoort, son of Leendert (or 
Leonard) Gansevoort, and Catrina De Wande- 
laer. who was baptized at Albany, April 20, 
1712: died there, March 7, 1801 ; by whom: 
Sara, baptized June 17, 1741 ; Petrus, bap- 
tized January 16, 1743 ; Anna, baptized Octo- 
ber 19, 1744; Anna Gansevoort, died August 
9, 1794, aged 49 years. 10 months, 3 days; 
Catarina. baptized October 25, 1747; Petrus, 
baptized July 16, 1749; Leendert (or Leon- 
ard), baptized July 14, 1751; Hendrick. bap- 
tized September 22, 1753 : Hendrick, baptized 
June 5, 1757; Catarina, baptized October 15, 
1758. 

2. \ olckert Petrus, born at Wolvenhoeck, 
Greenbush, March 23. 1720, died there, March 
20. 1801 ; married, Albany, May 20, 1742, 
Anna De Peyster (see forward). 

3. Hendrick, born April 13, 1722; died De- 
cember 17, 1756. 

4. Catrina, born ^larch 23, 1724; died Jan- 
uary I, 181 1. 

5. Maria, born December 25,i725;died Au- 
gust 17, 1759; married, December 2, 1750, 
at Albany. Johannes Gansevoort. son of Leen- 
dert Gansevoort and Catrina De Wandelaer, 
born at Albany, April 3, 1719, baptized (Bible 
record), April 7, 1721 ; died at Albany, No- 
vember 28. 178 1 : by whom: Catrina, bap- 
tized June 9, 1751 : Leendert. baptized Janu- 
ary 14, 1753 ; Leendert, born June 3, 1754, 
died December 16, 1834; Annatje, baptized 
July 31, 1757. 

6. IMargarita, born October 2. 1729 ; mar- 
ried. December 21, 1752. Dr. Henricus \'an 
Dyck. son of Cornelis \'an Dyck and Maria 
Bries, who was born October 2, 1726: by 
whom: Cornelis. baptized December 9, 1753; 
Maria, baptized March 21, 1756: Anna, bap- 
tized November 5, 1758; Petrus, born April 
29. 1760. 

7. Anna, born February 20. 1732, (Bible 
record) : baptized February 5. 1732, (church 
record) : married, Albany, June 3, 1761, Ger- 
ardus Beekman, of New York City ; by whom : 
Petrus Douw, born September 2, 1762, died 
February 23, 1835, married Hannah, who 
died April 3, 1849. aged eighty-three years ; 
Jacobus (James), born December 29, 1766; 
Gerardus. born August 5. 1767 ; Anna, born 
September 16, 1769, died October 3, 1821 ; 
Maria, born August 18, 1773 ; Gerardus, born 
October 27, 1775. 

8. Elizabeth, born December i, 1733; mar- 



ried, January 21, 1764. Johannes Beeckman, 
son of Martin Beeckman and Gertrude Viss- 
chcr, who was baptized March 11, 1722; will 
proved July 12, 1790; by whom : Martin, bap- 
tized November 15, 1767, died young; Petrus, 
baptized August 19, 1769, died young; Mar- 
tin, baptized May 5, 1772; Petrus, baptized 
March 15, 1775, married Magdalen Van 
Rensselaer. 

g. Rageltje, born February 27. 1736. died 
August 4. 1806. 

(V) Mayor Volckert Petrus Douw, eldest 
son of Captain Petrus Douw and Anna Van 
Rensselaer, was born at Wolvenhoeck, in 
Greenbush. Columbia county. New York, 
March 23, 1720, and died there, on March 20, 
1801. He was a staunch lifelong friend of 
General Philip Schuyler, and after his death 
it was said of him that he was "a true patriot ; 
in civil and domestic relations, he was consid- 
ered a pattern, and no man in Albany died 
more regretted." 

He was recorded as "a freeman and citizen 
of the city of Albany," in 1748, then twenty- 
eight years of age, and the next year he was 
chosen an alderman of the First ward. His 
promotion in public affairs was rapid, and for 
half a century he figured in the principal of- 
fices which his fellow townsmen could offer 
him. He was elected recorder in 1750, and 
served through 1760. On October 2, 1757, 
he became presiding judge of the court of 
common pleas, which position he continued to 
occupy until May, 1775, and hence was more 
commonly addressed as Judge Douw. In 
1759 he was a member of the colonial assem- 
bly, serving until 1766. He was a captain of 
militia in 1755, participating in the battle of 
Lunenburg. Considerable interest was taken 
by him in the Dutch Reformed church, and 
he was chosen a deacon. He was appointed 
the twenty-fifth mayor of Albany by Lieuten- 
ant-Governor Cadwallader Golden, and served 
as city's executive from September 29. 1761, 
until September 9, 1770. His officiate was 
during most trying times, but he proved him- 
self equal to the occasion, and his acts won 
admiration. 

Although busily engaged by his several pub- 
lic offices, he nevertheless found time to take 
charge of his large mercantile business, and 
from time to time was a most influential pe- 
titioner with the Lord Commissioners for 
Trade in seeking needed reforms. He was 
the owner of a large road house located about 
seven miles from Albany, on the stage route 
to Niagara, popularl)' known as "Douw's 
Inn." He established and brought to a de- 
gree of perfection a glass factory at a place 
named Douwsborough, and this early attempt 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



to produce glassware for domestic use is said 
to have resulted in a manufacture superior 
to that of English make. At this day his 
endeavors are cited when one writes upon 
the history of glass-making in America. 

By royal appointment he was presiding 
judge of the court of common pleas; but, re- 
gardless of personal consideration, he took 
a decided stand in the cause of the colonies in 
opposition to royalty. In ;\Iay, 1775, he de- 
clined to serve any longer, being moved by a 
patriotic spirit not to hold office under the 
British government. Because of the unsettled 
condition of the country at large, few courts 
were held under the constitution of the state 
until after the close of the revolution, but in 
1778 he was appointed first judge of Albany 
by the provincial convention. In his opposi- 
tion to the stamp act he was closely affiliated 
with Jeremias Van Rensselaer and Philip 
Schuyler, both of them his intimate friends 
in Albany, and their tactful speeches did much 
to turn the tide of feeling on this matter in 
Albany. 

He was appointed an Indian commissioner 
in 1774, and this was a fresh bond of sympa- 
thy drawing him into closer relations with 
Philip Schuyler, for to the latter's acts is the 
country much indebted for many important 
amicable acts on the part of the tribes. He 
was chosen a delegate on May 5, 1775, to 
meet in general congress in New York on the 
twenty-second of that month. On the twenty- 
third about seventy of the eighty-one dele- 
gates assembled at the Exchange in New York 
City, and organized a provincial congress. 
They chose Peter Van Brugh for president 
and Volckert Petrus Douw for vice-president. 
Mayor Douw was appointed one of the com- 
mittee of safety in 1775. On July 13, 1755, 
he was appointed one of the board of commis- 
sioners for Indian affairs in the northern de- 
partment, and his associates were General 
Philip Schuyler, Major Joseph Hawley, Tur- 
bot Francis and Oliver Wolcott. A month 
later he and Francis were sent to hold an im- 
portant conference with the sachems and war- 
riors of the Six Nations at a place called the 
German Flatts, west of Albany, then in the 
w'ilderness of New York. This was an im- 
portant incident in his life. The commission- 
ers, on September ist, in their reply to the 
speech of "Little Abraham," acceded to the 
principal requests of the Indians, and informed 
them that General Schuyler and Commission- 
er Douw had been appointed to keep the coun- 
cil fires burning briglit and to guard the tree 
of peace at Albany. Schuyler gave orders not 
to molest the Canadians or Indians, which or- 
ders were violated with serious consequences. 



Upon Schuyler's return to Albany in Decem- 
ber, he found sixty members of the Six Na- 
tions waiting for him. Mayor Douw was the 
only other commissioner present, yet the exi- 
gencies of the case demanded action, and he 
conducted the business with complete satis- 
faction to all concerned. Mayor Douw ex- 
hibited a marked concern in the dealings with 
the Indians, and in the spring of 1776 wrote 
to General Schuyler as follows: "Mr. Dean 
came dow'n from Onondaga with the deputies 
from the seven tribes in Canada who have 
been to attend the meeting of the Six Nations 
at their council house at Onondaga. They 
told me that their clothes were worn out on 
their long journey on the public business. I 
told them that I was much convinced of it, 
and have given them each i pr. shoes, i pr. 
buckles and a hat. I told them I would write 
to General Schuyler to provide them with 
some clothes, as it would be troublesome to 
carry them from here to Canada. They were 
much pleased with it." 

Mr. Douw represented congress at the 
council held in March, 1778, at Johnstown, to 
secure the neutrality if not the co-operation 
of the entire body of the Six Nations. This 
was an important mission and evidenced their 
faith in him by the appointment. He was 
made commissary in 1779, and served in the 
senate from 1785 to 1793. 

Judge Douw w-as a striking character when 
seen upon the streets of Albany or when in 
attendance at conferences in other parts of 
the province. Although he lived more than 
a century ago, we have an excellent descrip- 
tion of him. He was tall and dignified, stand- 
ing six feet two inches, as straight as an ar- 
row ; said by some to be handsome. He had 
a clean-shaven face, exposing a firm mouth 
and piercing eyes. He wore his hair in pecu- 
liar fashion, probably comiuon to others of 
his standing in those times, tied in a queue, 
with his front hair brushed back in severe 
lines and powdered. He usually wore a long- 
waisted coat, the skirts reaching nearly to 
his ankles, which was adorned with large sil- 
ver buttons made from Spanish coins. Knee 
breeches, silk stockings, and shoes with silver 
buckles shining, these set with rhinestones, 
heightened the general effect ; but more prom- 
inent than these was his cocked hat. He car- 
ried a silver-headed cane, and bore a turnip- 
shaped, silver watch, from which hung a 
heavy seal, while his tobacco or snufT-box 
was engraved with initials and coat-of-arms. 
Other personal effects consisted of a tongue- 
scraper, tooth, ear and nail-pick, which closed 
within a handle. He was famous as a horse- 
man, and it is said that he never feared to 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



389 



attempt to ride the fiercest animal. On one 
occasion, when the various chiefs were as- 
sembled at Wolvenhoeck, General Schuyler 
was present at a convivial entertainment and 
offered to wager that the horse he liad ridden 
to Douw's house could outrun the famous 
horse of his host, named Sturgeon, although 
Douw had many times won purses by his 
fleet steed and was a man disliking to be 
balked. It is related that this took place in 
midwinter, but the ice was thin and very 
slushy on account of heavy rains. Indians, 
negroes and Dutciunen cleared a space upon 
the ice and formed a line with lanterns up 
and down the river. It was a moment of ex- 
citement, with friends of these two men of 
prominence standing about and cheering lusti- 
ly, and Judge Douw's horse "Sturgeon" came 
out victorious amid the yells. 

Mr. Douw was the owner of a great many 
negro slaves, who were devoted to him, and 
this was manifest by their remaining with 
him even after the emancipation act in New 
York state. He had one of pronounced vi- 
cious tendencies, Dinah, who set fire to the 
barn of Leonard Gansevoort. in Albany, 
which caused the great conflagration of 1793, 
destroying more than an entire block of the 
principal houses in the city. She was tried 
and hanged in the presence of a multitude 
gathered around the gallows erected on Pinx- 
ter Hill. 

Judge Douw was once a prisoner, after be- 
ing captured by the British, and was confined 
in Quebec. While there he learned the 
French language. He had been in the habit 
of employing a body-servant. As commissary 
he set out to join the army at "Old" Sara- 
toga, followed by his man, "King Charles," 
on horseback. Suddenly there was a rumpus 
outside the stockade gate and "King Charles" 
was found calling loudly for assistance, and 
ready with his invented tale of w'oe that his 
master had been attacked. It turned out that 
the timid negro had seen some distance off a 
sumach waving in the wind and imagined he 
had seen the red plume of a savage headgear. 
When he had fled in fear he told the story to 
avoid threats for cowardice. 

With all the Indians who came to .\lbany 
he was on most friendly terms, and this stood 
him in good stead when he had to meet them 
on his official business. All the chiefs of the 
Six Nations were not only well known by him, 
but many of them had been welcomed as 
guests at his home. The famous Red Jacket 
was one of those who valued his acquaintance. 
When one of his daughters died, the Six Na- 
tions sent him a belt of condolence as a proof 
of their sympathy. 



Mayor \'olckert Petrus Douw married, at 
Albany, May 20, 1742, Anna De Peyster, 
born at Albany, March 28. 1723, died at Wol- 
venhoeck, Greenbush (Rensselaer, N. Y.), 
June 14. 1794. Her father was Mayor Jo- 
haimes De Peyster of .\lbany. born in New 
Amsterdam, January 10, 1694. died at Al- 
bany, February 27, 1789, married, at Albany, 
November 24, 1715. Anna Schuyler (daughter 
of Mayor Myndert Schuyler"), born in Al- 
bany. February 27, 1697, died at Albany, 
September 13, 1730. Children. 

1. Anna, born ^larch 25. 1743. died at Al- 
bany, February 18, 1774, without issue; mar- 
ried, Albany, November 25, 1761, Dirck Ten 
Broeck, born. Albany, July 26, 1738, died at 
Albany, May 29. 1780. son of Mayor Dirck 
Ten Broeck (born Albany. December 4, 1686; 
died Albany, January 3, i.~5i), and his wife, 
Margarita Cuyler (born Albany, October 26, 
1692, died ]\Iay 24, 1783), whom he married, 
Albany, November 26, 17 14. 

2. Ragel (Rachel), born February 8, 1744, 
died August 27, 1799 : married, Alljany. No- 
vember 17, 1765, Hendrick Johannes Van 
Rensselaer, born October 24, 1742, son of Jo- 
hannes ^'an Rensselaer (bap. Jan. 11, 1708), 
who married, Albany, January 3, 1734, En- 
geltje (Angelica) Livingston (bap. July 17, 
1698) : by whom : Johannes, born iMarch 8, 
1768: Engeltje, July 21. 1770; Anna, January 

31- 1773-^ 

3. Myndert Schuyler, born December 12, 
1746: died August 4. 1747. 

4. Magdalena, born October 10, 1748; died 
October 8, 1749. 

5. Madalena, born May 25, 1750. died De- 
cember 20. 1817: married, Albany. August 30, 
1770. John Stevenson, born March 2. 1734, 
died. Albany. April 24. 1810. son of James 
Stevenson (buried, Albany, June 6, 1744), 
who married, December 9, 1729, Sara Groe- 
nendyck (born Apr. 28, 1700, died June 5. 
1 774 I; by whom: Catharina, born .-Mbany, 
January 6. 1779: Mayor James Stevenson, 
born Albany, November 25, 1788, died Al- 
bany. July 3. 1852. 

6. Catrienna, born November 6, 175 1, died 
October 25. 1775 : married, Harmanus Hoff- 
man : by whom: Martinus, born .August i, 
1792. 

7. John De Peyster, born May 6. 1754, 
died July 25. 1755. 

8. Johannes De Peyster. born Januarv 20, 
1756, died February 22. 1835 : married (first), 
December 23. 1787, Deborah Beeckman : (sec- 
ond), December 20, 1795, Margaret Living- 
ston: (third) January 22, 181 1, Catherine 
Douw Gansevoort (see forw-ard). 

9. Maria, born October 4, 1760. died March 



390 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



12, 1818: married, January 20, 1782, Johannes 
De Peyster Ten Eyck, died April 9, 1798, son 
of TolDias Coenraedt Ten Eyck, of Schenec- 
tady, and Rachel De Peyster ; by whom : John 
De Peyster, born May 3, 1788. 

(VI) Johannes De Peyster Douw, son of 
Mayor Volckert Petrus Douw and Anna De 
Peyster, was born January 20, 1756, and died 
in Albany, February 22, 1835. He was a 
graduate of Yale, class of 1777. On April 
4, 1782, he was appointed surrogate of Al- 
bany covmty, and in 1788 was elected an alder- 
man. He had a notable military career, mak- 
ing him prominent aside from political office, 
social position and wealth, participating in 
Sullivan's expedition against the Indians of 
Western New York in 1779. 

Johannes De Peyster Douw married (first), 
Albany, December 23, 1787, Deborah Beeck- 
man, with one child as result of this union. 
She was born November 26, 1763, died July 
23, 1791, daughter of Mayor Johannes Ja- 
cobse Beeckman (b. Albany, bap. Nov. 8, 
1733: d. Dec. 17, 1802), who married, No- 
vember 22, 1759, Maria Sanders (bap. Sche- 
nectady. June 4, 1740; d. Nov. 2, 1804). He 
married (second), December 20, 1795, Mar- 
garet Livingston, by whom three children. 
She was born June 3. 1768, died January 21, 
1802, daughter of Colonel Peter Robert Liv- 
ingston (b. Apr. 27, 1737; d. Nov. 15, 1794), 
w'ho married, June 6, 1758, Margaret Living- 
ston (b. July 4, 1738; d. July 31, 1809). He 
married (third), January 22, 181 1, Catherine 
Douw Gansevoort, by whom four children. 
She was born at Albany, May 11, 1782, died 
at Albany, A])ril 13, 1848, daughter of Leon- 
ard Gansevoort, Jr. (b. June 3, 1754, d. Dec. 
16, 1834), who married, April 17, 1777, Maria 
Van Rensselaer (bap. Oct. 19, 1760, d. Apr. 2, 
1842). Children: 

1. \'olckert Petrus Douw, born .\pril 10. 
1790, died at Albany, June 16, 1869; married, 
June 2, 1834, Helen Louis Franchot (see for- 
ward). 

2. Ann De Peyster, born January 31, 1797, 
died at Albany, August 15, 1871 ; married 
(first), October 31, 1814, Samuel Stringer 
Lush : married (second) Colonel William 
Tremper Cuyler, May 9, 1850, who was born 
at Alliany, December 22. 1802, died at Cuy- 
lerville. New York, December 21, 1864, son 
of John Cornelius Cuyler and Hannah Maley. 
By her first husband she had two children who 
died young; by her second husband, no issue. 

3. Margaret Livingston, born November 
26, 1798, died at Albany. April 5, 1878; mar- 
ried, Albany, November 14, 1844, Alanson 
Abbe, M. D., of Boston, Alassachusetts ; no 



4. Louisa, born July 11, 1801 ; died April 
20, 1802. 

5. John De Peyster, born Albany, Decem- 
ber 16, 1812; died at Poughkeepsie, New 
York, January 30, 1901 ; married (first), Al- 
bany, April 12, 1837, Alargaret Schuyler \'an 
Rensselaer, born at Albany, May 12, 1819. 
died Albany, September 15, 1897, daughter of 
Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer and Harriet 
Elizabeth Bayard; married (second), at Nor- 
wich, Connecticut, March 16, 1854, Marianne 
Chandler Lanman, born November 13, 1826, 
died at Poughkeepsie, March 18, 1884, daugh- 
ter of Hon. Charles James Lanman and IMarie 
Jeanne Guie. By the first marriage two chil- 
dren ; by the second, five children. 

6. Mary, born September 3, 1815 ; died Sep- 
tember 28, 1816. 

7. Catherine Louisa, born September 10, 
1817; died August 3, 1891 ; married, at Al- 
bany, September 10, 1836, John Fondey 
Townsend, M. D., Albany, born March 10, 
1809, died at New York, January 8, 1874, 
son of John De Kay Townsend and ]\Iaria 
Hun ; had thirteen children. 

8. Harriet Maria, born June 13, 1824, died 
March 28, 1852; married, Nov. i, 1847, Wil- 
liam Clarkson Johnson ; by whom one child. 

(VII) Volckert Peter Douw, son of Jo- 
hannes De Peyster Douw and Deborah 
Beeckman, was born at Albany, .A.pril 10, 
1790, and died at Albany, June 17. 1869. He 
fully inherited the distinguishing features and 
the practical virtues of his ancestry. He was 
"kind in heart, good in purpose, genial in dis- 
position, generous in sentiment and severely 
honest in conduct," according to the estimate 
of him published in the Albany Journal of 
that date, which also says : "Though ever ac- 
tive in his pursuits, his tastes did not incline 
him to public display or official recognition. 
He chose the path of unostentatious business, 
of social happiness and domestic peace, and 
this he pursued with zest and zeal. He was 
educated to the calling of a merchant, as his 
father before him, and kept his store upon 
the same spot that his father had before him, 
on the corner of Broadway and State street. 
He retired from active business many years 
since devoting a reasonable share of his time 
to the care of his estate, which, by inheritance 
from his father and his uncle, as well as by 
his own acquisitions, had aggregated to a large 
amount. No other family had a more honor- 
able record." 

He married, June 2, 1834, Helen lx>u\s 
Franchot, born at Butternuts (now Morris), 
Otsego county. New York, September 17. 
1808. died at Albany, November 16, 1883, 
daughter of Pascal Franchot and Catherine 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



391 



Hansen Franchot, of Butternuts, New York. 
Children: 

1. Deborah Matilda, born at Albany, April 
I9> 1835: residing in Albany in 191 1; be- 
came a missionary to China, and was present 
in the city of Peking throughout the terrible 
Boxer uprising and siege of 1898, after which 
she returned to Albany. 

2. Captain John De Peyster, born at Al- 
bany, March 10, 1837, died at Winchester, 
\"irginia, October 26, 1864. He entered the 
service during the civil war, enlisting in the 
summer of 1862, and excepting a furlough of 
a few days was never absent from his com- 
mand. His military record is that of his regi- 
ment attached to the celebrated Sixth Army 
Corps, whose history was one of continuous 
battles. He was wounded October 19, 1864, 
at the battle of Cedar Creek, Shenandoah 
A'alley, suffered amputation of the right leg 
on the 22nd, and died on the 26th. 

3. Pascal Franchot, born at Albany, Feb- 
ruary 18, 1840. died August 28, 1841. 

4. \'oIckert Peter, born at Wolvenhook,* 
August 15, 1842, died at Albany, November 
9, 1875; married, New York, December 3, 
1870, Ella Brooks Gould, who died June 5, 
1889, daughter of John P. Gould and Caroline 
E. Brooks Gould ; by whom : John De Pey- 
ster, born at Wolvenhook. August 18, 1873, 
was made mayor of Annapolis, Maryland, 
1903, married, October 20, 1896, Harriet 
Rooker Tate, of Annapolis, and had : Julia 
Agnes, born July 29, 1897; Helen Louise, 
born IMarch 4, 1899 ; Volckert Petrus, born 
March 4, 1907. 

5. Beeckman, born at Wolvenhook, Febru- 
ary 21, 1844, died at Butternuts, New York, 
September 5. 1845. 

(1. Helen Franchot, born at Wolvenhook, 
March 31, 1846, died Albany. January 28, 
1898: married, at Albany, October 27, 1870, 
John Townsend Lansing, born at Sachems 
Head. Coiui., son of Charles Bridgen Lansing 
and Catherine Clinton Townsend : no issue. 

7. Anna de Peyster, born at Wolvenhook. 
March 22. 1848; married, at Albany, May 3, 
1877, George Dou,glas Miller, born at Roch- 
ester, New York. November 5, 1847. son of 
Samuel Miller and Mary Ann Douglas (see 
George Douglas Miller). 

8. Julia Agnes, born at Wolvenhook. June 
21, 1851, died at Albany, April 11, 1885.' 



The earliest known ancestor in 
MILLER America of George Douglas 
Miller was Thomas Miller, resi- 
dent of West Springfield, Massachusetts, who 

*In recent years the homestead has been 
known as Wolvenhook. 



married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Marsh- 
field, in 1649. They were the parents of thir- 
teen children. He was killed October 5, 1675, 
by Indians, when lie risked his life to obtain 
water for women and children who were 
within the stockade. 

(II) John, fourth child of Thomas and 
Sarah (RIarshfield) Miller, was born in 1657, 
died in 1676, probably killed in the Great Falls 
fight of that year. He married and was the 
father of five children. 

(HI) Samuel, fourth child of John Miller, 
married and was the father of eight children. 

(IV) Thomas (2), sixth child of Samuel 
Miller, married and was the father of five 
children. 

(V) Solomon, fourth chiUl of Thomas (2) 
Miller, was born October 9, 1731, died at West 
Wallingford. \'ermont, August 20, 1807. He 
married, September 9, 1756, Desire Smith, 
born November 18, 1734. died March 9, 1807. 
They were the parents of nine children. 

(VI) Elisha. fifth child of Solomon and 
Desire (Smith) Miller, was born May 6, 1766, 
died on his farm near Williston, Vermont, 
June, 1847. Married (first) Lorain Jackson, 
born May 19, 1773, died July 7, 1806. Mar- 
ried (second) 1807, Sally Elliot, born April 
22. 1785. died August 20, 1856. He was the 
father of seventeen children, .\braham Jack- 
son, father of Lorain (Jackson) Miller, moved 
from Cornwall, Connecticut, when his daugh- 
ter Lorain was an infant to Wallingford. Ver- 
mont, about 1774, and was the first settler in 
the town, first representative, first deacon and 
founder of tlie first Sabbath meeting ; he pur- 
chased one thousand acres of land embracing 
all the beautiful intervale and gave a farm to 
each of his eleven children, but fifty years 
later there was not a single descendant in the 
town : he died in 1790 at Wallingford. aged 
sixty-five. He married Eleanor Rumpus, a 
resident of Wareham, Massachusetts ; she died 
at Nelson, New York, aged ninety-two. A 
niece of Lorain (Jackson) Miller, Henrietta 
Lorain Jackson, married Rev. Dr. Cyrus Ham- 
lin, of Constantinople, one of the most power- 
ful of pioneer missionaries. 

(VII) Samuel (2), sixth child of Elisha 
and Lorain (Jackson) Miller, was born at 
Williston, Vermont, March 9, i8or, died at 
Santa Barbara, California, October 20, 1888. 
He was a resident of Rochester, New York, 
1823-60, and of New Haven, Connecticut, 
1861-88 ; a judge and twice a New York sena- 
tor. He married, May 20. 1833, Mary Ann 
Douglas, of Troy, New York (see Douglas 
VII). Children: i. Samuel, born July 31, 
1834, died October 3, 1838. 2. Sutherland, 
October 24, 1837, died March 12, 1840. 3. 



392 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Julia, September ii, 1839, unmarried. 4. Rev. 
Alanson, December 13, 1842, married, June 
18, 1 87 1, Maria Russell Bleecker. 5. Mary 
Douglas, November i, 1844, died April 20, 
1846. 6. George Douglas, mentioned below. 

(\'ni) George Douglas, son of Samuel (2) 
and i\Iary Ann (Douglas) Miller, was born 
in Rochester, New York, November 5, 1847. 
He married, in Albany, New York, May 3, 
1877, Anna de Peyster Douw. Children: i. 
Mary, born at New Brighton, New York, 
June 4, 1878: married, Albany, December 17, 
1908, Hunsdon Gary, of Richmond, \'irginia : 
children : Hunsdon, born at Richmond, Mr- 
ginia, September 29, 1909 ; Wilson Miles, 
Richmond, October 13, 1910. 2. Helen Fran- 
chot, born at New Haven, Connecticut, I\Iarch 
6, 1880. 3. Samuel, born at New Haven, Oc- 
tober 21, 1881, died there November 13, 1883. 
4. Margaret Livingston, born at New Haven, 
March 21, 1884, died there March 24, 1884. 

(The Douglas Line). 
The earliest known ancestor in America was 
William Douglas, born in 1610, lived at Ips- 
wich, Massachusetts, as early as 1641, died at 
New London, Connecticut, July 26, 1682; mar- 
ried Ann Mable for Mattle), daughter of 
Thomas Mable, of Ringstead in Northampton- 
shire. 

(H) William (2). son of William (i) 
Douglas, was born at Boston, May 2 (or April 
11, 1645, fl'ed March 9, 1725, at New Lon- 
don; married, December 18, 1667, Abiah, 
daughter of William Hough. 

(HI) William (3), son of William (2) 
Douglas, was born at New London, February 
19, 1672, died at Plainfield, Connecticut. .Vu- 
gust 10, 1719; married and was the father of 
nine children. 

(IV) Asa, sixth child of William (3) 
Douglas, was born at Plainfield, Connecticut, 
December 11, 1715, died at Stephentown, New 
York (formerly Jericho Hollow, Massa- 
chusetts). November 12, 1792, where he had 
lived twenty-six years: married, about 1737. 
Rebecca Wheeler, born 1718, died 1809. 

(V) Wheeler, son of Asa Douglas, was born 
at ' Stephentown, New York, April 10, 1750, 
died at Smithville, Connecticut, January, 1829: 
married, 1771. Martha, daughter of Rev. John 
Rathbun, and she died November 28, 1837. 
Ten children. Wheeler Douglas lived at 
Stephentown from 1750 to 1779. and from 
1780 to 1798 was a merchant at Albany, New 
York. His property being consumed by fire, 
he bought a large tract of land from the In- 
dians, near P.rantford, Canada, where he lived 
the remainder of his life. 

(VI) Alanson, fourth child of Wheeler 



Douglas, was born at Stephentown, New York, 
February 11, 1779, died at Troy, New York, 
April 9, 1856; married, June 12, 1803, Ann, 
daughter of Solomon Sutherland, of Stanford, 
Dutchess county. New York. 

(VII) Mary Ann, daughter of Alanson 
Douglas, was born at Lansingburg, New 
York, February 7, 1807. died at New Haven, 
Connecticut, July 15, 1882; married. May 20, 
1833, Hon. Samuel Miller, of Rochester (see 
Miller VII). 



In England the Doanes and 
DOANE Dones trace their ancestry to 
King John's reign, 1190-1216, 
when the family was seated at Utkinton, in 
Cheshire, which appears to have been its chief 
seat for many generations. According to the 
most recent chroniclers of Doane genealogy, 
the ancient form of spelling of the surname is 
not clearly known and from the same source 
it is learned that the name is supposed to have 
been derived from "dun" or "dune," meaning 
a stronghold or hill fortress, while the old 
patronymic Done in several old manuscripts 
appears frequently as Doane, Down and 
Downe. But however the name may have 
been written in olden times, it is quite evident 
that those who bore it were persons of more 
than ordinary distinction, and that in the 
mother country as well as on this side of the 
Atlantic the name has stood for eminent re- 
spectability and high mental attainments : and 
among those bearing the name previous to the 
beginning of the seventeenth century were men 
of high stations, whose achievements won for 
them royal recognition and favor and who 
were honored with coats-of-arms and other 
insignia of rank and honor. .Says one chron- 
icle : "Near to Tarporley we see indeed the 
ruins of a house, yet with no decay of the 
name or the owners thereof, and the ancient 
seat of the Dones of L^tkinton I have heard 
was no little emulation until it pleased God. 
the heirs male of Utkinton failing were glad 
to knit with the Dones of Flaxyards, that so 
the union by marriage might make one greater 
name, as now in the person of the worthy 
Knight Sir John Done of Utkinton. a gentle- 
man replete in manv excellencies of nature, 
wit and ingenuity." 

( I I John Doane. immigrant ancestor of the 
jiarticular family under consideration here, is 
presumed to have been a descendant of the 
Dones of Cheshire, although nothing is known 
of his antecedent generations, neither have 
we any account of his birthplace, the name of 
his wife, nor the year of his immigration to 
New England. But we do know that he was 
one of the principal men in the aft'airs of the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



393- 



Plymouth colony, and from that fact it may 
be assumed that he was indeed "heir to a 
good birthright, that in some broad field edu- 
cation and friction had developed a manhood 
and strength of character that inspired the 
confidence of the Plymouth associates." In 
Mitchells "History of Bridgewater," it is men- 
tioned that "Mr. John Done came over to 
New England about 1629, when history in- 
forms us that thirty-five of the Leyden com- 
pany, with their families, arriving at Ply- 
month," while another record which speaks of 
the death of his daughter Abigail, says that 
he "came to Plymouth with his wife in 1630." 
It is known, however, that John Doane bore 
the title of "Mr." and that only those were 
so addressed who bore some distinction above 
the common station of their fellow-men. As 
John Done he was a freeman of Plymouth in 
1633, and as early as January, 1632-33, he 
with others was chosen to sit in the council. 
He also sustained various other offices in the 
colony, one of the most important of which 
was that of assistant to the governor, but this 
he gave up in order to serve as deacon of the 
church. One other account states that in 
1636 "Elder Brewster, Pastor Smith and 
Deacons Doane and Jenney of Plymouth, 
Jonathan Brewster and Christopher Wads- 
worth of Duxbury, James Cudworth and An- 
thony Annable. of Scituate, were joined to the 
governor and council for the preparation of 
a regular system of laws," etc. 

Deacon John Doane acquired several par- 
cels of land in Plymouth, but it does not ap- 
pear that he became well possessed of lands 
and goods at any time during his residence 
there. He was active in the measures adopted 
in purchasing from the Indians the lands of 
Nauset, afterward Eastham, where he was 
one of the first colonists in 1645, and where 
also he was much engaged with affairs of the 
town, serving in various capacities, deacon of 
the First Church there, selectman for many 
years, deputy to the court for Eastham in 
1648, and during four years afterward; and in 
June, 1663, he was authorized to perform 
marriage ceremonies and administer oaths to 
witnesses. He died February 11, 1685, and 
in his will, dated May 18, 1678, he stated his 
age as eighty-eight years or thereabouts. 
From this it would appear that he was born 
about 1590. His children: i. Lydia, born 
probably in England : married Samuel Hicks. 
2. Abigail, January 13, 1632, died Norwich, 
Connecticut, January 23, 1734-35 ; married 
Samuel, son of Rev. John Lothrop. 3. John, 
born probably at Plymouth about 1635, died 
Eastham, March 13, 1708: married (first) 
Hannah Bangs; (second) Rebecca Pettee. 4. 



Daniel, see forward. 5. Ephraim, born before 
1645, died Eastham, 1700; married (first) 
Mercy Knowles ; (second) Mary Snow. 

(II) Deacon Daniel Doane, son of Deacon 
John Doane, was born probably at Plymouth 
about 1636, died in Eastham, December 20, 
17 1 2. He removed with his father's family to 
Eastham in 1645, ^'if^ he lived in that part of 
the latter town which afterward was set off 
to East Orleans. Like his father, he was a 
person of considerable consequence, both in 
church and town affairs, and fulfilled the 
duties of several important offices, such as 
deacon of the church, probably succeeding his 
father, selectman from 1691 to 1696, juror in 
1677 and several times afterward, surveyor 
of highways in 1667 and four years after- 
ward. He had lands granted him by the 
town and acquired other tracts by purchase, so- 
that he became possessed of a good estate in 
lands and other property. According to the 
inventory, his total estate was of the value 
of more than five hundred and fifty pounds. 
Deacon Doane married twice, but the name 
of his first wife is not known. She is be- 
lieved to have been the mother of all his 
children except the youngest. He married 
(second), July 28, 1682, Hepzibah, widow of 
George Crisp and daughter of Daniel and' 
Mary Cole, of Eastham. Children: i. A son 
drowned in a well, September, 1667. 2. Jo- 
seph, born about 1668. 3. Constant (son), 
March 7, 1669-70. 4. Israel, born about 1672. 
5. Daniel, see forward. 6. Nathaniel, died in 
Harwich in 1758. 7. Constant (daughter), 
died May 2, 1720: married George Shaw. 8. 
Rebecca, married Benjamin Myrick, of East- 
ham. 9. Abigail, married Timothy Dimock 
and settled in Mansfield, Connecticut. 10. 
Ruth, died before March 15, 1722; married' 
Nathaniel Mayo. 11. Hepzibah, born of her 
father's second marriage. 

(HI) Daniel (2), son of Deacon Daniel 
(i) Doane, of Eastham, is presumed to have 
been born in Eastham. although the record of 
his birth or baptism is not found : he died at 
Newton, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, Sep- 
tember I, 1743. He was possessed of a re- 
markably strong and determined character, 
and in his own life made a radical departure 
from the religious teachings of his father and 
grandfather, but he was not less earnest and 
sincere and upright in his religious life and 
daily walk. The following account of his life 
is taken chiefly from the genealogv of the 
Doane family, compiled antl pubUshed by a 
descendant of Deacon John Doane, the immi- 
grant, in 1902: "Mr. Doane was of a self- 
reliant, independent, inquiring mind, and was 
led to study the teachings of the Friends, who 



394 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



-were then creating a sensation by their new 
•doctrine. Charmed by their teachings, he 
united with the Meeting at Sandwich, about 
fortv miles from his father's home, the oldest 
meeting in America. In 1696 he was granted 
by the Sandwich Meeting a certificate of re- 
moval for himself and wife, and after a jour- 
:ney of several hundred miles with his wife 
he arrived in the Friends' colony in Pennsyl- 
-vania. At that time he had four children, the 
3'oungest of whom was about two years old. 
In due season, Mr. Doane presented his cer- 
tificate to the meeting in Middletown, Bucks 
■county, and was received into membership. 
With his family he settled in or near the vil- 
lage of Newtown, where he was a carpenter 
and farmer, prosperous in his business life, 
and by thrift acquired a fair competence for 
the later years of his life. Although Daniel 
began well in Bucks county and was at first, 
at is thought, a religious teacher among the 
Friends, only a few years after his arrival in 
Pennsylvania his investigating spirit led him 
to invest the stars and influence of the planets 
upon one another. But reports 'that Daniel 
Doane should meddle in practicing astrologie' 
iDrought him into conflict with his meeting, 
which lasted almost continually until he was 
•disowned in 171 1. At length, tired of Daniel 
and his doings, the Middletown Meeting, after 
many expressions of sorrow that he is so 
wayward 'and prayers' that he may be brought 
back to ye truth 'disowns' the said Daniel 
Doane 'to be one of us,' and 'we being clear 
of him, his wickedness lies upon his own 
head.' " 

He was the first of the Doane family to 
migrate from Cape Cod and the only one 
•of the earlier generations of his family to 
depart from the teachings of the church of 
his forefathers ; but he was founder of the 
largest and in some respects the most im- 
portant branch of the Doane family planted 
in .\merica. 

The baptismal name of his first wife was 
IMehitable, and while her family name is not 
■definitely known, it is supposed that she was 
a daughter of William Twining, who had a 
daughter of that Christian name and who also 
went from Cape Cod to Bucks county previous 
to the year 1700. His second wife was Mary, 
probably a daughter of James Yates, who sold 
land in Pennsylvania to Daniel Doane. Chil- 
dren: I. Daniel, born nth month 23, 1687-88. 

2. Lydia, loth month 30, 1690-91. 3. Eleazer, 
I2th month 21, 1691-92. 4. Elijah, 4th month 

3, 1694. 5. Joseph, see forward. 6. Eliza- 
beth, 8th month 20, 1701. 8. Rebecca, 8th 
month 10, 171 1. 9. Samuel. 10. Mary, mar- 
ried Thomas l-'ishcr. 11. Thomas, died Had- 



donfield. New Jersey, 1779. 12. Sarah. 13. 
Ebenezer. 

(IV) Joseph, son of Daniel (2) and jNIe- 
hitable Doane, was born in Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, the 23d day of 2d month, 1697, 
died probably at Cane Creek, North Carolina. 
He was a carpenter by trade, and is said to 
have been a young man of great physical 
strength and power of endurance, and it was 
doubtless these qualities which led to his selec- 
tion as one of the three men chosen by the 
Penn proprietors to travel on foot for three 
days in determining the extent of land to be 
acquired from the Indians in what is known 
in history as the "walking purchase." After 
the death of his wife, Mr. Doane was granted 
permission to remove from \\'rightstown to 
the Buckingham Meeting, and subsequently 
he was given leave to visit among his father's 
people at Cape Cod. After his return to 
Pennsylvania, he asked for a certificate, in 
1750, to visit "Friends wherever his lot may 
be cast," and with this permission he went 
to North Carolina and is mentioned there as 
one of the organizers of the Friends Meeting 
at Cane Creek, where he is supposed to have 
died. He was a devout Friend and held firmly 
to that faith so long as he lived. On the 14th 
of loth month, 1726, Joseph Doane married 
Mary Carter at the Middletown Meeting. She 
died after 1740 and before 1744, and was a 
daughter of James and Grace Carter. Chil- 
dren : I. Joseph, born August 16. 1727, died 
November 7, 1727. 2. Mary, September 6, 
1728, died March i, 1743. 3. John, Novem- 
ber 30, 1 73 1, died at Cane Creek, North Caro- 
lina, 181 1. 4. Ebenezer. July 5, 1733, see for- 
ward. 5. Martha, September i, 1735. 6. 
Mehitable November 10, 1738. 7. Grace, Jan- 
uary 19, 1740. 

(V) Ebenezer, son of Joseph and Mary 
(Carter) Doane, was born at Wrightstown, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1733. 
died near Toronto, Canada, January 21, 1818. 
.^fter the death of his mother he, with his 
brothers and sisters, were either apprenticed 
or given in care of relatives. Ebenezer con- 
tinued to live in Bucks county until about ten 
years before his death, when he removed to 
Canada to live, with his children, all of whom 
except Jonathan had previously settled there. 
He brought himself under the displeasure of 
the Society of Friends because of his mar- 
riage with a German who was not of that 
faith, and for this ofifense was dismissed by 
the society ; but he continued to live firm in 
the faith, and his children were accepted under 
the care of the meeting. Before leaving 
Pennsylvania, he secured his usual certificate 
of removal and was accepted at the Yonge 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK A'ALLEYS 



395 



Street Meeting at Toronto on the I4tli of 7th 
imonth, 1808. About 1754-55 Ebenezer Doane 
married Anna Savilla Sloy, born Hanover, 
•Germany, 12th month 13, 1732, died loth 
month 15, 1803, daughter of Henry and Cath- 
•erine Sloy, who sailed for America in 1744, 
and both of whom died on the voyage. Chil- 
dren : I. Jonathan, born 5th month 30, 1755- 
56, see forward. 2. Martha, born 2nd month 
15. 1758. died loth month 18, 1840. 3. Wil- 
liam, born 1 2th month 30, 1760. 4. Mary, 
I2th month 7, 1762, died 4th month 5, 1827. 
5. Joseph. 3rd month 13, 1765. 6. John. loth 
month 3, 1768. 7. Mahlon, 8th month 20, 
1770. 8. Ebenezer, 9th month 9, 1772. 9. 
Daviil, nth month 5, 1775, died 8th month 13, 

I//" 

(\ I) Jonathan, son of Ebenezer and Anna 
Savilla "( Sloy) Doane, was born in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, the 30th day of 5th 
month. 1755-56, died in New York City the 
nth day of nth month, 1818. His business 
occupation was that of builder and contractor, 
and he was in all respects a substantial man. 
His business operations, at times very large, 
called him to live in Trenton and other parts 
•of New Jersey, Geneva, New York, and in 
New York City. "He is described as a man 
of singular perseverance and high principle, 
commanding and handsome in appearance, 
most loving and devoted in all his home rela- 
tions." He married (first) at the Bucking- 
ham Meeting 4th month 15, 1778, Mary, 
daughter of Timothy Beans, of Tinicum, 
Bucks county; he married (second) in New 
York City, ilary Higgins, who died in Bur- 
lington. New Jersey, March 7, 1858. Chil- 
dren of first wife: i. Jonathan, born 4th 
montli 24. 1788 ; married Jane Duckworth. 2. 
Aaron. 3. David. 4. Rebecca. 5. Cynthia. 
Children of seconil wife: 6. George Washing- 
ton, see forward. 7. Anna. 8. May. The lat- 
ter two unmarried. 

(VH) George Washington, son of Jona- 
than and IMary (Higgins) Doane, was born 
in Trenton, New Jersey. March 27, 1799, died 
in Burlington, New Jersey, April 17, 1859. 
He graduated from Union College in 18 18, 
then entered the General Theological Semi- 
nary with the class of 1824, but left that insti- 
tution in 1S21 and on April 9 of that year 
received deacon's orders and served as assist- 
ant to Bishop Hobart, then rector of Trinity 
Parish, New York. He entered the priest- 
Tiood, August 6, 1823, and soon afterward 
was appointed to assist Rev. George Hobart in 
founding St. Luke's Church, New York. 
From 1824 to 1828 he filled the professorship 
■of rhetoric and oratory in Washington Col- 
'lege (now Trinity), Hartford, Connecticut, 



and during the same period was assistant to 
Rev. William Croswell in editing the Episco- 
pal Jl'atcliman. From 1828 to 1830 he was 
assistant to Rev. Dr. Gardiner, rector of Trin- 
ity Church, Boston, and became himself rec- 
tor of the parish in 1830, serving until 1832, 
when he was elected second bishop of the 
diocese of New Jersey and was consecrated in 
St. Paul's Chapel, New York, on October 31 
of that year. 

To Bishop Doane fell the honor of having 
founded St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New 
Jersey, the first institution of its kind in Amer- 
ica "to educate the Church's girls in the 
Church's way," and subsequently he also 
founded a school for boys, which afterward 
became Burlington College. In carrying out 
his plans for these great educational enter- 
prises "he incurred certain financial obliga- 
tions in providing buildings for those institu- 
tions, which led to his being obliged to assign 
his property for the benefit of his creditors 
and in 185 1 to submit to a presentment or 
trial, but the presentment was unanimously 
dismissed, the diocesan convention having vin- 
dicated him before the trial was held. He 
was rector of St. Mary's Church at Burling- 
ton from the time of assuming the office of 
bishop until the time of his death, and was 
president of Burlington College from 1846 
until 1859. He helped to frame the first 
constitution of the Domestic and Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of the church, and was the 
first American bishop to preach in the Estab- 
lished Church to an English congregation at 
the consecration of the parish church at 
Leeds, in 184 1. He received the degree of 
S.T.D. from Union, Trinity and Columbia 
colleges in 1833, and the degree of LL.D. from 
St. John's College, Annapolis, A'laryland. in 
1841." Among Bishop Doane's published 
writings there mav be mentioned "Songs bv 
the Way/' 1824; "The Wedded Flags," "Soft- 
ly Now the Light of Day," "Thou Art the 
Way" and "Fling Out the Banner." His 
hymn beginning "Ancient of Days" was com- 
posed for the Albany Bi-Centennial celebra- 
tion, is printed in the Episcopal Hymnal and 
is in general use in other churches. 

At Boston, in 1829. Bishop Doane mar- 
ried Eliza Green (Callahan) Perkins, widow 
of James Perkins, of Boston. Children: i. 
George Hobart, born September 3, 1830: 
graduated from Jefferson Medical College. 
Philadelphia, 1850 : soon abandoned medicine 
and studied for the ministry ; was ordained 
deacon and attached to Grace Church, New- 
ark, New Jersey : became a Roman Catholic 
and was received into the church by Bishop 
Bayley, 1855 ; candidate for Holy orders and 



396 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



studied at St. Sulpice, Paris, and Collegio Pio, 
Rome ; ordained priest at St. Patrick's Cathe- 
dral, Newark, New Jersey, 1857; became 
bishop's secretary and was made rector of 
the parish and chancellor of the diocese ; ap- 
pointed vicar general of the diocese, 1873 ; 
domestic prelate, 1880: administrator of the 
diocese ; visited Rome in 1890 and by his Holi- 
ness Leo Xni was made prothonotary aposto- 
lic, "which not only gave him the right to 
wear the purple, but with the consent of the 
bishop of the diocese the pectoral cross and 
miter." 2. William Croswell, see forward. 

(Vni) William Croswell, younger son of 
George Washington and Eliza Green (Calla- 
han-Perkins) Doane, was born in Boston, 
I\Iassachusetts, IMarch 2, 1832, and lived chief- 
ly in Burlington, New Jersey, until 1863. In 
1858 he graduated from Burlington College, 
cum laiidc. delivering the English oration and 
the poem at commencement, and immediately 
afterward took up the study of theology. He 
was a tutor and assistant professor of Eng- 
lish literature in his alma mater, and from 
that institution he received the degree of 
Bachelor of Theology in 1857. In 1853 he 
was ordained deacon by his father, and in 
1856 he became priest. Afterward he was his 
father's assistant in the rectorship of St. 
Mary's Church, Burlington, founded and had 
the care of St. Barnabas Free Mission in that 
citv, and became himself rector of St. Mary's 
on' the death of his father in 1859. In 1863 he 
became rector of St. John's Church, Hartford, 
Connecticut, and in 1867 was called to be rec- 
tor of St. Peter's Church in Albany. It was 
at this time that he first became actively iden- 
tified with the ecclesiastical, civil and social 
life of the diocese of Albany, of which he be- 
came the first bishop at the time of the crea- 
tion of the new diocese in 1869, he having 
been consecrated on February 2 of that year. 

During the forty years of his incumbency 
of the bishoprics, the number of clergy within 
his jurisdiction has more than doubled, and 
during the same period a number of benevo- 
lent institutions have been established in the 
diocese, through his influence and effort. 
Among these "there may be mentioned St. 
Agnes' School, the Child's Hospital and St. 
Margaret's House, all in Albany. St. Agnes' 
School was founded in 1870 for the education 
of girls, being similar in character to other 
female colleges. The Child's Hospital is an 
institution absolutely free to all sick and 
crippled children, whether from within or 
without the diocese, and it is maintained by 
money paid by different municipalities for the 
support of the poor, by a moderate endow- 
ment and by private voluntary subscriptions. 



St. Margaret's House, a nursery for babies, 
was founded in 1884 and is in connection with 
the Child's Hospital ; all of its work is in 
charge of the Sisterhood of the Holy Child 
Jesus, which also cares for St. Christina 
Home. Saratoga, where young girls are 
trained for domestic service. The Diocesan 
Sisterhood was established by Bishop Doane • 
in 1873. For many years he has been acting 
president of the Foreign and Home Mission- 
ary societies of the Episcopal church, and in 
1910 and with a committee prepared a new 
constitution for the society that was adopted 
by the General Convention in session in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, that year. His father prepared 
the first constitution. All Saints Cathedral, 
Albany, is the crowning glory of Bishop 
Doane's work as a founder, and it was erected 
at a cost of more than a half million dollars. 
In addition to his labors and splendid works 
within the diocese, he was a regent and vice- 
chancellor of the University of the State of 
New York, and from 1892 for many years 
had charge of the American churches on the 
continent of Europe: a trustee of Holjart Col- 
lege from 1870 to 1879 ; visitor at Hobart from 
1869, and honorary trustee from 1890. He 
received the degree of Master of Arts from 
Hobart and Burlington colleges in 1S63: that 
of S.T.D. from Columbia in 1867, from Trin- 
ity in 1886: from Oxford, England, in 1886, 
and from Hobart in 1890 : and the degree of 
LL.D. from Union College in 1880 : from 
Cambridge, England, in 1888, and from Ho- 
bart in 1890. He was a leading member of 
the "committee appointed by the general con- 
vention 1892 to prepare the standard ]iraycr- 
book and hymnal for the use of the church." 
Among his published works are the "Life and 
Writings of Bishop George Washington 
Doane" (D. Appleton & Co., 1860-61) : "Mo- 
saics, or the Harmonv of Collect, Epistle and 
Gospel" (E. P. Dutt'on & Co., 1892) : "A<1- 
dresses to the Graduating Classes of St. 
Agnes' School" (Thomas \\niittaker, 1891), 
and "Sunshine and Shadow," a volume of 
verse for children. During the latter years of 
his life Bishop Doane has labored actively in 
promoting church unity both in his pulpit and 
privately, also active in the efforts being made 
to procure uniform divorce laws in the differ- 
ent states. 

William Croswell Doane married, Novem- 
ber 24, 1853, Sarah Catherine Condit, born' 
September 23. 1833, died November 9, 1907, 
daughter of Joel W. and Alargaret (Harri- 
son) Condit, of Newark, New Jersey. Chil- 
dren: I. Eliza Greene, born Burlington, New 
Jersey, October 22. 1854: married at Albany, 
New York. April 28, 1881, James Terry Gar- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK ^^\LLEYS 



397 



diner and had Mary Spring, born New York 
City, February i, 1882, married. August 24, 
1901. Charles Frazier, M. D., of Philadelphia, 
Pennsj'lvania ; Margaret Doane born in Al- 
bany, November 5, 1883 ; Doane, born in Al- 
bany, December 17, 1885: Anne Terry, born 
at North East Harbor, Maine, August 12, 
1887. married in her native town, August 27, 
1910, Roy Pier, of New York City; Eliza- 
beth Greene, born in Albany, June i, 1900. 
2. ^largaret Harrison, born in Burlington, 
New Jersey, September 7, 1858, died at North 
East Harbor, Maine, July 3, 1883, unmarried. 



The Huyck family came to 
HUYCK America in the person of John 
(Hanse) Huighen (Huygh, 
Huyck 1 in company with Peter Minuit, the 
commander and director of the Dutch West 
India Company and the real founder of the 
city of New York. In 1891 Mr. A. A. Voster- 
man Van Oijen, genealogist and Heraldisch 
Archief. residing at The Hague, made inves- 
tigations that gave many facts concerning the 
Huycks in Holland. They showed that while 
the family belonged to the burghers, they had 
occupied positions of trust and honor as far 
back as the sixteenth century. Copied from 
the registers of births, baptism, and mar- 
riages found there appear the same names 
that occur in the American family. Among 
Dutch publications is a well-known romance 
in two volumes entitled "Ferdinand Huyck," 
which has made the name Huyck a familiar 
one in many homes of that country. The arms 
of tlie Huyck family are : "The escutcheon ; 
in argent, a demi-lion of sable. The helmet ; 
a patrician one. The crest ; a demi-lion of 
sable. The mantling: argent and sable." 

(I) This record is traced from Henrie 
Huyck, a merchant from Roemond, who in 
1616 became a resident of Nymegen, Holland, 
and took the oath for himself and eleven chil- 
dren, of whom Jan (John) became groot- 
straat in 1617, while Henrie, the second son, 
became burgomaster of the town and left a 
numerous offspring. 

(II) Jan, son of Henrie Huyck, chieftain 
of the grootstraat, Nymegen, Holland, April 
18, 1617, emigrated from Wesel, a strongly 
fortified town on the Rhine. Here his youth- 
ful days had been spent and he had risen to 
some prominence, being a deacon or an elder 
in the church. He took passage on a small 
Dutch vessel, the "Sea Gull," in company with 
his brother-in-law, Peter Minuit, who was the 
first director in the New World of the Dutch 
West India Company. Jan was the "koop- 
man," storekeeper, for the company. They 
landed May 4, 1626, after a voyage of four 



months, on the island of Manhates, now the 
site of the present city of New York. .A small 
colony composed of thirty houses had been 
established there, a fort had been staked out 
and a stone building thatched with reeds 
erected as a counting house for the use of 
the company. Here the director and Koop- 
man took up their residence, transacted busi- 
ness and exerted every energy to advance the 
interests of the company. Not having an or- 
dained minister in the colony, two "Zercken 
Troosters," comforters of the sick, were ap- 
pointed who should read the Scripture, the 
Creed and a sermon on the Sabbath. John 
(Jan ) Huyck was one of the two appointed. 
The following year a minister having ar- 
rived, a church was organized with Peter 
Minuit and John Huyck, elders, they having 
been in Holland, one a deacon, the other* an 
elder. John Huyck was an honorable, intel- 
ligent and reliable man, and during his perma- 
nent settlement at New Amsterdam has hon- 
orable mention. His wife was Lizabeth Pet- 
ers, who survived him and married (second) 
July 5. 1657, Dirck Weijerts. 

(III) Andries Hanse,' son of Jan and Liza- 
beth (Peters) Huyck, was of New Amster- 
dam. Kinderhook and Albany. He was the 
owner of a large estate at Kinderhook, New 
York, which he obtained by a patent from 
King James II., dated March 14, 1636, and 
much of this is still in the possession of a 
descendant. Andries Hanse and his wife were 
among the first members of the old Dutch 
church in Albany, mentioned in 1(383, all 
previous records of this church being lost. 
He made his will, August 23, 1707. His wife 
was Cathalin Lammerse Van Valkenburgh, of 
Kinderhook, who was living in 1705 and is 
mentioned in his will with ten children: i. 
Johannes. 2. Lambert, of further mention. 
3. Burger, of Kinderhook, living in 173 1 ; 
married Mayke Hoes, October 2, 1(393. 4- 
Catie. 5. Jochem, baptized July 29, 1685. 6. 
Cornelis, baptized March 11, i(388. 7. and 8. 
Anna and Andries, baptized December 31, 
1693. 9. Maria, born November 11, 1696. 
10. Margaret, born January 7, 1700. 

(IV) Lambert, son of Andries Hanse and 
Cathalin Lammerse (Van Valkenburgh) 
Huyck, was born (circa) 1674-75. He, to- 
gether with his brother Burger and others, 
applied for and obtained in 1731 a patent for 
over six thousand acres situated at Kinder- 
hook, New York. He seems to have been a 
man of stirring business faculty as well as a 
devout Christian. He was deacon of the 
original Dutch Reformed church at Kinder- 
hook, in 1722 and 1723. probably serving many 
years. He married, August 28, 1707, Annalie 



398 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Ratcliff (Radcliff), of Albany, New York, 
born January lo, 1686, daughter of Jan Rad- 
cliff and his wife Rachel Lambertse Jochense 
Van A'alkenburgh. Children: i. Andries L., 
baptized February 27, 1709, of further men- 
tion. 2. Rachel, baptized Alarch 11, 171 1. 3. 
Cathryna, baptized September 27, 1713. 4. 
Sara, baptized March 4. 1721. 5. Rykert, born 
February 8, 1724. 

(V) Andries L., son of Lambert and An- 
nalie (Radcliff) Huyck, was born at Albany 
and baptized February 27, 1709. He was an 
elder of the Dutch Reformed church at 
Kinderhook from 1761 to 1770, being- re- 
elected several times. He married Maria 
Clouw, born at Kinderhook and baptized at 
Athens, Greene county, New York, November 
15, 1708, daughter of Jurian and Maria Jans 
Clouw. Children: i. Johannes (John A.), of 
further mention. 2. Annatje, baptized Febru- 
ary 6, 1742. 3. Bara, baptized February 8, 

1744- 

(VI) John A. f Johannes), son of Andries 
L. and Maria (Clouw) Huyck, was baptized 
June 27, 1730, died prior to 1797. He was a 
man of property and influence as shown by 
legal documents. He was a member and an 
official of the Kinderhook church for a num- 
ber of years, after which he and his wife were 
among the original members of the early 
Dutch church of Schodack, which church is 
now located at Meutzeskill, New York. He 
married Fitje (Sophia) Van Derkarr, March 
8, 1762, at Claverack, New York. She was 
born January 12, 1732, baptized at the Luther- 
an church at Athens, New York, daughter of 
Solomon and Helena Van Derkarr. Chil- 
dren: I. Solomon, of further mention. 2. An- 
dries J. 

(\'II) Solomon, son of John A. and Fitje 
(Sophia) (Van Derkarr) Huyck, was born 
at Schodack, New York, September i, 1770, 
baptized at the old Dutch Reformed church, 
September 22, 1770, died at his home in 
Westerlo, Albany county, New York, June 15, 
1848. His boyhood was passed during the 
exciting revolutionary period, and in 181 1 he 
was commissioned captain of militia by Gov- 
ernor Tompkins, governor of New York, 
serving in the regiment commanded by Colonel 
John T. Van Dalfscw. He married, July 10, 
1791, at Kinderhook, Mary McClurc, born 
December 7, 1771, died in the town of West- 
erlo, Albany county. New York, September 16, 
1851. Children: i. Daniel, born January 18, 

1793, died July 30, 1852. 2. Sophia, born 

1794, died May 14, 1878. 3. John S., of fur- 
ther mention. 4. Elizabeth, born September 
30, 1807, died February 16. 1882. 5. 
Catherine, born May 5, 1810, died Octo- 



ber 12, 1884. 6. Charity, born 181 1, died 
April II, 1886. 7. James William, born May 
16, 1816, died at Dormansville, October 12, 
1868; married, February 27, 1850, Elizabeth 
Graverd Dorman, born May 28, 1830, died 
December 10. 1861. 8. Mary, born 1817, 
died March 16, 1819. 9. Jane, died JiLiv 22, 
1886. 

(VHI) John S., son of Solomon and 'Slary 
(McClure) Huyck, was born in Westerlo, Al- 
bany county. New York, January 26. 1800, 
died at Rensselaerville, Albany county. New 
York, October 25, 1872. His pastor. Rev. 
John Gordon, wrote of him, "All who have 
been in any way interested in our village dur- 
ing the last half century will remember his 
kind face, his ready smile, his warm sympa- 
thy, and his activity in every good work. He 
came to the village in early manhood and has 
ever since been so identified with its interests 
that all must feel his loss. He was always 
most active in educational matters, one of the 
supporters of the Academy in its most pros- 
perous days. Many of our citizens are in- 
debted to him in a measure for that educa- 
tion that enabled them to succeed in life and 
always to be found boldly on the side of mor- 
ality. His influence in the community cannot 
be too highly estimated. A constant attend- 
ant at the Presbyterian Church, he felt a deep 
interest in its welfare." John S. Huyck mar- 
ried, April 2, 1834. Isabella Conkling, born 
July 9, 1809, died at Brooklyn, New York, 
April II, 1874, daughter of Daniel Conkling, 
of Rensselaerville, New York. She was a 
woman of high standing and of a generous 
nature (see Conkling VI). Children: i. 
Francis Conkling, of further mention. 2. 
Mary Elizabeth, born July 8, 1840 : married, 
June II, 1863, Jerome B. Moore, of Rensse- 
laerville, born in that village, April 28, 1830, 
died October 17, 189 1, son of Judge Apollos 
Moore. In the early fifties he went to Cali- 
fornia with his friend. Dr. Harvey Hyde 
Wickes, settled in Nevada City, that state, 
where for ten years they carried on a success- 
ful drug business. In 1864 he located in Syra- 
cuse, New York, where he engaged in the 
wholesale drug business. He was a member 
and trustee of the Presbyterian church of that 
city, and a Republican in politics. "A true 
man and without guile, all who knew him were 
his friends." Children : Frank Huyck Moore, 
died at the age of four years ; John Stanley 
Moore, born January 16, 1870 ; Ernest Conk- 
ling Moore, born January 4, 1873. 3. Albert, 
died in infancy. 

(IX) Francis Conkling, son of John S. and 
Isabella (Conkling) Huyck, was born at Rens- 
selaerville, New York, July 10, 1838, died in 



HUDSON AND :\IOHA\VK VALLEYS 



399- 



Albany, New York, July 4, 1907. He was 
educated in the Rensselaerville and Canan- 
daigua academies, and during his long and 
busy life was a woollen manufacturer. In 
1872 he became a member of the firm of H. 
W'aterbury & Company, manufacturers of pa- 
perniakers' felts with plant at Rensselaerville. 
This firm continued until 1880, when Mr. 
Huyck withdrew and in association with C. E. 
Argersinger established a plant at Kenwood 
for the manufacture of the same class of goods 
as made in the Rensselaerville plant. Their 
mill was destroyed by fire in 1894 and never 
rebuilt. Mr. Huyck in association with his 
sons formed the firm of F. C. Huyck & Sons 
and built a new mill at Rensselaer, continuing 
there the manufacture of papermakers" felts. 
He remained in active business until his death, 
leaving to the care of his sons the business 
with which he had been so long connected. 
Although his home was in Albany, he contin- 
ued to make Rensselaerville his summer home, 
and took tlie liveliest interest in the prosperity 
of this village. One of his benefactions was 
the gift of a public hall and a library to his 
native village. He was a man of great public 
spirit, liberal and broad-minded and of strict- 
est integrity in all his dealings with others. 
He was a member of the Presbyterian church 
of Rensselaerville, the Holland Society of 
New York, and of the Albany Chamber of 
Commerce. His clubs were the Lotos and 
Republican, of New York City, and the Coun- 
try and Fort Orange of Albany. He married, 
June 28, 1865, Emily Harriet Niles, born at 
Rensselaerville, New York, January 10, 1845, 
daughter of Hon. John and Mary (Cook) 
Niles (see Niles HI). Children, all born in 
Rensselaerville except the youngest: i. Ed- 
mund Niles, of further mention. 2. Elizabeth 
Moore, born January 24, 1869 ; married Lewis 
A. Eldridge ; children : Lewis, William, Harry, 
Francis IL. Bessie, Edward and Roswell. 3. 
John Niles, of further mention. 4. Francis 
Conkling, of further mention. 5. Amy Conk- 
ling, born January 15, 1879, died August 6, 
1881. 6. Emily Niles, born January 13, 1882, 
at Albany. 

(X) Edmund Niles, eldest son of Francis 
Conkling and Emily H. (Niles) Huyck, was 
born May 17, 1866. He was educated at Rens- 
selaerville Academy ; prepared for college at 
Albany Boys' Academy ; entered Williams Col- 
lege, whence he was graduated, class of 1888. 
After completing his college course he at once 
associated with his father in business, the 
firm being F. C. Huyck & Sons. He is a Re- 
publican in politics, and a member of the Sec- 
ond Presbyterian Church of Albany. His clubs 
are the Country, Fort Orange and University 



of Albany. He married, 1891, at Albany,. 
Jessie E., daughter of William M. Van Ant- 
werp, of Albany. , 

(X) John Niles, second son of Francis- 
Conkling and Emily H. (Niles) Huyck, was 
born June i, 187 1. He was educated at the 
Albany Boys' Academy, and was graduated 
from Williams College, class of 1893. After 
completing his education, he was admitted to 
the firm of F. C. Huyck & Sons, of which he 
is still a member. He is a Republican in poli- 
tics, a member , of the Second Presbyterian 
Church of Albany, and of the Country, Fort 
Orange, and University clubs of Albany. He 
married, December 9, 1896, at Saratoga, An- 
nie, daughter of David Ritchie. Children, 
adopted. John Francis, born September 7, 
1899; Eleanor, born September 22, 1901. 

(X) Francis Conkling (2), third son of 
Francis Conkling (i) and Emily H. (Niles)' 
Huyck, was born in Rensselaerville, New 
York, November 15, 1874. He was educated 
at Albany Boys' Academy, Holbrook Military 
Academy, Ossining, New York, and at Wil- 
liams College. He was admitted to the firm 
of F. C. Huyck & Sons. He is a Republican 
in politics, and a member of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church. His clubs are the Country, 
Fort Orange and University of Albany. He 
married, in New York City, Laura \'an Ness,, 
daughter of Daniel Talmage. Child, Kather- 
ine, born September i, 1903. 

(The Conkling Line). 

Isabella Conkling, wife of John S. Huyck,. 
was of the sixth generation from Annanias 
Conklin (Conkeline), an early settler on Long 
Island, New York. 

(I) Annanias Conklin and his brother are 
mentioned in Savage's "Genealogical Diction- 
ary" as being early settlers of Salem, Massa- 
chusetts. Annanias was made a freeman at 
Salem, Mav 18, 1642. This meant that he was 
of lawful age and a member of the church, 
none others being allowed to vote or hold 
office. He had three children baptized at Sa- 
lem. In 1650 he removed to East Hampton, 
Long Island, his brother John going farther 
down the island, settling at Southold, where 
he died. An old gravestone reads: "Here 
lieth Captain John Conkelyne, born in Not- 
tinghamshire, England, and died at Southold, 
Long Island. April 6, 1794, aged 64 years." 
This establishes the English home of the fam- 
ily, although Annanias the elder may have 
been born in some other part of England. An- 
nanias had children mentioned in East Hamp- 
ton and Salem records : Lewis, Jacob, Eliza- 
beth, all baptized at Salem. Those mentioned 
at East Hampton are Jeremiah, the ancestor 



400 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



of Roscoe Conkling, United States senator 
from New York, married Mary, daughter of 
Lion Gardiner ; Cornelius : Benjamin ; a daugh- 
ter, wife of George Miller ; and Hester, who 
was six and one-half years old when her fath- 
er died in November, 1657. 

(H) Benjamin, son of Annanias Conkling, 
died in 1709. He married Hannah Mulford. 
'Children: John, Eliakim, Benjamin (2), An- 
nanias. 

(HI) Annanias (2), son of Benjamin and 
Hannah (Mulford) Conklin, married Han- 
nah . Children: i. Bethiah, bap- 
tized January i, 1701 ; married Joseph Hicks. 
2. Henry, of further mention. 3. Nathan, bap- 
tized January 27, 1705-06; married Phoebe 
Parsons. 4. Annanias (3), baptized August 
15, 1708 ; married Mary Miller. 5. Samuel, 
"baptized February 27, 171 1; married Clemens 
Parsons. 6. Lemuel, baptized April 5, 1713. 
7. Benjamin, baptized December 11, 1715; 
married Sarah Parsons. 8. Hannah, twin of 
Benjamin, married Isaac Barnes. 9. Daniel, 
baptized February 16. 1718. 10. Josiah, bap- 
tized July 23, 1721. New York Wills, vol. 13, 
page 568, mentions all these children except 
Samuel. Will was probated August 26, 1740, 
son Nathan, executor. 

(IV) Henry, son of Annanias (2) and Han- 
nah Conklin, was baptized February 22, 1702. 
He married, November 5, 1724, Mary Jones. 
(The old family Bible at Rensselaerville, New 
York, contains her name). Children: i. 
Henry, baptized November 28, 1725. 2. Jede- 

•diah, baptized September 24, 1727. 3. Jane, 
baptized December 6, 1730. 4. Edward, bap- 
tized August 27, 1732. 5. Mary, baptized 
December 22, 1734. 6. Daniel, of further men- 
tion. 7. Lucretia, baptized May 6. 1739. 8. 
Elizabeth, baptized July 11, 1742. 9. Hannah, 
born November 11, 1744. 

(V) Daniel, son of Henry and Mary 
(Jones) Conkling, was baptized at East 
liant[)ton, Long Island, April 24. 1737, died 
at Rensselaerville, New York, September 25, 
1816. Revolutionary war records at Wash- 
ington show that he served as a private in 
Captain Edward Dunscomb's company of the 
Fourth New York regiment, commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Wissenfels; also 
designated as Captain William Jackson's com- 
pany, same regiment; also as Captain Benja- 
min Marvin's company. First New York regi- 
ment. His name also appears on the rolls, 
November 21 to September 5, 1777, and on the 
following rolls to December, 1780, with re- 
marks: "Appointed Corporal December i, 
1778", New York State revolutionary archives 
state that he was made ensign, September 13, 
1775, of Fourth Company, Second Battalion, 



Suffolk county militia. Daniel settled in Rens- 
selaerville, New York, where he died. He 
married (first) Abigail Parsons. Children: 
I. Daniel (2), of further mention. 2. Josiah, 
born 1770, died May 8, 1835. 3. Mary, mar- 
ried Daniel Dayton. 4. Henry, settled at 
Johnstown, New York. 5. Abigail. He mar- 
ried (second) Hannah Hutchinson. Children: 
6. Samuel, born September 5, 1789, died No- 
vember ID, 1818. 7. John T., born at East 
Hampton, April 2, 1792, died at Rensselaer- 
ville, October 10, 1875 ; married Tirza Stone, 
born in Colerain, ^Massachusetts. 8. Clarissa, 
born June 14, 1795, died December 9, 1821 ; 
married Thomas Lloyd. 

(VI) Daniel (2), son of Daniel (i) and 
Abigail (Parsons) Conkling, was born at East 
Hampton, Long Island, July 19, 1765, died at 
Rensselaerville, New York, January 27, 1833. 
He married, February 16, 1791, Isabella Lusk, 
born February 19, 1771, died April 18, 1846, 
daughter of Thomas Lusk, of Stockbridge. 
Children: i. Juliana, born May 6, 1792 ; mar- 
ried Henry Stone. 2. Daniel (3), born Janu- 
ary 9. 1794, died January 15, 1871 ; married 
Harriet Hubbell, of Bennington, Vermont. 3. 
Thomas L., born October 9, 1796, died June 
I, 1852; married Frances M. Hackley. 4. 
George, died in infancy. 5. Herod, born April 
28, 1800, died March 18, 1847; married 
Wealthy Hubbs. 6. George C, died in in- 
fancy. 7. Guidon, born September i, 1803, 
died May 8, 1874 ; married Caroline Tremaine. 
8. David, born January 7, 1806, died Decem- 
ber 26, 1881 : married (first) Almira A. Wat- 
son ; (second) Caroline A. Clark. 9. Albert, 
born January 11, 1808, died December 3, 
1878; married (first) Harriet Hills, (second) 
Amelia Mills, (third), Sarah Ann Palmer. 10. 
Isabella, born July 9, 1809, died .-\pril 11,1874; 
married John S. Huyck (see Huyck \'III) 11. 
Abigail, born March 25. 181 1, died July 13, 
i8~6: married William F. Bulkley. 12. Eliza- 
beth, born November 11. 1812. died January 
21, 1833. 13. Margaret, died in infancy. 

(The Niles Line). 
(I) Emily H. (Niles) Huyck descends 
from the Niles family of Rhode Island. The 
first of her ancestry to settle in New York 
state was Nathaniel Niles, born in Rhode 
Island, died in Otsego county. New York, 
aged eighty-eight years. He continued his 
residence in New England until after his mar- 
riage and the birth of several children, when 
he removed to Dutchess county. New York, 
where he was a farmer. He lived in Dutchess 
countv until his ciiildren were grown and 
settled in homes of their own. Wiien he grew 
old in years he went to Otsego county. New 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



401 



York, with his son Nathaniel (2). When 
•eighty years of age he made the trip from 
Otsego county to Coeymans, Albany county, 
coming the entire distance of eighty miles on 
horseback to visit his son Henry. He mar- 
ried Martha . Nathaniel was a 

member of the Society of Friends and the 
Bible which contains the family records has 
the name entered in their form. He was born 
25, 2 mo., 1728; died 2, 2 mo., 1816. Martha, 
his wife, born 24, 2 mo., 1729; died 12, i mo., 
1820. Children: William, born 14, 12 mo., 
1753 : Freelove, born 25. 5 mo., 1755 ; Abigail, 
born 14, I mo., 1757; Elizabeth, born 24, 5 
mo., 1759 : Henry, of further mention : Jane, 
born 15, 5 mo., 1763: Nathaniel, born 16, 8 
mo., 1765. Jane married Willet Casey in 
Dutchess county. Being Quakers, they were 
much molested for their peculiar beliefs and 
leaving Dutchess county removed to Canada, 
locating- at Adolphustown on the bay of 
Quinte. where they became wealthy and influ- 
ential, living both to a good old age and 
founding a family. Nathaniel (2) lived for 
a short time at Coeymans, Albany county, 
New York, then settled in Otsego county. 
New York, where he purchased land and lived 
the remainder of his days. He died after 
1832. He married and had children: Jane, 
born 15, 12 mo., 1788: Hannah, born 27, 12 
mo.. 1789; W'illiam, born 21, 6 mo., 1791 ; 
Freelove, born 8, 9 mo., 1792 ; Gulielma, born 
25, I mo., 1794: Lydia, born 24, 11 mo., 
1795: Alpha, born 16, 4 mo.. 1799; Mary, 
born 30. 8 mo., 1803 : Martha, born 8, 6 mo., 
1805: Hanson, born 21. 4 mo., 1807; Abigail, 
born 26. 9 mo., 1808. 

(H) Henry, son of Natlianiel and Martha 
Niles. was bom probably in Rhode Island, 
20th day. 5th month, 1761. The inscription 
on his tombstone in Coeymans burying ground 
reads: "In memory of Henry Nile who died 
December 18, 1812, aged 51 years, 8 months 
and I day." He removed to Otsego county 
with his father, but did not long remain there. 
He lived in Dutchess county until after his 
marriage, then settled in the town of Coey- 
mans, Albany county. New York, where he 
died. He married Hannah Hicks, a cousin 
of Elias Hicks, founder of the Hicksite 
branch of the Society of Friends. Her grave- 
stone in Coeymans reads : "In memory of 
Hamiah Niles who died January 22, 1827, 
aged 61 >ears. 5 months, and 29 days." Chil- 
dren : I. Henry, a farmer livetl and died in 
Coeymans where he married and had Henry 
(2), Annie, married Noble H. Johnson. 2. 
Nathaniel (3), a farmer, lived in Coeymans, 
died in Albany, New York, aged eighty-five 
years. His only son John died comparatively 



a young man, leaving Nathaniel (4) and John, 
the former a lawyer of Albany. 3. Samuel, a 
farmer, moved in early life to Rensselaerville, 
Albany county. New York, where he lived 
and died on the same farm at the great age 
of ninety-five years. He had seven daughters, 
who all married well-to-do farmers and had 
homes near or within a few miles of the old 
homestead. His sons Henry and Luther both 
had farms near by. 4. William, removed to 
Canada, where he sat as a member of the 
Dominion parliament. He was a miller and 
a farmer, living near a small hamlet called 
Nilestown. His children were Henry, Ste- 
phen. Nancy and Martha. 5. Sarah, died at 
the advanced age of ninety-two years. She 
married a farmer of Coeymans, Peter Van 
Alstyne : removed with an only son and two 
daughters to Palmyra, New York, where her 
grandson, Pliny Sexton, is a wealthy banker. 
6. Stephen, removed to Canada, was twice 
married and had children: Elizabeth, Cather- 
ine, \\'illiam F., Nathaniel, Stephen P.. Jane 
Ann, Letty, Miriam, Matilda and Sarah. 7. 
Martha, married Reuben Stanton, of Greene 
county. New York : removed to Ionia, Michi- 
gan, where she died very old. Children : Reu- 
ben, Hamilton, George and Rufus. 8. Han- 
nah, married Jacob Tompkins, a farmer of 
Rensselaerville, Albany county. New York, 
where she died at age of ninety years. Her 
children were all farmers or wives of farm- 
ers. 9. Lydia, married Abram Searles, a 
farmer ; removed with a large family to \\'ell- 
ington. Prince Edward's District, Canada, 
where she died very old. All her children 
were farmers except Niles, who came to the 
States at age of eighteen : studied law at 
Cherry \'alley. New York: went to California 
in 1849 : settled in Nevada City, California, 
where he became a leading mining lawyer and 
one of the most prominent jurists in the state. 
He was district judge, state senator and one 
of the commissioners of the supreme court of 
California and later was elected chief justice. 
With the exception of the last mentioned son 
of Lydia Searles, the men of this family have 
all been farmers in good circumstances. 10. 
John, of further mention. The first two gen- 
erations mentioned were members of the So- 
ciety of Friends, but later generations have 
departed from that faith. 

(Ill) Hon. John Niles, son of Henry and 
Hannah (Hicks) Niles, was born in Coey- 
mans, Albany county. New York, but removed 
early in life to Rensselaerville, where for 
a few years he followed the occupation 
of a tanner. He was well educated and 
studied law, and was admitted to the 
Albany county bar. He was supervisor 



402 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



many years, and later county judge. He 
was often employed to settle difficulties be- 
tween landlords and tenants on the \'an Rens- 
selaer estate and transacted other legal busi- 
ness. After his admission to the bar, he con- 
fined himself entirely to the law, practicing in 
the various courts of New York. He was 
an able lawyer, of a high order of intelligence 
and a character beyond reproach. His great 
influence in the county was always exerted 
for good and never to promote selfish pur- 
poses. He died in 1872, aged seventy-five 
years. He married Mary (Polly) Cook. 
Children: i. Laura F., died young. 2. Cor- 
nelia D., married (first) William W. Allen, 
(second) Alvin Devereux, of Deposit, New 
York, whom she survives, a resident of Al- 
bany. 3. Mary C, married Chief Justice Niles 
Searies, of San Francisco, California. 4. Ad- 
dison C, a graduate of Williams College, 
class of 1852, studied law with Increase Sum- 
mer, of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and 
Judge Rufus King, of Catskill, New York ; 
settled in Nevada City, California, and be- 
came judge of the supreme court, later re- 
moving to San Francisco. His only son, Ad- 
dison Niles, is an artist in New York City. 
5. J. Hamilton. 6. Charles M. 7. Henrietta, 
died young. 8. Emily Harriet, married Fran- 
cis Conkling Huyck, whom she survives, a 
resident of Albanv, New York (see Huyck 
IX). 



The ancestry of Judge In- 
INGALSBE galsbe, of Hudson Falls 
(until 1910, Sandy Hill), is 
most notable. It leads on both the paternal 
and maternal sides to the early Puritan set- 
tlers of New England, and through them to 
a long array of distinguished and royal ances- 
tors in England and on the Continent, which 
have been traced along different lines for more 
than a tliousand years. He married Franc E. 
Groesbeck, of Dutch, English and Quaker de- 
scent, so that in their son, Grenville Howland 
Ingalsbe, mingled the blood of the Swede, the 
Dane, the Saxon, the Frank, the Norman, the 
Welsh, the Hollander, the Englishman and the 
Quaker. 

(I) Ebenezer Ingoldsby (Ingalsbe) was 
born February 10, 1730, in the vicinity of Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts. He married Susanna 
Robbins, born October 18, 1729. They had 
fourteen children. He was an English soldier 
in the French and Indian wars as private, en- 
sign and second lieutenant, under the name of 
Ebenezer Ingoldsby. He was with Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson and Lyman at Lake George in 
1755 ; with Amherst and Wolfe at Louisburgh 
in 1758, with Amherst at Ticonderoga in 1759 



and with Haviland to Montreal and at the 
surrender of Canada in 1760. He then set- 
tled as a farmer in the north parish of Shrews- 
bury, Massachusetts, where he held various 
positions of trust, including that of justice 
of the peace. At the breaking out of the 
war of independence he changed his name to- 
Ingalsbe. He was a sergeant of the minute- 
men upon the Lexington alarm, became cap- 
tain, and after arduous service in the North- 
ern Department was discharged November 29, 
1777, with his health permanently impaired. 
All of his sons who were of military age, Ebe- 
nezer, Jr., John and Joseph, served in the con- 
tinental army. In 1790, having been preceded 
by several of his sons, he moved to Hart- 
ford, New York, where he died August 17, 
1802. His wife died September 17, 1804. He 
was the great-grandson of John Ingoldsby, 
who emigrated from Lincolnshire, England, 
to Boston in 1640, and became a freeman or 
voter in 1642. John Ingoldsby was of the 
thirteenth generation from Sir Roger In- 
goldsby, Knight, Lord of the Manor of In- 
goldesby in the county of Lincoln, England. 
In England and in America the Ingoldsbys 
have been of warrior blood. They were prom- 
inent in the civil wars, and were the adher- 
ents and among the closest confidants of 
Oliver Cromwell. In America they were par- 
ticipants in various of the Indian Border wars, 
including that of King Philip. 

(II) Aaron, fifth son of Ebenezer Ingals- 
be, was born at Boylston, Massachusetts, June 
10, 1765 : married Polly Hicks, born Jan- 
uary 5, 1773; was one of the pioneer settlers 
in Hartford, New York, in 1780, and died 
January 17, 1850. His wife died January 4, 
1853. They had eleven children. 

(HI) James, eldest son of Aaron Ingalsbe, 
was born in Granville, New York, July 18, 
1789. He married, December 8, 1813, Fanny 
Harris, born August 26, 1795, and settled in 
Kingsbury, New York. In a few years he 
moved to Hartford, where he became a suc- 
cessful farmer and an influential citizen. He 
died December 3, 1880, and his wife died 
May 17, 1868. They had five children. Fanny 
(Harris) Ingalsbe on her paternal side was 
of the fifth generation from Thomas Harris, 
of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1636, and his 
wife, Martha (Lake) Harris, who was the 
daughter of John Lake, a descendant of the 
Lakes of Yorkshire, England, deriving their 
descent through a long royal line from Pip- 
pin of Heristal, Mayor of the Palace under 
the Merovingian Kings. On her maternal 
side she was of the sixth generation from 
Thomas Tracy, who was born in 1610, and' 
who emigrated to America in 1636, settling in: 



HUDSON AXD :\IOnA\VK VALLEYS 



403 



Salem, Massachusetts, removing to Saybrook, 
Connecticut, in 1639, and to Norwich, in 1660, 
and taking a prominent part in civil and mili- 
tary affairs. He was the son of Sir Paul 
Tracy of the Alanor of Stanway, who was 
created a baronet by King James I, and a 
descendant on his father's side through Al- 
fred the Great, from Ecgberht, King of the 
West Saxons, and Lord of all England, and 
on his mother's side through Sir Thomas 
Lucy, of \\'arwickshire, from the Emperor 
Charlemagne. 

(IV) Milo, eldest son of James Ingalsbe, 
was born in Kingsbury, New York, May 29, 
1818. From 1820 until his death, Novem- 
ber 29, 1893. he resided in Hartford, New 
York. On June 5, 1842, he married Laura 
Cook Chapin, born August 21, 18 17, in Chi- 
copee, Massachusetts. They had one child. 
Laura Cook (Chapin) Ingalsbe, on her 
father's side was of the seventh generation 
from Deacon Samuel Chapin, one of the 
founders of Springfield, Massachusetts, whose 
statue, by St. Gaudens, in that city, represents 
the typical Puritan. The Chapins were of 
Welsh ancestry. On her mother's side Laura 
Cook (Chapin) Ingalsbe was of the seventh 
generation from Henry Cook, who emigrated 
from England, and was a freeholder in Salem, 
Massachusetts, in 1638, and of the third gen- 
eration from Samuel Cook, who after various 
short terms of service in the patriot army, 
during the revolutionary war, with the Con- 
necticut troops, became a member of Captain 
Warner's company, January i, 1777, and 
served throughout the war, receiving his dis- 
charge, January i, 1781. He settled in Gran- 
ville, New York, and in 1793 moved to Hart- 
ford, New York, where he died. 

Milo Ingalsbe early distinguished himself 
as a student. \\'hen sixteen years of age he 
commenced teaching, meeting with great suc- 
cess. Later he attended the Castleton Acad- 
emy in Castleton, \'ermont, winning the 
highest rank. In 1840-41 he took a course 
in medicine at the Albany Medical School. 
When in Albany a fine position as teacher was 
offered him. in the present middle-west, carry- 
ing great opportunities for advancement, and 
he chose teaching as his life work, but his 
father urged him to return to the farm to as- 
sist in the education of his younger brothers. 
As a result he renounced a career which 
would have resulted in a high measure of suc- 
cess. He did not repine. Wherever he was, 
whatever he did. he was born to be a leader. 
For many winters he continued to teach. He 
became, successively, school inspector and 
school superintendent of his town. He was a 
staunch supporter of the public school sys- 



tem and of the free district library during 
their early and critical days. He was a lover 
of good literature and sought, by the circula- 
tion of such periodicals as the Cultivator, the 
Nc'i.i> Yorker and the Tribune, and later Har- 
per's Magazine, and the Atlantic, to all of 
which he was a subscriber from their first 
issues, to raise the standard of public intelli- 
gence. He was district clerk of his school 
district for fifty years. Mr. Ingalsbe never 
sought public office, but he was a justice of 
the peace of his town for several terms and 
was its supervisor during the years of the civil 
war, and upon him fell largely the burden of 
filling the quotas and adjusting the accounts 
of the town. A large portion of his time 
was thus occupied during the last years of 
the war, without compensation, but the town 
quota was always full, its accounts were un- 
impeachable, while the burden of war taxa- 
tion was not only reduced to a minimum, but 
was entirely removed, while war prices for 
farm products prevailed. The war over, and 
the town's war debt paid, he declined a fur- 
ther nomination for supervisor, and while 
often besought by his fellow citizens, per- 
sistently refused to allow his name to be used 
as a candidate for any district or county office. 

In the early forties he assisted in the or- 
ganization of the Washington County Agri- 
cultural Society, and his name appeared on 
its official lists for over fifty years. For 
twenty years he was its secretary. He held 
the office of president for several terms, and 
for the twenty-eight years preceding his death 
was a member of its board of managers. Af- 
ter holding various subordinate positions in 
the State Agricultural Society he was chosen 
a member of its executive committee. He held 
this position five years, and in 1871 was chosen 
president. He continued as a member of 
the board of managers until 1876. The ad- 
dress, which according to custom he delivered 
upon his retirement as president, was widely 
circulated, and for beauty of diction, breadth 
of thought and masterly grasp of the agricul- 
tural situation will remain a classic among the 
agricultural addresses of the time. L'pon the 
establishment of the P.ureau of .Xg-riculture in 
i860 he became its correspondent in \\'ash- 
ington county, and he continued to act in that 
capacity until his death. For forty years he 
was the conveyancer, the drawer of wills, the 
pacificator, and the legal adviser of his neigh- 
borhood, and he bore the test of this confi- 
dence so truly that almost the entire town 
was his clientele. 

He was a master of a pure and forcible lit- 
erary style. He prepared a large number of 
addresses and monographs upon educational, 



404 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK A'ALLEYS 



historical, biographical, meteorological and 
agricultural subjects. At the time of his death 
he had matured plans for the preparation of a 
local history, for which his remarkable mem- 
ory, wide acquaintance with men and affairs 
and large stores of collected material especi- 
ally fitted him. 

The keynote of Mr. Ingalsbe's life was 
contained in his utterance only a few hours 
before his death, "I have always tried to stand 
close by the nearest duty. I have known no 
other way." The rich fruitage of such living 
was revealed in that other remark made by 
him, in the presence of death. "I do not know 
as I have a grudge against any one." 

(V) Grenville Mellen. only child of Mile 
and Laura Cook (Chapin) Ingalsbe, was born 
in Hartford.. New York, July 26, 1846. He 
studied at home under his father's personal 
instruction until he was fourteen. During 
the next four winters he attended the district 
school, and then spent a year at the Fort Ed- 
ward Collegiate Institute. In 1866 he entered 
Union College as a junior in the class of 1868. 
He remained in college only a year, but his 
record was such that in 1870 the college con- 
ferred upon him, in course, his Bachelor's, and 
three years later his Master's degree. For 
three years, commencing in 1867. he was the 
principal of the Argyle Academy at Argyle, 
New York. He was a student with his stu- 
dents, was deservedly popular, and placed the 
school in the front rank of country academies. 
In 1870 he resigned the principalship and 
commenced the study of law with the firm of 
Hughes & Northup in Sandy Hill. Up to this 
time he spent his vacations working on the 
farm and his love of farm life has always re- 
mained intense. 

After a year of unremitting office study, 
he entered the Harvard Law School. There 
he performed two years work in one, graduat- 
ing with honor as a Bachelor of Law in the 
class of 1872. During this year he formed a 
wide acquaintance in Boston and vicinity and 
took courses of lectures in History imder 
Samuel Eliot, Natural History under Louis 
Agassiz. Life and Living under Ralph Waldo 
Emerson, and pursued the study of botany 
under .Asa Gray, and of literature and Ger- 
man under equally illustrious masters. Im- 
mediately upon his graduation he re-entered 
the law office of Hughes & Northup, this time 
as managing clerk. This was during the 
presidential campaign of 1872, and he flung 
aside the most flattering prospects of political 
preferment to aid the cause of his personal 
friend, Horace Greeley. 

Mr. Ingalsbe was admitted to the bar in 
1874, and in 1875 he opened a law office in 



Sandy Hill. In 1874 he was elected secre- 
tary of the Washington County Agricultural 
Society, a position which he held for four 
years. During this time the field of the So- 
ciety's operations was more than doubled, the 
prize list was revised, the premium number 
system was introduced, which has since been 
adopted by all well-managed societies ; Me- 
morial Hall was erected, the attendance at 
the annual fairs was largely increased by the 
addition of legitimate attractions, and the in- 
debtedness of the Society was reduced nearly 
four thousand dollars. Upon his retirement 
the Society showed its appreciation by elect- 
ing him a life councilor. In 1875 ^^ '^^'^s 
elected clerk of the Village of Sandy Hill, a 
position which he held, with the exception of 
one year, till 1894, when he resigned. In 
1877 he was appointed a justice of the peace 
and was twice elected, retiring after nine years 
of service, as the office interfered with his pro- 
fessional work. In 1885 he was elected su- 
pervisor of his town and was twice re-elected. 
During his last year as supervisor he was 
chairman of the board. As supervisor he was 
an uncompromising reformer and an unspar- 
ing critic in the direction of economy and 
faithful public service. When first elected he 
had vigorous opposition at the polls. Upon 
his first re-election he had no op])oncnt, at his 
second re-election he received the nomination 
of both political parties, and at the expiration 
of his third term he was offered by both par- 
ties a further vmanimous renomination. He 
refused, however, to hold the office longer, as 
his law practice and other personal interests 
engrossed all Iiis time. In 1894 he retired 
from all official work to devote liis energies 
wholly to the practice of his profession, and 
to his various business enterprises and society 
activities. 

In 1895, though not an active candidate un- 
til the day of the county convention, and then 
not upon his own initiative, he was nominated 
for surrogate of Washington county by the 
Republican convention. One of the most ex- 
citing campaigns ever known in the county 
followed, resulting in his election by a ma- 
jority of over sixteen hundred. Of his record 
as surrogate there was no dissent. A news- 
paper bitterly hostile, politically, said. "Politi- 
cal friend and foe alike concede that Mr. 
Ingalsbe has made a model official." Upon as- 
suming office he instituted six entirely new 
series of record books, revolutionized a sev- 
enth, adopted improved methods for the filing 
of papers, introduced the card index system, 
prepared and issued about one hundred dif- 
ferent blank forms for use in surrogate's 
court, svstematized the work of the office, in- 




^7 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



405 



creased its efficiency and greatly elevated the 
standard of the court. Personally, his incum- 
bency of the office involved so great a sacri- 
fice that a year before the expiration of his 
term, thougli deeply appreciative of the favor 
with whicli his conduct of the office had been 
received, alike by the bar and the people, he 
declined to be a candidate for re-election. 

Upon his admission to the bar, Mr. Ingals- 
be engaged in the general practice of the law. 
In 1885 his practice had become so large that 
he began limiting his efforts to the more con- 
genial lines of legal work, and this led im- 
mediately to the establishment of an extended 
and lucrative practice in corporation, probate, 
administration, real property, commercial and 
banking law. From that time forward he 
has had charge of the legal work of a great 
number of the most important private and cor- 
porate interests in his vicinity. He has been 
prominent as counsel or stockholder or both 
in the organization of nearly every one of 
the business corporations at Sandy Hill. He 
is widely known as a skilled draftsman of 
wills, and of intricate legal papers. His prac- 
tice in surrogate's court, except during the 
years of his incumbency of the office of sur- 
rogate, has been large and constantly in- 
creasing. 

Mr. Ingalsbe has been active in business af- 
fairs since his election as a director and coun- 
sel of The Sandy Hill National Bank in 1884. 
He has held these positions continuously since 
that time. In 1899 he was elected vice-presi- 
dent of the bank, and in 1905 its president. 
During all these years this institution has 
been the largest bank of deposit in Washing- 
ton county. For many years he was a direc- 
tor and the secretary of the Sandy Hill Elec- 
tric Light and Power Company, of the Spring 
Brook Water Company, and a director and 
the counsel of the Glens Falls. Sandy Hill & 
Fort Edward Street Railroad Company. He 
is now a director and counsel, and the secre- 
tary of the Imperial Wall Paper Company, a 
director and vice-president of the Progressive 
Pulp and Paper Company, and of the Lake 
Champlain Pulp and Paper Company, a direc- 
tor and the president of the Adirondack Mo- 
tor Car Company, and is beside a director in 
various other corporations, and interested as 
a partner in several lines of business, in the 
management of all of which he takes an ac- 
tive interest. 

Air. Ingalsbe's identification with learned 
and purposeful societies has been extended. 
He is a member of the American Academy 
of Political and Social Science, the National 
Bimetallist Association, the American Anti- 
Imperialist League, the Harvard Law School 



Association, the Union College Alumni As- 
sociation for Northeastern New York, the 
American Historical Association, the Ameri- 
can Bar Association, the American Political 
Science Association, the New York State Bar 
Association, the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science and several other like 
associations. For several years he was a 
member of the Local Council for New York 
State of the American Bar Association. He 
has been a member of the executive committee 
of the New York State Bar Association con- 
tinuously since 1893. Since its organization 
in 1899 he has been a trustee and vice-presi- 
dent of the New York State Historical As- 
sociation, and for several years he has been 
the chairman of several of its most important 
committees, including the committee on pro- 
gram. 

Loving his profession and giving it no stint- 
ed allegiance, irresistibly attracted by the 
keen rivalries of business and giving them 
prodigally of his strength, Mr. Ingalsbe has 
enjoyed most of all, his garden and his books. 
His private library is one of the largest in 
Northern New York, and amid the duties of 
an exacting profession and the activities of 
business, he has still found time for e.xtensive 
reading, painstaking study and the prepara- 
tion of many papers and monographs along 
attractive lines, and thus has preserved the 
mental poise of the student and many of the 
habits of the scholastic recluse. 

Mr. Ingalsbe married, September 20, 1876, 
Franc E.Groesbeck,of Sandy Hill, New York, 
born October 19, 1854, a daughter of Nath- 
aniel Barnet, and Lydia A. (Kingsley) Groes- 
beck. She was of the fourth generation from 
Nathaniel Barnet, and from Jonathan Kings- 
ley, both soldiers of the revolution, and also 
of the fourth generation through her Grand- 
mother Kingsley from Maurice Wells, a 
Quaker from the Providence plantations. The 
Groesbecks were early Dutch settlers in 
Schaghticoke, with revolutionary records. The 
Barnets came to New York from Rhode Isl- 
and, and Jonathan Kingsley from Swansea, 
Massachusetts. He was a representative of 
the celebrated English family of that name, 
of which Canon Charles Kingsley was a 
member. Mrs. Ingalsbe graduated at Temple 
Grove Seminary in 1874. afterward teaching 
for two years in the Sandy Hill Union School. 
They had one child. 

(VI) Grenville Howland, only child of 
Grenville Mellen and Franc E. (Groesbeck) 
Ingalsbe, was born in Sandy Hill, November 
8, 1878, and died in that place, February 26, 
1910. 

His early and preparatory education was ac- 



4o6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \\ALLEYS 



quired at the Glens Falls and Phillips Exe- 
ter academies. He entered Harvard College 
in the class of 1902. At this time his phys- 
ical condition was ideal, but serious illnesses 
culminated in an almost complete breakdown 
during his senior year, though he graduated 
with his class. He chose law as his life work, 
and immediately upon graduation he com- 
menced its study in his father's office, with 
little expectation, however, on the part of his 
friends that he could pursue it. The greater 
part of the next two years he spent at Sara- 
nac. Residing with his parents in Sandy Hill 
he then assumed charge of the paternal home- 
stead in South Hartford, carrying it on for 
five years with great success. He made a 
thorough study of farming ; became a breeder 
of high grade Jersey cattle and Berkshire 
swine ; introduced new methods of tillage hus- 
bandry and a systematized rotation of crops. 
During the same time he engaged in the lum- 
ber business as a member of the firm of Nich- 
ols & Ingalsbe, with headquarters at Wells, 
\'ermont, and acquired a half interest in the 
Empire Coal Company at Sandy Hill. His 
other business enterprises were the Adiron- 
dack Motor Car Company, of which he was 
the vice-president, and the Progressive Pulp 
and Paper Company of Plattsburg, which he 
served as secretary. Pie was a member of the 
Kingsbury Club, the Alumni Associations of 
Phillips Exeter Academy and of Harvard 
College and the New York State Historical 
Association. 

In politics he was a Republican, though 
never a strong partisan. He was widely read, 
and though a successful farmer and man of 
business, his tastes were ever those of the 
scholar. He was a man of culture, a lover 
of good literature, and a close student of 
world politics. He was unostentatious and 
retiring, but all who knew him liked him, and 
marvelled at his wealth of information. Ill 
health alone, apparently, prevented him from 
attaining high and worthy distinction among 
the world's workers, in whose ranks he longed 
for place. 

l?orii for success he seemed, 
With tirace to win, with heart to hold, 
All pledged in coming days to forge 
Weapons to guard the State. 



"Mr. John Rogers, minister of 
ROCiERS the Gospel, was the first mar- 
tyr in Queen Mary's reign, and 
was burned in Smithficld, February 4, 1555. 
His wife with nine small children and one at 
the breast followed him to the stake ; with 
which sorrowful sight he was not in the least 
daunted, but with wonderful patience died 



courageously for the Gospel of Jesus Christ." 
The maternal ancestry of Mr. John Rogers, 
the martyr, has been traced from English 
records from Charlemagne down through 
\\'illiam the Conqueror, Henry I, Henrv II, 
King John, Henry III, and Edward I. John 
Rogers was born in Deritend, England, in 
the parish of Aston, near Birmingham, about 
1500, burned at Smithfield, England, February 
4, 1555 : married Adriana de Weyden, from 
Antwerp. They were the parents of nine chil- 
dren. 

Rev. William Witherell of Maidstone, Eng- 
land, schoolmaster, Mary, his wife, three chil- 
dren and one servant, came into America in 
the "Hercules". The certificate is dated 
March 14, 1634-35. The mother of Rev. Wil- 
liam Witherell was a daughter of John Rog- 
ers, the martyr.* John Rogers, father of 
John Rogers, of Marshfield, Massachusetts 
(with whom the American history begins) 
was a brother of Rev. William Witherell's 
mother. It has been said that he with his wife 
and child came to this country with them, in 
the "Hercules." 

The Rogers family of England bore arms : 
Argent, a chevron, gules, between three roe 
bucks, passant, sable, attired, and gorged with 
ducal coronets, or. Crest: On a mount, vert, 
a roebuck, passant ; proper, attired and gorged 
with a ducal coronet, or. between two branch- 
es of laurels, vert. Motto : "Nos nostraque 
Deo." (Us and ours to God). , 

(I) John Rogers was born in England, and 
came in the "Hercules" with his father and 
mother. He died in Marshfield, Massachu- 
setts, May, 1661. He was made a freeman 
of Marshfield, and lived in that town several 
years. He married Frances \\'atson, died 
1687, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Wat- 
son. Children, named in the order given in 
his will, dated February i, 1660: John, Jr., 
of whoin further; Joseph; Timothy; Ann 
Hudson ; Mary, and Abigail. 

(II) John (2), son of John (i) and Fran- 
ces (Watson) Rogers, was born in England, 
about 1632, died May 7, 1717. He requested 
membership with "the Religious Society of 
Friends, or the People called Quakers," in 
1660; he took the oath of freemrui in 1657, 
and is often mentioned in the public records 
for nearly sixty years after that date. In 
1692 he was selectman of Marshfield. In 
common with other of his peculiar faith he 

*Jaftes Rogers, a great-grandson of the mar- 
tyr, hrought his Bible to this country when he 
came in 1635, aged twenty years, in tlie ship "In- 
crease." This relic has been fully established by 
its historical connection with every family 
through which it has passed. It is in the .Mfred 
University of New York State. 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



407 



suffered persecutions because of his religious 
views. He married (first), October 8,- 1656, 
Rhoda, daughter of Elder Thomas King, of 
Scituate, born October 11, 1639, died about 
1662. He married (second) about 1663, 

Elizabeth , died September 13, 

1692. He married (third) Elizabeth- 



died A'lay 9. 1705. Children, born in Marsh- 
field, by first wife: i. John, baptized August 
23. 1657. 2. Thomas, of whom further. 3. 
Rhoda, baptized August 3, 1662, died young. 
Children by second wife: 4. Abigail, born 
November 3, 1663. 5. Mary, March 10, 1665, 
baptized April, 1665. 6. Johanna, born Octo- 
ber 7, 1667. 7. Elizabeth, May 19, 1669. 

(III) Thomas, son of John (2) and his 
first wife, Rhoda (King) Rogers, was born 
in ^klarshfield, Massachusetts, December 25, 
1659; married, June 6, 1712, Bethiah Ewell, 
born j\Iarch 3, 1682-83, died January 23, 1756, 
daughter of Gershom Ewell, of Scituate, and 
his wife Mary. They were married in a pub- 
lic Friends' meeting, according to the good 
order maintained amongst Friends. Thomas 
died March 6, 1745-46, leaving children, all 
born in Marshfield : Rhoda, May 28, 1713; 
John, of whom further ; Thomas, October 28, 
1716: Bethiah, September 29, 1718. 

(IV) John (3), son of Thomas and 
Bethiah (Ewell) Rogers, was born in Marsh- 
field, December 19, 1714; married, December 
29, 1737, Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer and 
Elizabeth (Backus) Wing. She was born 
March 7, 1709-10, died February 16, 1790, 
a descendant of Rev. Stephen Batchilor, 
whose daughter Deborah married Rev. John 
W'ing, and is mother of the "Wing family of 
America Incorporated." The old homes of 
her three sons John, Daniel and Stephen 
Wing are situated in Sandwich, Cape Cod, 
Massachusetts. John Rogers died September 
5, 1791, leaving children, all born in Marsh- 
field: John, December 21, 1738; Wing, June 
14, 1740, of whom further; Joseph, January 
26. 1742-43; Elizabeth, August 11, 1746; Ste- 
phen, February 7, 1748-49. 

(V) Wing, son of John (3) Rogers and 
Sarah (Wing) Rogers, was born June 14, 
1740. He became one of the pioneer settlers 
of the town of Danby, Vermont, settling there 
in 1770. Flis early home there was a log 
cabin standing in the midst of a small clearing, 
surrounded by dense forests that were filled 
with wild creatures ever ready to do them 
harm. He encountered all the difficulties and 
endured all the privations of a pioneer set- 
tler, being a resolute, fearless man, of a robust 
constitution that was equal to any task. He 
was somewhat eccentric, but of strong char- 
acter and great industry, becoming one of 



the most wealthy men of his town. He was 
a birthright member of the Society of Friends, 
and was one of the founders of the Danby 
meeting. He was a member of the proprie- 
tors' meeting in 1776, and one of the commit- 
tee to lay out land in the fourth division. 
With his strong mental powers, united with 
a readiness of performance and a familiar 
knowledge of his duty, he was often called 
upon to fill some office of the town. He was 
prominently identified with the measures 
taken by the inhabitants for the general safety 
of the town during the revolutionary war. 
He was selectman four years from 1776, and 
a grand juror in 1786. In 1790 he was elected 
a member of the Vermont legislature, then 
holding its session at Castleton, Vermont, 
and was reelected for the years 179 1-2-3. His 
eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Nathan 
Smith, who inherited from his father, Caleb 
Smith, a farm of two hundred forty acres 
with a log house. The young couple planned 
to build a one-story frame dwelling, Wing 
Rogers hearing of this, invited his daughter 
to make him a visit. He brought out of a 
closet two large wooden bowls filled with tar- 
nished silver dollars and asked her to help 
him polish them. When the task was fin- 
ished he handed Elizabeth seven hundred shin- 
ing coins, saying, "Now build the house two 
stories." The house was built two stories in 
1779, according to date engraved on the 
thumb-piece of the door-latch. He married 
(first) April 4, 1764, Deliverance, daughter 
of John and Sarah (Btxith) Chapman. He 
married (second) Mercy Hatch; (third) Re- 
becca Sherman; (fourth) Hannah Titus. 
Children: I. Deliverance, of whom further. 
2. Elizabeth, died 1817, aged fifty years; 
married Nathan Smith, died 1824, aged sev- 
enty-one years. 3. Augustus, died January 
14, 1836, aged thirty-si.x years: married Anna 
Bartlett. 4. Asa, married Mary Rogers ; set- 
tled in upper Canada. 5. Rufus. settled in 
upper Canada ; married Lydia Rogers. 6. 
Lydia. 7. \\ ing. 8. Mary. 9. Lester. 10. 
John. II. Stephen. 12. Ruth. John, Ste- 
phen and Ruth died without marriage ; their 
estates were settled by Moses Rogers, of 
Lynn, Massachusetts, who inherited their 
property. 

(VI) Deliverance, only child of ^^'ing and 
Deliverance (Chapman) Rogers, was born 
January 15, 1766, and was six months old 
when his mother died. When he was four 
years old his father removed to Danby, Ver- 
mont, where he was educated and grew to 
manhood. He later settled in \\'ashington 
county. New York, where he became a very 
large land owner and prosperous farmer. He 



4o8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



was the first manufacturer of cheese in Wash- 
ington county, and made the first shipments 
to the city markets. On his two thousand 
acres of land he maintained herds of cattle 
numbering many hundreds. After the war of 
1812 he purchased many farms with their 
cattle and all improvements, selling them when 
warranted by their increased valuation. In 
1818 he bought the "Hall Farm" from Dr. 
Hall, who purchased it from Benajah Hill, 
who built upon it a colonial mansion in 1805. 
He bequeathed the "Hall Farm"' to his grand- 
son. Deliverance Rogers (2), to perpetuate 
his name. He was an able, active, intellectual 
man, handsome in form and feature, with 
beautiful white hair curling down over his 
shoulders. Both he and his wife were birth- 
right members of the Society of Friends; she 
was a dignified, intellectual woman, and 
served as clerk of the Danby monthly meeting 
of women Friends for twenty years. Deliv- 
erance Rogers died at the "Hall Farm," May 
I, 1849. In his will he left one thousand dol- 
lars to be held in trust for the public schools, 
to be divided between three school districts, 
Granville, Middle Granville, and North Bend ; 
this is known as "the Rogers Fund." He set- 
tled each of his daughters upon farms valued 
at ten thousand dollars each, excepting Cyn- 
thia, who preferred cash and settled in Alun- 
son, Ohio. The remainder of his property 
he willed to his son David, whom he had pre- 
viously settled upon the "Hal! Farm," and 
who with his wife Hannah cared for his 
father and mother until their death. He mar- 
ried, December, 1788, Judith Folger, born 
November 26, 1768, died December 15, 1854, 
daughter of Daniel Folger, a sea captain of 
Nantucket, and his wife, Judith Worth. Chil- 
dren : I. Rispah, born March 10, 1790, died 
September 9, 1792. 2. Cynthia, born May 
24, 1792; married Jacob Bartlett, died July, 
1871. 3. Sarah, born .'Kpril 3, 1794. died July 
I3> i/Q^- 4- Daniel Folger, born March 16, 
1796, died February 19, 1826; married Lydia 
Hemaway, April 16, 1817. 5. Ruth, born 
January 19, 1799; married Daniel Bartlett, 
died November 15, 1841. 6. Dinah, born No- 
vember 13, 1801 ; married David .Mien, died 
February 9, i860. 7. David, of whom further. 
8. Wing, born July 20, 1806, died October 15, 
1823. 9. Eliza, born September 9, 1809; 
married Stephen Dillingham, died October 19, 
1883. 10. Mary Folger, born May 6, 1813; 
married Richard Barker, died May 30. 1834. 

rX'TT) David, seventh child of Deliverance 
and Judith (Folger) Rogers, was born in 
Danby. \'ermont, June 28, 1804. He removed 
with his parents to the "Hall Farm" in the 
town of Granville, Washington county. New 



York, when he was about fourteen years of 
age. He became a large land owner and suc- 
cessful farmer and a well-known breeder of 
fine horses. On his farm of twelve hundred 
and fifty acres he maintained a herd of one 
hundred cows of the best dairy breed and 
eight hundred merino sheep. He was a large 
manufacturer of cheese, and during harvest 
season employed a large force of men, there 
being no farm machinery in that day to lighten 
and simplify the labor of the harvest field. 
He refused to hold any public office other than 
that of pathmaster, which he held for many 
years. He was diligent, upright and gener- 
ous, and at "Hall Farm" extended a pleasant 
and abundant hospitality. He died there Sep- 
tember 8, 1861, and is buried in the Friends* 
burying ground in Granville. He married, in 
Granville, New York, in Friends' meeting, 
September 13, 1826. Hannah, daughter of 
Stephen and Amy (Tucker) Dillingham. She 
died in Granville, .\pril 5, 1885. Amy (Tuck- 
er) Dillingham was a greatly beloved minister 
of the Society of Friends, and there is a me- 
morial to her in a book entitled "Memorials 
Concerning Deceased Friends," published by 
direction of the yearly meeting of the Friends 
of New York, 1859. Hannah (Dillingham) 
Rogers was one of the noted, noble women of 
Washington county, where her life of eighty- 
one years and five months was passed. She 
was a recommended and greatly beloved min- 
ister of the Society of Friends, and lived a 
consistent Christian life, filled with deeds of 
philanthropy and benevolence that endeared 
her to all. She built and presented to the 
Granville Monthly Meeting of Friends a 
school house in which the youth of the meet- 
ing would receive a fine English education. 
She was a delightful entertainer, "and her 
beautiful countenance was a delight to be- 
hold." Children, all born in Granville, New 
York: i. Judith, born June 14, 1S27, died 
February 28, 1830. 2. Wing, born .April i, 
1829, died February 11, 1830. 3. Ruth, born 
December 20, 1830; married Hon. Ervin Hop- 
kins. October 4, 1849. They celebrated their 
golden wedding, October 4, 1899 ; the souve- 
nirs were twenty-dollar gold pieces. Ervin 
Hopkins was son of Ervin and Catherine 
(Campbell) Hopkins. He was a successful 
farmer of Granville, a member of the New 
York state legislature in 1863. He removed 
to Chicago, Illinois, where he was a member 
and operated on the Chicago Board of Trade. 
He died without a will, leaving a large prop- 
erty. Ruth (Rogers) Hopkins was tall, well- 
proportioned and of a commanding presence, 
her head crowned with beautiful white hair. 
She was a consistent disciple of the faithi 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



40? 



of her childhood, and always acknowledged 
the obligation of her birth membership of the 
Society of Friends. They had three children : 
David Rogers, born August 3, 1850, married 
Leona C. White ; Hannah Louise, born De- 
cember 10, 1854, married Charles P. Cogge- 
shall ; Ervin, Jr., born February 2, 1859, mar- 
ried Sibyl Marie Hitt. 4. Amy Dillingham, 
born September 28, 1832, died March 16, 
1836. 5. Stephen Dillingham, born July 10, 
1834, died April 7, 1847. 6. An infant, born 
and died same day. 7. David Wing, born 
April 27, 1836: he enlisted August 21, 1862. 
in Company K, 123d Regiment New York 
Volunteer Infantry, for three years or the 
war. He served with the Army of the Poto- 
mac, and was in many of the hard-fought 
battles of the war, was promoted to second 
lieutenant for gallantry at Chancellorsville. 
Governor Seymour said of him: "Mr. Rog- 
ers must have a lieutenant's commission, for 
he is one of the best-looking soldiers I have 
seen in my chambers, and I will have that 
fighting Quaker commissioned for meritorious 
service." He was honorably discharged June, 
1865. He was a member of the Grand Army 
of the Republic, of Texas. He died in San 
Antonio, November 11, 1902, and was buried 
with all the honors of war by soldiers under 
command of General Fred D. Grant. His 
wife, Cordelia (Sprague) Rogers, was a stafif 
officer of the state department of Texas Wom- 
en's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, being department secretary ; she 
was also a national aide at the encampment 
held in Saratoga Springs, September, 1907. 
She held high rank in the order of the East- 
ern Star. She died in Santa Rosa hospital, 
San Antonio, November 26, 1908; children: 
David, Edith, Charles, ]\Iabel and Zoe ; the 
two latter dying young. 8. Eliza Rogers, 
born February i, 1839, died December 5, 
1841. 9. Deliverance, born February 18, 
1841 ; married, August 28, 1862, Antoinette 
A., daughter of John and Lydia Ann (Harris) 
Bishop : child : Flora Rogers, married Par- 
ker J. Staples. He married (second) August 
7, 1877, Carrie, daughter of James E. and 
Phoebe (Woodard) Pratt: children: Ma- 
bel, Dorothy and Ruth. 10. Hannah Eliza. 
of whom further. 11. Peter Folger, born 
April 16, 1846, died June 2, 1846. 12. Ste- 
phen Otis, born July 20. 1847, died November 
9, 1862, in Brooklyn, New York. 

(Vni) Hannah Eliza, tenth child of Da- 
vid and Hannah (Dillingham) Rogers, was 
born November 23, 1843. She married (first) 
April II. 1861. Leonard C. Thorne, son of 
Samuel C. and Maria (Hoogland) Thorne. 
He was born December 9, 1833, died in Gran- 



ville, New York, March 3, 1878'. Children: 
I. Stephen Rogers, born June 17, 1863, in 
Brooklyn, New York. He was a charter 
member of the Gold Mining Exchange: char- 
ter member of the Equity Investment Society ; 
member of Thorne & Company, real estate- 
brokers, and conducted a successful business 
in San Francisco, California. He was a part- 
ner of Valentine Hush, the well-known Fruit- 
vale capitalist, in the brokerage business. He 
was also a director in the Citizens' Building 
and Loan Association, serving in that capacity 
for many years. He was also secretary of the 
Syndicate Investment Company of San Fran- 
cisco. He married, in San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia, December 27, 1887, Mary Agnes Tol- 
son, daughter of John R. and Ann Eliza Tol- 
son. died in Oakland, August 28, 1908. 2: 
Leonard C, born November 27, 1872, in 
Granville, New York ; admitted to the bar of 
New York state July 6, 1899, also admitted 
to practice in the United States district and' 
circuit courts ; is a member of the New York 
State Bar Association. 3. Bertha Ginevra 
born August 21, 1877, in Granville; married, 
February 8, 1899, Fred Charles, son of 
Charles Albert and Eliza Melissa (Dunham) 
Sheldon. He was born June 27, 1872, in 
North Adams, Massachusetts, and is a manu- 
facturer and dealer in roofing slate. Bertha 
Ginevra Sheldon is a communicant of the Epis- 
copal church, and a graceful leader in society. 
Hannah Eliza (Rogers) Thorne survived' 
her husband and married (second) Jonathan 
S. \\'arren, September 8, 1880, son of Sam- 
uel and Cornelia S. Warren, died January 29, 
1893. He was born in Wethersfield. August 
22, 1826. He began business for himself in 
1847 in Cavendish, Vermont, where he was 
postmaster during the administration of Pres- 
ident Polk. He removed to Granville in 1850, 
where he continued in mercantile life up to the 
time of his death, having been in continuous 
business longer than any other merchant in 
the town, and perhaps in the county. He- 
was the central figure in all church, social and 
business circles, and it was said of him that 
he had not an enemy in the world. He was 
a vestryman of Trinity Church from 1854 to 
1862, and from that time senior warden to 
the day of his death. His home was a favor- 
ite resort of Bishop Doane and other clergy- 
men who visited Granville. He was a direc- 
tor of the Granville National bank from its 
organization, served several years as vice- 
president, and six months as president. He 
was largely interested in the roofing slate in- 
dustry and was the head of the Warren Slate 
Company. He married (first) Louisa Brown, 
who died 1878, daughter of Dr. Williamj 



410 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



Brown, who bore him one son, John S. War- 
ren. Resohitions of respect were passed by 
the business men of Granville, the directors 
of the National Bank, and by the clergy. 

Mrs. Thorne-Warren, who survives both 
husbands, was elected vice-president of the 
Washington County Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union at the time of its organization, 
May i6, 1878, afterward elected president, 
and served faithfully and effectually for eight 
years. She was president of the Local Union 
for thirteen years, during which time she or- 
ganized a Band of Hope, comprising two 
hundred and fifty members, of which she was 
also president. For twenty-five years she 
has been president of the Art Club of Gran- 
ville, which was regularly established Sep- 
tember 27, 1884. She was executrix of her 
first husband's estate, and was appointed by 
the court, guardian of her daughter Bertha 
G. Thome. She is a generous entertainer 
and delightful hostess. A Quakeress by 
birth, she presented a solid silver communion 
set. soon after her confirmation, to Trinity 
church, Granville. She continues her resi- 
dence in the village (1910). 

(The Thorne Line). 

Arms of the Thorne family of Devonshire, 
England : Argent, a fess gules between three 
lions rampant, sable. Crest : A lion ram- 
pant, sable. Motto: Principes obeta. 

The Thorne family of Granville now rep- 
resented in Granville, \\'ashington county, 
New York, by the children of Leonard C. and 
Hannah (Rogers) Thorne, descend from Eng- 
lish ancestors who settled at Flatbush, Long 
Island, New York, at an early date. 

(I) William Thorne was made a freeman 
of Lynn, Massachusetts, May 2, 1638; of 
Flushing, Long Island, 1645, with seventeen 
■ Other patentees, under Governor Kieft ; had 
a plantation at Gravesend, Long Island, 1657. 
William Thorne, Sr., and William Thorne, 
Jr., were Quakers, and pioneers of the famous 
and beautiful town of Flushing. There is an- 
other tradition that a William Thorne came 
from England and settled at Willett's Point, 
a valuable tract, then called Thome's Point. 
This William and the William of Flushing 
must have been tiie same, as time and place 
both testify. The lands occupied by the an- 
cestor William continued in the family until 
near the close of the eighteenth century. Wil- 
liam Thome married Sarah , and 

had issue. 

(II) William (2) son of William (i) and 
Sarah Thorne. married Winifred, daughter of 
Henry and Catherine (Ellison) Livingston. 
William signed the remonstrance of the peo- 



ple of Flushing against illegal treatment of 
the Quakers by the Dutch (original on file 
at Albany). He became a resident of Great 
Neck, town of Hempstead, where he died 
about 1688, and was buried on his farm. 
Children: i. Richard, married Phebe Denton, 
1699. 2. Margaret, married Rev. Thomas 
Rattoon. 3. Elizabeth, married Richbill Mott, 
1696. 4. Sarah, married Roger Pedley, 1698. 
5. John, married Mary Parsell, 1664. 6. Jo- 
seph, married Mary Brown. 7. Samuel, mar- 
ried Susannah . 8. Susannah, married 

John Kissam. 

Thomas Thome, who was one of the Whig 
committee of Flushing, was seized by the 
British on their first visit there, and ended 
his days in "the Prison Ship." 

(\') James, great-grandson of William 
Thorne (2), was a carpenter and builder of 
Glen Cove, Long Island. He died in the fall 
of 1824, aged seventy years. He built the 
homestead at Glen Cove on his own land, 
which several generations of his descendants 
occupied. In proof of his revolutionary ser- 
vice the following is given : 

State Library, Albany, New York, 
December 5. 1905. 
This is to certify that an entry on page 52 of 
a manuscript volume entitled "Certificates of 
Treasurer, volume 7." in the custody of the Re- 
gents of the L'niversity of the State of Xew York, 
in the State Library, shows that in pursuance of 
an act passed .'\pril 27, 1874, entitled ".An act for 
the settlement of the pay of the Levies and Mili- 
tia, for their services in the late war, and for 
other purposes therein mentioned," a certificate 
for one pound eight shillings five and one-quarter 
pence, numbered 33,599. and bearing interest from 
October 8. 1779. was issued for the services of 
James Thorne under Lieutenant Stephen Bene- 
dict, in Colonel John McCrea's Regiment of .Al- 
bany County Militia, Saratoga District, then un- 
der the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cornelius 
Van Vechten. 

A. J. VAX LAER, 

Archivest. 

In testimony thereof the Seal of the L'niversity 

of the State of Xew York has been affixed at the 

City of Albany, this sth day of December, 1005.' 

AXDREW S. DRAPER, 

Commissioner of Education. 

There is in the possession of Mary W. 
Thorne, of Brooklyn, New York, a cannon 
ball, a gun and powder-horn, brought home 
from the revolutionary war by James Thorne. 
W'illiam H. Thome, another descendant, has 
^also a p>owder-horn brought back from the 
war by his ancestor James. 

Captain Jehiel Dayton commanded a company 
of volunteer artillery in the war of 1812. The 
company records were possessed by his son, 
R. G. Dayton, of North Granville, New York. 
Tlie order directing the company to proceed 
to White Hall bears date August i, 1812, 



HUDSON AND ^lOHAWK WVLLEYS 



411 



and is signed by Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen 
Thorne, 4th Re.efiment, Second Brigade. The 
roll of the militia company commanded by 
Captain Duty Shumway bears the name of 
James Thorne. These records show conclusive- 
ly military service in both the revolutionary 
war and in the war of 1812. He married 
Mary Cocks, who died in the autumn of 1828, 
aged about sixty-five years, daughter of Sam- 
uel C. Cocks, who married Jemima Whitson ; 
(second) ■ Powell. Children: i. Sam- 
uel C, of whom further ; Leonard, born Oc- 
tober II, 1800. married Hannah . 

(VI) Samuel C, son of James and iSIary 
(Cocks) Thorne, was born January 27. 1798. 
He requested membership in the Religious 
Society of Friends, and became a recommend- 
ed and highly esteemed minister of that faith. 
He married, October 25, 1818, in Brookville, 
Long Island, at the house of Rev. Marma- 
duke Earl (who performed the ceremony) 
Maria, daughter of Elbert and Willempje 
(Duryea) Hoogland. Maria Hoogland was a 
descendant of Dirck Jansen Hoogland, who 
came to New Netherlands in 1657 from Maer- 
seveen, in the province of Utrecht, and mar- 
ried, October 8, 1662, Annetje Hansen Ber- 
gen. She died at the homestead in Locust 
\'alley. May 3, 1879, aged about seventy-seven 
years. Her gentle ways and unassuming man- 
ners caused her to be greatly beloved. Sam- 
uel C. Thorne died February 18, 1862. at the 
Locust \'alley homestead. Children: i. 
]\Iary Elizabeth, born August i, 18 19, mar- 
ried, January 23, 1838, Isaac Cocks, son of 
Richard and Abigail Cocks, died November 
Q, 1890. 2. .-Knna C. Thorne, born September 

8. 1822, married Lewis \"alentine, died Feb- 
ruary 6, 1889. 3. James Thorne, born Sep- 
tember 9, 1824, married Eliza Maria Parish, 
October 16, 1850, died January 24, 1891 ; she 
died February 3, 1894. 4. Elbert H., born 
April 19, 1827, married Cornelia Downs, died 
September 9, 1904. 5. Isaac C, born Febru- 
ary 2, 1830 : married Emilie B. Jackson, Oc- 
tober 25, 1865, died January 3, 1910. 6. Wil- 
liam H., born November 7, 1831 ; married 
(first) Ophelia, daughter of Isaac and Abby 
(Sutton) Carpenter. She died August 30, 
1873. He married (second) Ida Cleveland. 
7. Leonard C, of whom further. 

(YH) Leonard C, son of Samuel C. and 
Maria (Hoogland) Thorne. was born at Glen 
Cove, Queens county. New York, December 

9. 1833. He was well educated in the public 
schools. At the age of seventeen he entered 
the village store as clerk, remaining there 
five years. In 1855 he became bookkeeper 
for the firm of which his brother William 
was a member. He rapidly acquired expert 



business experience which, coupled with un- 
usual ability, rendered him particularly valu- 
able to his firm. February i, 1859, he be- 
came a partner under the firm name of Wil- 
liam H. & L. C. Thorne. In 1871 he became 
editor of a religious paper. The Herald of 
Life, published by the Life and Advent Union, 
with which he had been connected for several 
years. Finding the duties of the paper too 
arduous with those of his business, he retired 
from the latter in 1873, and confined himself 
solely to the management of his paper until 
August, 1877, when he resigned. In 1863 he 
assisted in the organizing of the Ninth Na- 
tional Bank of New York City, and was 
chosen director of the same. He held this 
position for two years, but the management 
not being congenial he severed his connection 
and associated himself with the Security Na- 
tional bank, of which he was chosen a director. 
He resided in Brooklyn, New York, and Or- 
ange and Bloomfield, New Jersey, at each 
place gathering about him warm friends from 
among the best citizens. His health contin- 
uing poor, he spent several winters in the 
South, and early in 1873 journeyed to Colo- 
rado, hoping there to gain strength. He re- 
turned in October of the same year and pur- 
chased a residence in Granville, Washington 
county. New York, which was his home until 
death, March 3, 1878. During his years of 
residence in Granville he labored not only 
for the material but the moral interests of 
the village, laboring for all that was right and 
manly, and assisting in the promotion of all 
movements tending toward the betterment 
of the community. No man did more to im- 
prove the moral standing of the town. He 
assisted in organizing the First National bank 
of the village, serving as director until his 
death. In association with other gentlemen, 
the Reform Club was organized. He was a 
strong advocate of temperance, and a Repub- 
lican in politics. He was nominated by the 
Prohibitionists for the legislature, but fearing 
that his candidacy might imperil the success 
of the Republican ticket, he declined the 
honor. His funeral was held at the Friends' 
meeting house, and at no time in the history 
of the village have such honors been paid or 
such respect shown to the memory of any one. 
Every store, shop and office was closed ; the 
officials of the bank, the officers and members 
of the Reform Club, numbering between four 
and five hundred, attended in a bodv. Such 
numbers assembled at the meeting house that 
overflow memorial services were held in the 
school house and basement of the meeting 
house in connection with the regular services 
in the audience room. Resolutions of respect 



412 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



were passed by the board of directors of the 
bank, the Reform Club, and other organiza- 
tions with which he was connected, the banks 
and Reform Club buildings being both draped 
in mourning. 

He married, April ii. 1861, Hannah Eliza, 
tenth child of David and Hannah (Dilling- 
ham) Rogers (see Rogers VHI). 



The family name of 
VAN ANT^^'ERP Van Antwerp has the 
significance, through 
the Dutch, that the family to which this cog- 
nomen was applied resided near the wharf, 
or the place of wharfing, casting anchor, or 
tying up the ships, and in this sense also it 
could signify that before they took up resi- 
dence in Holland or emigrated to America, 
they came from the great seaport of Bel- 
gium, Antwerp, the capital of the province of 
the same name. 

The \'an Antwerp Arms, as used in Hol- 
land : Shield : D'argent a trois cremailleres de 
sable, rangees en fasce ; as used in Flanders : 
Shield : D'or a une fleur-de-lis d'azur ; au chef 
d'herm., charged de trois pals de gules, celui 
du milieu surcharged d'une ancre d'argent. 
Motto: In puritate mentis. 

(I) Daniel Janse Van Antwerp was the 
progenitor of the family of this name in Amer- 
ica. He was the son of Jan (John) Van 
Antwerpen, of Holland, and was born in 1635. 
He came to Beverwyck (Albany, N. Y.) be- 
tween 1656 and 1661, for his name appears 
upon the records as being there in 1661. when 
he agreed to serve Adriaan Appel for one year 
for a recompense of thirty-five beavers (equal 
to about $112) and found. He was indus- 
trious, and before long was making his own 
way, the owner of his own bouwerie and 
possessed of those things which go to make 
a farm of good proportions. Shortly after the 
settling of Schenectady, whither he removed 
so that he was freer to own land himself 
than he was allowed while within the imme- 
diate jurisdiction of Patroon \'an Rensse- 
laer, he became possessed of the "Third Flat" 
on the south side of the Mohawk river, about 
eight miles above that city, and in 1706 he 
sold the western half of his bouwerie (63 
a. "9 rods) to his neighbor, Jan Pieterse Me- 
bie. His village lot, within the stockade or 
wall, was on the east side of Church street, 
next north of the present church lot, and 
was 108 feet wide in front and 206 feet deep, 
wood measure. In 1676, when forty-one years 
old, he was one of the five magistrates. In 
1701 he was made supervisor of the town. 

Daniel Janse Van Antwerp married Maritjc 
(Maria) Groot, daughter of Symon Symonse 



Groot and Rebecca De Trieux. Her father 
(S. S. Groot) came early to New Nether- 
land in the service of the West India Com- 
pany, as boatswain of the ship "Prince Mau- 
rice" ; he bought a house and lot of Jacob Roy 
in New Amsterdam in 1645. and soon there- 
after located at Beverwyck, for it is known 
he offered his house for sale there in 1654. 
He moved again, for in 1663 he hired a bou- 
werie of from twenty-five to thirty morgens 
of Gerrit Bancker and Harmen Vedderen, at 
Schenectady, on the north side of Union street 
and one hundred Amsterdam feet west of 
Church street. IMaritje Groot's mother, Re- 
becca Du Trieux (De Truax), was the daugh- 
ter of Philip Du Trieux, court messenger of 
New Amsterdam. Children: i. Jan. married, 
November 24, 1700, Agnieta, daughter of Har- 
men Albertse Vedder. 2. Simon Danielse, mar- 
married, December 22, 1706. Maria, daughter 
of Jacobus Peek, see forward. 3. Arent, mar- 
ried Sara, daughter of Johannes ^'an Eps. 
4. Daniel, married Ariaantje, daughter of Ger- 
rit Simonse Veeder. 5. Pieter, married En- 
geltie, daughter of Johannes Mebie. 6. Neel- 
tje, baptized July 27, 1690: married Andries 
De Graaf. 7. Rebecca, baptized December 25, 
1692 : married Johannes Fort. 8. Maria, bap- 
tized January 3, 1695 ; married Nicolaas Fort. 
(II) Simon Danielse, son of Daniel Janse 
and Maria (Groot) \'an Antwerp, was a 
landowner and a miller. He bought land and 
settled in Schaghticoke, New York, in 1710. 
There is an early record which bears date of 
October 13, 17 18, and which reads: "The 
commonalty (of Albany) have granted unto 
Simon Danielse, his heirs and assigns forever, 
a certain small creek on the south side of his 
land, to build a grist mill thereon, provided 
he grinds no wheat for boulting except ye 
same be boulted within the city of Albany, for 
which he is to pay yearly, after January, 1724, 
six skeple wheat yearly." This is an evidence 
with what far-reaching methods the old bur- 
ghers of Rensselaerwyck and Beverwyck 
watched their interests, and besides, it is a 
fact that the early ^'an .Antwerp settlers 
sought Schenectady as a place in which to live 
and prosecute a business unliampered by rea- 
son of the imposition of the regulations laid 
down by the Rensselaerwyck colony. He 
married, at Albany, December 22, 1706. Maria 
Peek, daughter of Jacobus Peek, whose fath- 
er was Jan Peek, innkeeper of New Amster- 
dam, after whom the creek and town of Peeks- 
kill take their name, and who in 1655 sold 
two houses in-Fort Orange to Johannes Dyck- 
man for 1,627 guilders. Children: i. Maria, 
born November 9, 1707. 2. Lysbeth, born at 
Albany, January 15, 1710. 3. Rebecca, born 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



413 



June 21, 1712. 4. Daniel, December 18, 1714. 
5. Sara, born at Albany, May 13, 1716. 6. 
Daniel, born January 10, 1719; married, Octo- 
ber Ji, 1738. Rebecca, daug^hter of Jan Dan- 
ielse \"an Antwerpen. 7. Margarita, baptized 
at Altiany, October I, 1 72 1. 8. Jacobus, bap- 
tized at Albany, IMay 17, 1724. 9. Johannes, 
baptized at Albany. January 22, 1727; mar- 
ried, August II, 1750, Catherine, daughter 
of Johannes Vedder. 10. Lowys (Lewis), 
baptized at Albany, February 25, 1731 ; mar- 
ried Ilcndrikje Fonda \'an Buren, (see for- 
ward). 

(Ill) Lowys (Lewis), son of Simon Dan- 
ielse and Maria (Peek) Van Antwerp, was 
born at Schaaghtekooke ( Schaghticoke), New 
York. February 25. 1731. He also resided at 
Halve Maan, on the Mohawk river, being 
"there after 1771, and was a member of the 
committee of safety for Albany county in 
1776. He married, Albany, November 27, 
1754, Hendrikje (Henrietta) Fonda Van Bu- 
ren. Children: i. Simon, baptized March 30, 
1753. 2. Douwe, baptized July 24, 1757. 3. 
Johannes, horn January 12, 1760. 4. Alida, 
born March 16, 1762. 5. Daniel Lewis, born 
at Albany. 1771 (see forward). 

(I\') Daniel Lewis, son of Lowys and Hen- 
■drikje Fonda (Van Buren) Van Antwerp, 
was born at Albany, August 15, 1771. He 
was a member of assembly in 1818. He mar- 
ried, at Albany, in 1795. Hannah \'an Zandt. 
Children: i. Alida. born January 24. 1797. 
2. William, born January 11, 1799 (see for- 
ward). 3. Ann Eliza, born November 22, 
1800. 4. Henry, born September 29, 1802. 
5. Stephen LusTi. born July 5, 1804. 6. Eliza 
Ann. born March 29. 1806. 

(\') William, son of Daniel Lewis and 
■Hannah (\'an Zandt) Van .A.ntwerp, was born 
at Albany, January 11, 1799, died at Albany, 
April 22, 1829. He married, December 12, 

1822. Sarah Meadon. of Albany. Children : 
I. John Henry, born at .Mbany, October 12. 

1823. died at Albany. December 14. 1903. 
married ^laria Wiswall. April 23. 1843: Wil- 
liam Meadon. see forward: Daniel Lewis, 
born October 6. 1826, died April 16, 1910, 
married Mary Slawson ; Elizabeth, born at 
Albany. October 6. 1828. died at Albany. Oc- 
•tober 27, 1879. 

(\'I) William Meadon, son of William and 
Sarah (Meadon) \'an Antwerp, was born in 
Albany. New York, January i, 1825. He 
was a foremost citizen, a leader in many civic 
-movements, and died at his residence. No. 162 
"Washington avenue, April 8. 1903. highly re- 
■spected in the community where he had lived 
all his life. He attended a private school tmtil 
rthe death of his father necessitated his with- 



drawal when he was eleven years of age. 
He then found employment with the firm 
of Lasdell & Fassett in a minor capacity, 
and next was associated with John Schuyler 
in the grocery trade. When the latter died, 
he formed a partnership with Henry D. Haw- 
kins, opening a wholesale provision business 
in 1852, under the name of Hawkins & Van 
Antwerp. This continued until 1866, when 
Mr. Flawkins withdrew, and the house of Van 
Antwerp & Bridge was established. Later it 
became known as \"an Antwerp. Bridge & 
Company, until the time Mr. Van Antwerp 
retired from active business life, in 1873. He 
was always a staunch Republican in his poli- 
tics, active therein because whatever he under- 
took was of concern to him, participating 
alike in its active strife and its actual labors, 
and at one time served as alderman-at-large. 
He was nominated for member of assembly 
in 1876, but failed of election, the county as 
well as the city being then strongly Demo- 
cratic. He was a devout member of the Bap- 
tist denomination, and gave freely of his time 
and money to advance the cause of his church. 
He and his family attended Calvary Baptist 
Church. He was an original member of the 
committee of thirteen, organized to correct 
abuses in city government ; a director of the 
New York State National Bank ; a trustee of 
the Albany Savings Bank : an original direc- 
tor of the Commerce Insurance Company of 
Albany, and a member of the Holland Soci- 
ety. 

William M. \ an Antwerp married Susanna 
Irwin, at New York City, October 25, 1854. 
She was born in Albany, July 6, 1829. Her 
father was Theophilus Irwin and her mother 
was Jean McMullen. Mrs. Van Antwerp 
died in Albany, January 28, 1899. Children, 
all born in Albany: i. .Sarah Irwin. August 
4. 1857, married. Albany, June 29, 1881. James 
Martin. 2. Grace Edith. May 28. 1859, mar- 
ried. Albany, November 14, 1883, Theodore 
Howard Waterman. 3. Jean .Agnes, August 
4, 1862, married Albany. .April 21. 1897. Edo 
E. i\Iercelis. 4. (iertrude .Alice. January 12, 
1864. 5. Thomas Irwin, see forward. 6. 
Anna Louise, March 22, 1867, married, Al- 
bany, April 4, 1894, Clarence Winthrop Ste- 
vens; Jessie Eliza, November 5, 1868, mar- 
ried. Albanv. December 9. 1891, Ednnmd 
Nilcs Hnyck. 8. Lisa May. April 2. 1870. 

(VII) Thomas Irwin, son of William M., 
and Susanna (Irwin) Van Antwerp, was born 
in Albany, New York, March 24, 1865. He 
received his education at the .Albany Boys' 
.Academy, from which he graduated in the 
class of 1883. He commenced his career 
as a banker by connection with the First Na- 



414 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



tional Bank, under President Garret A. Van 
Allen, where he continued five years, and in 
1889 he became secretary to the president 
of the National Commercial Bank. In 
1897 he was elected cashier of the Park 
Bank, and when that bank was consolidated 
with the Union Trust Company of Albany, 
thus terminating its career, Mr. \^an Antwerp 
was chosen the vice-president of the Union 
Trust Company and became the managing 
officer of that institution. He succeeded his 
father as trustee of the Albany Savings Bank, 
is a director of the Albany Insurance Com- 
pany and Union Trust Company, and in many 
ways has shown his interest in the city's 
welfare and progress. He is a member of the 
Fort Orange Club, the Albany Country Club, 
the Holland Society and of the Albany Insti- 
tute and Historical and Art Society. 

Thomas I. \'an Antwerp married, at Grace 
Church, Brooklyn, February 20, 1895, Zaidee 
Scudder, born in New York City, October 
22, 1869. Her father was Townsend Scud- 
der, born in Northport. Long Island, Decem- 
ber 14, 1829, died at Glenwood, Long Island, 
July 31, 1874, and was a lawyer at No. 9 
Wall street, New York City. Her mother 
was Sarah Frost, born in New York City, De- 
cember 6, 1 84 1. Mr. and Mrs. Van Antwerp 
reside at No. 7 Northern Boulevard, Albany, 
New York. Children: i. William Meadon, 
born in Albany, October 23, 1901. 2. Su- 
zanne Irwin, Albany, January ig. 1904. 3. 
Cornelia Scudder. Albany. January 19, 1904. 
4. Townsend Scudder, Altamont, Albany 
county. New York, August 15, 1905. 



(II) Dirck Ten Eyck, son of 
TEN EYCK Coenraedt fq. v.) and Ma- 
ria (Boele) Ten Eyck, was 
born probably in Holland, died in New Am- 
sterdam (New York City) in 171 1. He mar- 
ried Aefje Boelen, March 31, 1675. Children: 
Andries, born July 22, 1676, died young: Ja- 
cob, November 10, 1678 : Andries, May 4, 
1681 : Coenraedt, June 15, 1684: Mayken, De- 
cember 12, 1686, died young; Mayken. Feb- 
ruary 10, 1689: Abraham. June 15. 1691, see 
forward; Dirck. December 25. 1694. 

(Ill) Abraham, son of Dirck and Aefje 
(Boelen) Ten Eyck, was born June 15, 1691, 
died in New York in 1765. Fie married Ja- 
cinte Berkels. Children: Euphemia. mar- 
ried John Lewis; I'llizabeth. married Erastus 
\\"illiams ; Richard, born in 1730, see for- 
ward : David ; Mary, married Frederick Fine ; 
Abraham, married Sarah Smith. 

(I\') Richard, son of Abraham and Jacinte 
(Berkels) Ten Eyck, was born in New York 
City, 1730, died there in 1810. He married 



(first) Elizabeth Braisted, and had two chil- 
dren; married (second) Elizabeth Lebrun, by 
whom he had six children. Children : An- 
drew, married Elizabeth Lloyd, died in 1828; 
Richard, married Elizabeth Anderson ; Philip, 
married Elsie Beekman ; Jacintha. married 
John Ten Eyck ; Elizabeth, married John Lew- 
is ; Hannah, married Henry Arnold, died in 
1828; Mary married John Weller; Abraham 
R., see forward. 

(\') Abraham R., son of Richard and 
Elizabeth (Lebrun) Ten Eyck, was born in 
New York City, September 22, 1775, died 
June 9, 1857. He married. May 17, 1801, 
Annetje, daughter of Matthew and Lydia 
(P'ryer) Msscher, born October 25, 1778. 
Children: Philip, born March 10, 1802. died 
unmarried; Ann Eliza, March 15, 1804, mar- 
ried James Ten Eyck. October 15, 1821, died 
May 26, 1866; Caroline, September 2, 1806, 
died September 24, 1809; Visscher, January 
27, 1809, see forward ; Lydia, August 24, 
181 1, married Stephen Van Valkenburgh, Oc- 
tober 20, 1841 ; John, April 20, 1814, married, 
November 6, 1862, Anna Jones ; Caroline, No- 
vember 21, 1817. died in Albany, May 18, 
1907; Mary, August 17, 1819; Ann, April 17, 
1822, married, July 8, 1857, John B. \'isscher, 
died February 5, 1863. 

(VI) Visscher, son of Abraham R. and 
Annetje (\'isscher) Ten Eyck, was born in 
Albany, January 27, 1809, died April 13, 1886. 
For a great many years he was cashier of the- 
Commercial Bank, identifying himself actively 
with Albany's more important public affairs. 
He married, August 14, 1833, Eliza Ann, 
daughter of the Rev. James and Lucinda 
Youngs. Children : Anna, born in Albany ; 
James, Albany, February 16, 1840. see for- 
ward; Elisha, April 27, 1842, died December 
20, 1894; \'isscher, March 29, 1845, died April 
26, i860; William, Februarv 28, 1855. died' 
July 8, 1858. 

(VH) James, son of \'isscher and Fliza 
Ann (Youngs) Ten Eyck, was born in Al- 
bany, February i6, 1 840. died in Albany, 
July 28, 1910. He received his earliest edu- 
cation at the Albany Academy ; he then at- 
tended Burlington College, New Jersey, from 
which he was graduated in 1855. Having 
successfullv passed the required examinations, 
he was admitted a junior at Yale, but because 
of poor health he was forced to change his 
plans. As a consequence, he began a mercan- 
tile life, taking first a position in the office- 
of the Central railroad. He entered the em- 
ploy of Bacon & Stickney, dealers in coffee 
and spices, in September, 1857. He became 
a partner, March i, 1865, and when Mr. Sam- 
uel Bacon died. Mr. Ten Eyck became the- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



41 S 



senior partner of this firm, which enjoyed 
prosperity which warranted the erection of 
a large building of its own in 1907, and which 
is of great utility. 

In Masonic circles he was known the 
breadth of the land, and was most actively 
identified with the fraternity since his initia- 
tion into Masters Lodge, November 23, 1863. 
He was the oldest thirty-third degree Mason 
in Albany. He was made master in 1873, 
continuing until 1877, passing all the chairs. 
He was elected grand master of Masons in 
the state of New York, June 8, 1892, and on 
being unanimously reelected declined. In 
this capacity he had a larger jurisdiction than 
any other Mason in the world, excepting only 
the Prince of \^'ales, and had the honor of 
presiding over eighty thousand Masons. He 
officiated at the laying of the corner-stones of 
the New York State Armory in Albany, of 
Harmanus Bleecker Hall, the Albany Masonic 
burial lot and of the Burns monument in 
Washington park. He presided at the jubilee 
of the Masonic fraternity when it celebrated 
the final payment of the debt on the Masonic 
Temple of New York City, April 24, 1889, 
and bore a large share in the work of erecting 
the handsome temple in Albany, one of the 
ornaments of the city. 

For many years Mr. Ten Eyck was an ac- 
tive participant in the city's affairs, being at 
one time on the directorate of no less than 
thirteen boards. He was chosen president of 
the Home Savings Bank in January, 1896. 
He was a member of St. Peter's (Episcopal) 
church, of the Fort Orange and Albany clubs, 
and was the only honorary member of the Aca- 
cia club. He was a principal shareholder in 
the Hotel Ten Eyck, the leading hotel of the 
Capital City. He was a Republican all his life, 
taking an interest in clean politics and civic 
government. He served as chairman of the 
general county committee, and was at the 
head of the citizens' committee having in 
charge the reception in 1891 to President Har- 
rison. In fact, he was named upon almost 
everv public committee of importance having 
a civic undertaking in charge, and always did 
his share. 

Mr. Ten Eyck was elected president of the 
Albany Institute and Historical and Art So- 
cietv. an organization dating back to 1791, 
and it was under his officiation that the hand- 
some, new building on Washington avenue 
was opened. It had an enormous debt en- 
cumbering it, which he was largely instru- 
mental in having wiped out, calling meetings 
weeklv until he had accomplished his praise- 
worthy object. As a collector of coins he was 
known all over the country as possessing one 



of the finest collections in America. It con- 
tains rarities of great value, and in this chosen 
field he was regarded as an expert. His col- 
lection of historic and old china was not only 
extensive, but of rare merit and wonderful 
beauty. It had engaged his attention for forty 
years, and purchases were made in all parts of 
the country aiming at completeness. In the 
fall of 1909 he presented this collection to the 
society of which he was the president, and in- 
stalled it in cases purposely made, as a memo- 
rial to his father, the late \'isscher Ten Eyck. 
Mr. Ten Eyck was regarded by his fellow- 
citizens as a man of absolute integrity and de- 
termination, and as these qualities were most 
frequently displayed, either in the form of 
some public trust or act of charity, the city 
gained considerable by his living in it. He 
married, October 18, 1864, Catherine Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Tennis and Margaret T. 
(Lush) \'an Vechten. She died May 23,. 
1865, leaving no children. 

The will of James Ten Eyck, which was 
drawn July 3, 1909, contained bequests of 
nearly $150,000 to public institutions, business 
associates and employes. The income from the 
estate, with the exception of the amount of 
three bequests, was to be given to his sister,. 
Anna Ten Eyck, during her lifetime. The 
three gifts which were to be made immediately 
were $2,000 to Hannah Gilligan and Mary 
Palmer, who for years were servants at the 
home of Ten Eyck, and his coins, curios, china 
and past master's Masonic jewels bequeathed 
to the Albany Historical and Art Society. The 
society was also given $2,000, the income of 
which is to be used to purchase proof coins 
each year from the LTnited States mint. This 
fund was in memory of his father, \'isscher 
Ten Eyck. Requests were given to public 
institutions of the city as follows : Homeo- 
pathic Hospital, $10,000 ; Albany Hospital, 
$10,000: Corning Foundation for Christian 
\\'ork in the Diocese of Albany, $20,000 ; Ma- 
sonic Hall .Association, $10,000; Trustees of 
the Masonic Hall and Asylum fund, $10,000,. 
and the sum of $12,000 was left to "the inhabi- 
tants of the city of Albany in communion with 
the Protestant Episcopal church of the state 
of New York." At the death of his sister, 
$1,000 is to be given to each of the employes 
of Bacon, Stickney & Company, who have at 
that time been in the employ of the company 
continuously for thirty years. Mr. Ten Eyck 
left to the surviving members of the firm, Her- 
bert \\'. Stickney, Allen H. Bacon and Samuel 
^^■. Brown, $20,000 each. The residue of the 
estate was bequeathed to Gertrude Ten Eyck 
Perry, Caroline Ten Eyck and Anna L. Van, 
\'echten. 



4i6 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



This name is believed to be of 
LXGALLS Scandinavian origin, and de- 
rived from Ingialld. During 
the ninth century the Scandinavians often de- 
scended on the east coast of England, and in 
after years many of that nationality made set- 
tlement there, especially in Lincolnshire. The 
Don^'csday Book records a Baron Ingald as 
tenant of King Williams, A. D., 1080. The 
meaning of the word Ingialld is : "By the 
power of Thor." The earliest record found 
is that of the will of Henry Ingalls (1555), 
grandfather of Edmund, the emigrant to 
America. The will of Robert, his father, made 
1617, is also of record. The name Ingalls is 
still common in England, and one well known 
in the United States, where it is also found ( as 
it is in England) under the different forms of: 
Ingall, Engle, Ingolds and Ingles. In Ingles 
coat-of-arms are these records : "Gules, three 
bars gemelle or, on a canton argent five bil- 
lets en salire sable. Crest : A lily springing 
from a crown. Motto: Humilis ex corona." 

(I) Edmund, son of Robert and grandson 
of Henry Ingalls, was born at Skirbeck, Lin- 
colnshire, England, about 1598, and came to 
America in 1628, with Governor Endicott's 
company, settling at Salem. In 1629, with 
his brother Francis and four others, he began 
the settlement of Lynn. He was a man of 
energy and good character in spite of the court 
record, which recites that he was fined for 
bringing home sticks in "both his arms" on 
the Sabbath day. His name is often found in 
the i)ublic records and show him to have been 
a man of influence. In March, 1648, while 
traveling to Boston on horseback, he was 
■drowned in the Saugus river, a defective 
bridge giving away, plunging both him and his 
horse into the icy water beneath. His heirs 
recovered damages from the town. His will 
■was probated September 16, 1648, the appraise- 
ment being one hundred and thirty-five 
pounds. The only mention of his wife is in 
iiis will, where he makes "my wife Ann In- 
galls sole executor." Children: i. Robert, 
born about 1621 ; married Sarah Harker. 2. 
Elizabeth, born 1622, died June 9, 1676; mar- 
ried Rev. Francis Dane, of Andover. 3. 
Faith, born 1623 ; married Andrew Allin, and 
removed to Andover. 4. John, see forward. 

5. Sarah, born 1626; married William Bitner. 

6. Henry, born 1627, married (first) Mary 
Osgood, (second) Sarah Farnum. 7. Samuel, 
born 1634; married Ruth Eaton. 8. Mary, 
married John Eaton. 9. Joseph, died young. 

(II) John, second son of Edmund and .Ann 
Ingalls, was born in Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, 
England, 1625. Lie was but three years of age 
when the family emigrated to America. He 



resided in Salem, then in Lynn, Massachusetts, 
and in 1687 was a member of the church at 
Bristol, Rhode Island ; settled at Rehoboth, 
Massachusetts, where it is recorded : "old 
John Ingalls. died December 31, 1721." In 
his will, approved February 5, 1721-22, he 
styles himself, "Yeoman." He married, May 
26, 1667, Elizabeth Barrett, of Salem. Chil- 
dren: I. John (2), born in Lynn, February 
6, 1668. 2. Elizabeth, born in Lynn, August 
ID. 1671, died at Lynn, October 29, 1676. 3. 
Elizabeth (2), married at Rehoboth, January 
2. 1701, Benjamin Crabtree. 4. Sarah, mar- 
ried (first) at Rehoboth. August 7, 1707, Wil- 
liam Howard; (second) William Hayward. 
5. Edmund, see forward. 

(HI) Edmund (2), youngest child of John 
and Elizabeth (Barrett) Ingalls. was born at 
Bristol or Cumberland, Rhode Island, removed 
to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he died. 
He married, November 29. 1705, Eunice, 
daughter of Benjamin Luddin, of Braintree, 
Massachusetts. Children: i. Benjamin, born 
December 8, 1706, died in Rehoboth, 1743; 
married, September 10, 173 1, Mercy Jencks, 
who survived him and married (second) Colo- 
nel Philip Wheeler, father of Captain Philip 
Wheeler, who married her second child, Marv 
Ingalls. Children of Benjamin and Mercy: 
Shuabel, Mary, Eunice, Freelove and Hannah. 

2. Elizabeth, born May 8, 1709 ; married, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1729, Ephraim ]\Ioslem. 3. Ebe- 
nezer, born July 14, 1711: married Elizabeth 
Wheeler : children : Elizabeth, Henrv, Fred- 
erick, Alithea, Ebenezer, ]\Ichitable, Lois, 
Hannah, Benjamin (a revolutionary soldier) 
and Sabina. 4. Edmund (twin), see forward. 
5. Eunice (twin), born October i, 1713: mar- 
ried, November 28, 1734, Amos Bdsworth. 6. 
Joseph, born in Rehototh, November 29, 1718: 
married Cordellay Bullock, and is believed to 
have settled in Otsego county, New York, 
about 1790: children: Hezekiah. Joseph, El- 
kanah, Elihu, Eunice, Cordellay (i), Edmund, 
Grizzel, Jonathan (a revolutionary soldier 
from Rehoboth, Massachusetts) Cordellay 
(2) and Luddin. 7. Samuel, born in Reho- 
both, April 20, 1723: married. Jime 11, 1744, 
Ruth Moulton and removed to Cheshire, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he died, 1795; children: 
Samuel, Ruth, Betsev, Rebecca, Stephen and 
Mary. 

(IV) Edmund (3), second son of Edmund 
(2) and Eunice (Luddin) Ingalls, was born 
at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, October i, 1713. 
He married, June 10, 1736. Deborah Ester- 
brook. Children, born in Rehoboth: i. Sarah, 
October 28, 1738: married. June 29, 1750, 
Caleb Ijrown. .2. Edmund, of further mention. 

3. Deborah, born May 4, 1742 ; married David 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \\\LLEYS 



417 



^^'l^eeler : children : David, Sabina, Deborali 
and Amos. 4. Benjamin, born June 11, 1745- 
46. 5. John, born March 7, 1747-48. 

(\') Echnund (4), eldest son of Edmund 

(3) and Deborah (Esterbrook) Insi^alls, was 
born in Rehobotli, Massachusetts, March 16, 
1739-40. He removed to Washington county, 
New York, about 1785. and died there Sep- 
tember 18, 1826. Washington county was 
then comparatively unsettled, and Edmund was 
one of the pioneer farmers. He served in 
the revolution as follows : Edmund Ingalls, 
Rehoboth, private, Captain Samuel Bliss' com- 
pany. Colonel Timothy Walker's regiment 
(22nd.) enlisted May 8, 1775: service three 
months, one day ; company's return, dated 
•October 6, 1775 ("Massachusetts Soldiers and 
Sailors in the Revolution"). He married. No- 
vember, 1760, Esther Salisbury. Children, 
"born in Rehoboth: i. Edmund, see forward. 
2. John, born August 6, 1763 ; married Olive 
Hicks ; in 1785, with his elder brother, became 
a pioneer settler and miller of Hartford, New 
York, died in Hebron. New York, in 1844; 
children : Delilah, Truman, Simeon. John, 
Olive, Benjamin, Esther, Anna, Reuben, Hor- 
ace Hicks and Chester. 3. Sarah, born June 
21, 1765, died in Winchester. New Hamp- 
shire, 1832: married Taft; no issue. 

4. Esther, born April 2^, 1767; married Mer- 
rill Dandley, of Henderson, New York. 5. 
Caleb Brown, born June 5, 1769, died at 
Ritchfield, Otsego county. New York, Sep- 
tember 26, 1846; married Hannah Taft; chil- 
dren: Daniel, Varney. Candace. Esther, 
Polly, Zimri, Laura, Hannah, Caleb, Ezek B., 
and P.orelli Taft Darwin. 6, Benjamin, born 
August 18, 1771, died at Ellisburg, Jefferson 
■county. New York; married (first) Margery 
Cass, (second) Sally Thomas. 7. Deborah, 

born December g, 1776; married 

Bowles. 8. Otis, born June 21, 1779, died at 
Flint, I\Iichigan ; married, 1802, Eunice 
Thompson: child, Otis (2). 9. Betsey, born 
May 15, 1781, died January 19, 1849; niarried 
Lsaac Kinney, of Truxton, New York. 10. 
Zimri. born Cumberland. Rhode Island, March 
21, 1784, died at Richmond, New Hampshire, 
May 3, 1852: married Parma Howe: children: 
Harriet, Sappina. Ransom. Parma, Isabinda, 
Persis, Otis. Jarvis and Amos Howe. 

(VI) Edmund (5). eldest son of Edmund 

(4) and Esther (Salisbury) Ingalls. was born 
at Rehoboth. Massachusetts, August 7. 1761, 
died at Gouverneur. New York. September 13. 
1820. He settled in northern New York with 
his father in 1785. and was one of the pioneer 
farmers of the town of Hartford. Washington 
county. He married, January 19, 1785, Mary 
Stockwell, who died February 29, 1812. Chil- 



dren, born in Ilartford, New York: i. Reuben, 
September 6, 1786, died at Granville, Wash- 
ington county, New York, November 28, 
1848: a farmer of that town: married Abigail 
L. Walker, who died at Granville, November 
29, 1847: children: Hiram Baker, Mary Ann, 
Amarilla, Annis, Louisa S. and Daniel Leeds. 
2. John, born May 12, 1788, died at Hartford, 
New York, May 25, 1862 : he was a farmer 
and a deacon of the ISaptist church : married. 
September 12, 1812, Susan Oatman, who died 
August 16, 1858; children: Betsey, David 
Oatman. Marictt and Walter. 3. Otis, born 
September 3, 1790: removed to Eureka. Wis- 
consin, where he died January 5, 1856 : mar- 
ried Betsey Stevens ; children : Selden B. and 
Benjamin Franklin. 4. Hosea, of further 
mention. 3. James, born February 28. 1794. 
6. Sarah, died in infancy. 7. Ira, born June 
22, 1800, died in Johnsburg. New York, April 
24, 1854: married Hepzibah Hill. 8. Edmund, 
born December 13, 1802, died in Smyrna, 
Michigan, March 11, 1882: married Sarah 
Di.xon, of Hebron, New York, and had a son, 
I-rank. 9. Rev. Daniel, born April 13, 1804; 
married (first) Elizabeth M. Cole, (second) 

Regina P. : he was a minister of 

the Baptist church, and a cotton planter at 
Calhoun, Georgia : child, James Hill. 10. 
Mary, born February 27, 1806: married Elias 
Goodrich, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts. 

(\'II) Rev. Hosea. fourth son of Edmund 
(5) and Mary (Stockwell) Ingalls, was born 
at Hartford, Washington county. New York, 
June 9, 1792, died at Albion. New York. Feb- 
ruary 13, 1875. He was a regularly ordained 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and bore a high reputation for piety and use- 
fulness in his Master's cause. He married, 
1812, Lovina Lamb, born at Truxton, Ver- 
mont, August 28, 1792, died July 30. 1859. 
Children: i. Lydia, born October 30, 1812, 
died February, 1893 : married, March 30, 1834, 
Israel Higgins. of Belvidere, .\llegany coun- 
ty. New York : children : Henry Lewis and 
Hugh Edward. 2. Lewis, born January 3, 
1817: married, June 18, 1838, Sarah \\'arren ; 
child, Mary L. 3. Daniel, of further mention. 
4. Jane T., born December 13. 1822. died Au- 
gust 13. 1856: married. February 28. 1843, 
Erastus Norton, of Barre, New York : chil- 
dren : Eugene, Charles L., Frank H. and 
Jane M. 5. Edmund, born February 15, 1828, 
died March 11, 1875; married, February 8, 
1843, Fannv Jennings, of Gaines, New York; 
children : Edmund Asa, Laura Maria, Albert 
.■\delbert, Sarah Lovina, Nancy Jane, Loren 
Edmund, Henry Lewis, Nellie Louise and 
Florence Adella. 6. Henry N., born Septem- 
ber 21, 1828, died at Ca.stile, New York. March 



4i8 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



29. 1869; married, March 19, 1850, Susan Al- 
len : children : Frances E., Florence E. and 
Hattie L. 

(Vni) Daniel, second son of Rev. Hosea 
and Lovina (Lamb) Ingalls, was born at Bel- 
lows Falls, Vermont, May 9, 1820, died at 
Castleton, New York, August 31, 1892. He 
was well educated and settled in life as a man- 
ufacturer of paper at South Manchester, Con- 
necticut. He was a member of the Methodist 
church. He married Sally Melissa, daughter 
of Benjamin and Anna (Rogers) Dake, of 
Greenfield, New York, granddaughter of 
Charles Dake, who came to White Creek, 
Washington county. New York, about 1770, 
from Westerly, Rhode Island, died in Green- 
field, New York, November 11, 1802. He was 
a gallant soldier of the revolution, and re- 
ceived a severe wound at the battle of Ben- 
nington, which was partly fought on his farm 
at Daketown. He enlisted in Captain William 
Brown's company, at Cambridge, New York, 
in the Sixteenth Regiment, Albany county 
militia, organized October, 1775. commanded 
by Colonet Lewis \'an Woest. He took part 
in the battle of Bennington, October 17, 1777, 
as a "minute-man," was wounded and carried 
to an old meeting house, where he was found 
later by his wife, who was searching the bat- 
tlefield for him and caring for other wounded 
and dving soldiers. This is believed to have 
been the first instance in the revolution of a 
woman rendering such service on the field of 
battle, and for her humane and patriotic serv- 
ice she is named on all certificates of member- 
ship issued by the Daughters of the Revolu- 
tion to her descendants, as a "Patriot." The 
old Dake homestead still stands in Daketown, 
and has been the home of members of the 
family, both progenitors and descendants of 
Charles Dake for two hundred years, the 
present occupant being Stark Dake. 

(IX) Wallace, son of Daniel and Sally Me- 
lissa (Dake) Ingalls, was born in Esperance, 
Schoharie county. New York. October 2, 1844, 
died at Saratoga Springs, March 17, 1877. 
At an early age he removed with his parents 
to Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York, 
where he was educated in the town schools. 
He engaged for many years in business with 
his father, and in 1874 removed to Rockford, 
New York, where he established a paper mill 
and conducted a successful business until 
1876, when ill-health compelled him to retire. 
He removed to Saratoga Springs, where he 
died the following year. He was a man of 
high character and great business ability. He 
married, March 21. 1866, Martha .\nn, daugh- 
ter of Elijah Norton and Lorinda (Kamp) 
Phillips, of Broadalbin, Fulton county. New 



York. Children: i. Lulu Belle, born at 
Hagedorns Mills, New York, February 18, 
1867 ; married, September 7, 1887, Clark 
Early, of Greenfield, New York. 2. Harriette 
(Harriet) Augusta, resides at Saratoga 
Springs, New York, 3. George Wallace, mar- 
ried, August 3, 1903, Ellen Bentley, of Syra- 
cuse, New York. 4. Mirah (or Myra) Phil- 
lips, married, November i, 1900, Gustave Lo- 
rey, of Albany, New York. 5. Frances 'SI. 

(The Phillips Line). 

(I) John Phillips, the first known ancestor 
of the line herein recorded, married and 
among his children was a son John, see for- 
ward. 

(II) John (2), son of John (i) Phillips, 
raised all the money to establish Antioch Col- 
lege, Yellow Spring, Greene county, Ohio, and 
was a member of board of trustees, also a 
member of the committee that met at Philadel- 
phia when the board of trustees congregated 
there to raise funds for the college ; he had 
the honor of naming it Antioch. He was a 
Christian clerg^'man, and his influence for 
good was exerted over a wide circle. He 
married Elizabeth Chase, probably a descen- 
dant of the Chase family of Massachusetts, 
the ceremony being performed in Broadalbin, 
Fulton county, New York, where their deaths 
occurred. Children : John, who was a cler- 
gyman, died about a year ago in Frankfort, 
Indiana : \\'illiam : Jabez ; Elijah Norton, see 
forward ; Lillis, who went as missionary to 
China and died there in November, 1910. Of 
the two sons, William and Jabez, one was a 
clergyman, now deceased, and the other a phy- 
sician at Pensacola, Florida. 

(III) Elijah Norton, son of John (2) and 
Elizabeth (Chase) Phillips, was born in the 
town of Broadalbin, Fulton county, New 
York, August 18, 1814. He married Lorinda 
Kamp, born September 7, 1815. and they 
moved from Broadalbin to Ohio. Children : 
John Henry, Mary Elizabeth, Martha Ann, 
above mentioned as the wife of Wallace In- 
galls, Elislia, Myra, Joseph, and probably 
others. 

(The Dake Line). 
Ancient iiistory records the acts of members 
of the Dake family. In the second century, 
Yeruato. son of the emperor of Japan, was a 
mighty warrior and never met defeat in battle. 
There are many traces of him still to be found 
in Japan, showing his greatness and telling 
mutely of his success. Descendants settled 
in Europe and intermarried with other na- 
tionalities. In Austria-Hungary members es- 
pecially distinguished themselves. Francis 
Dake. a descendant of the Japanese hero, was 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK \"ALLEYS 



419 



mainly instrumental in procuring for Hun- 
gary a semi-independent form of government, 
and in 1876. tlie year of his death, he was 
given a national funeral. In America the 
family was planted prior to the year 1630, the 
first arrival being in 1628. The men were 
loyal soldiers in the various wars waged by 
the colonies and states. Charles Dake and his 
son William were with Washington at York- 
town. In New York state William Dake was 
an early settler in Livingston county, in 1817, 
where a monument has recently been erected 
to his memory, at Picket Line. Charles, the 
revolutionary soldier, heretofore mentioned, 
settled at Daketown prior to the revolution. 
One. George Deake, is said to have built the 
first fortification at what is now Portland, 
Maine. The Dakes have been in Monroe 
county since its first settlement by white men, 
while Dr. Luke Dake, of Penfield. was the 
first physician there, and for a long time the 
only one within twenty miles. He was the 
first person to be buried in Oakwood ceme- 
tery of that place, in 1812. The Dake name is 
a familiar one in Rochester, New York, in the 
professions, in business, and in the trades. 
The late William Dake was supervisor of the 
fourteenth ward of that city, in 1868-72. 



This is an ancient English family 
GALE possessed of estates and bearing 
arms. They are early of record 
in -America, in Massachusetts, 1634, and Con- 
necticut in 1665. The progenitor of the Gale 
family of Troy, New York, is probably Ed- 
mond Gale, of Boston, who died in Boston, 
Massachusetts, in 1642. His children are be- 
lieved to have been : Thomas, settled in New 
Haven. Connecticut : Robert : Ambrose ; Bar- 
tholomew ; Edmond (2), married Sarah Dix- 
ey : Abell. of further mention ; Eliezer, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Bishop. 

( II ) Abell, son of Edmond Gale, had grant- 
ed him October 18, 1665. at Jamaica, Long 
Island, "a lot to set his house on." He was 
called "husbandman." The records show sev- 
eral purchases and sales of real estate. He 
was a member of the First Presbyterian 
church. He married (probably in England) 

Dinah . Children : John, of further 

mention : Jacob, a house carpenter, died 1720 ; 
Nehemiah. a weaver; Thomas, a weaver; 
Sarah, married Benjamin Smith ; Andrew. 

(Ill) John, eldest son of Abell and Dinah 
Gale, was born in Jamaica. Long Island, 
where he owned mills and lived until 1721, 
when he sold his mills for fifteen hundred 
pounds and removed to Goshen. Orange 
county. New York, becoming one of the pro- 
prietors of that then new town. The Jamaica 



records show him a soldier in Captain Peter 
Schuyler's company in 1692, probably serving 
against the French; he was vestryman in 1717. 

His wife was Mary . His will, dated 

May 3, 1746, proved October 24, 1750. names 
children: i. John, of further mention. 2. 
Daniel. 3. Thomas, a member of the New 
York house of assembly, 1739 to 1750, and 
judge of the court of common pleas, of Orange 
county, 1740 to 1749. 4. Abraham. 5. Heze- 
kiah, of Walkill, Ulster county, New York. 6. 
Joseph. 7. Dr. Benjamin, born December 14, 
1715 ; graduate of Yale College, 1733 : studied 
medicine and settled at Killingworth, Connec- 
ticut, where he practiced, and died May 6, 
1790. He was a distinguished writer on the 
Old Testament prophecies, medical subjects 
and agriculture. His versatility is seen from 
the fact that the London Medical Maga::;ine 
published and warmly complimented an arti- 
cle of his on "Small Pox," and the London 
Society for the Promotion of Arts and Com- 
merce awarded him a gold medal "for an im- 
provement in the drill plow." He married, 
June 6, 1739, Hannah Eliot, born October 15, 
1713, died June 27, 1781, descendant of John 
Eliot, the teacher and apostle to the Indians. 
Children: i. Elizabeth, born December 3, 1740, 
died November 18, i8i8;married Samuel Gale; 
ii. Catherine, born June 21, 1742, died June 19, 
1797: married Jeremiah Atwater, of New 
Haven, Connecticut ; iii. Mary, born February 
3. 1744. married Dr. John Redfield, of Guil- 
ford, Connecticut ; iv. Julianna. born Novem- 
ber 14, 1746, married Leverett Hubbard, of 
New Haven, Connecticut; v. Hannah, born 
April 12, 1748, died November 26, 1797, """ 
married; vi. Mehitable, born December 13, 
1749, married Archibald Austin, of New Ha- 
ven, Connecticut ; vii. Samuel, born December 
9, 1751. died December 21, 1751 ; viii. Benja- 
min, born February 22, 1755, died March 31, 

1855. 8. Catherine, married Ludlam. 

fl\') John (2), son of John (i) and Mary 
Gale, was born May 30, 1697. died 1760: will 
proved January 27, 1761. He is believed to 
have lived at Stamford, Connecticut, from 
1732 to 1736, and was a surveyor. He mar- 
ried, November 8, 1723, Hannah Coe, born 
August 24. 1704. Children: i. Anna, born 
-August 21, 1724; married Rev. Elmer, of 
New Jersey. 2. Daniel, born January 5, 
1726; will proved 1756; married Dinah 

; he had sons: Moses, a physician, and 

Daniel. 3. Moses, born September 2, 1728. 
4. Dr. John, born August 18, 173 1 ; surgeon 
in the -American army in the French war ; sur- 
rogate of Orange county. New York, 1768; 
married. May 10, 1756. Ann, daughter of Da- 
vid Jones, of Queens county, New York;. 



420 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



speaker of colonial assembly and judge of 
the supreme court. 5. Benjamin, born Sep- 
tember 8, 1734: will proved 1782; deacon of 
the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen ; 
married Eleanor Carpenter. 6. Sarah, born 

April 2, 1737 ; married Bull. 7. Ke- 

ziah, born April 5, 1740; married Roger 
Townsend. 8. Samuel, of further mention. 
9. Coe. born December 17, 1745. died 1826; 

married (first) Carpenter; (second) 

Widow Wisner. 

(V) Samuel, son of John (2) and Hannah 
(Coe) Gale, was born in Goshen, New York, 
March 3, 1743, died at Troy, New York, Jan- 
uary 9, 1799. After graduating from Yale 
College, he entered the office of his uncle. Dr. 
Benjamin Gale, of Killingworth, Connecticut, 
to prepare for the profession of medicine. He 
completed his medical studies and began 
practice with Dr. Benjamin Gale, his pre- 
ceptor, in Killingworth. He served during 
the revolution, being appointed a captain 
by Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, 
May I, 1775. His name is on the "Lex- 
ington Alarm List" from the town of 
Killingworth as captain, showing a service 
of six days. His captain's commission was as 
captain of the Eighth Company, sixth regi- 
ment, Connecticut Continental Line, Colonel 
Parsons, raised on the first call for troops in 
April — May, 1775 : was reorganized and 
adopted as a continental regiment under Colo- 
nel Parsons in 1776. His first term of service 
under his commission as captain expired De- 
cember 19, 1775. He saw active service in 
New England and New York during his first 
campaigns and rendered subsequent service. 
In July, 1779, on Tryon's invasion of Connec- 
ticut, he was at the head of his company. Colo- 
nel Worthington's regiment, with other Con- 
necticut troops that turned out to repel the in- 
vasion. At the close of the revolution in Au- 
gust, 1787, he sailed with his wife, five sons 
and two daughters from Killingworth, for the 
upper Hudson valle\-, having decided to lo- 
cate at Lansingburg. The passage up the 
river was so slow that he did not reach Van 
Der Heyden's Ferry (Troy) until the begin- 
ning of September. He had previously rented 
a house at Lansingburg. but his delay in ar- 
riving had lost him that dwelling, and on the 
solicitation of Jacob D. Van Der Heyden, he 
occupied part of his house until he could com- 
plete his own dwelling, which he erected on 
the west side of the river road (now River 
street), on the second lot south of present 
Ferry street. Here he resided until 1798, 
when he removed to his second home in Troy, 
119 First street, where he died, as did his wife 
and all their children, except John, Samuel 



and Sarah, the latter occupying the home un- 
til her death in 1862. Dr. Gale's skill as a 
physician brought him abundant practice 
among the settlers of Troy and the neighbor- 
ing farmers. He was well-known and had the 
public confidence. He was one of the organ- 
izers of First Presbyterian church of Troy, and 
elected December 31, 1791, a member of the 
first board of trustees, holding the office many 
years. He was a member of the Masonic or- 
der and a charter member of Apollo Lodge, 
No. 40, the first lodge established in the vil- 
lage in 1796. He married, September 4, 1766, 
his cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Benja- 
min Gale. Children : i. Benjamin, born August 
8, 1767, died August 26. 1817. 2. John, born 
December 8, 1769, died September 29, 1846; 
married Remember Mary Sherman, widow of 
— Brown. 3. Samuel, of further men- 
tion. 4. Juliana, born April 28, 1774, died 
April I, 1791, unmarried. 5. Daniel, born 
August 24, 1776. died September 24, 1776. 
6. Sarah (Sally), born February 20, 1778, 
died September 2, 1862, unmarried. 7. Roger 
Townsend, born September 15, 1780. died 
January 8, 1854, unmarried. 8. William, born 
August 17, 1782, died March 3, 1813, unmar- 
ried. Of the foregoing, Benjamin and John 
established as merchants in Troy. 

(\T) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (i) and 
Elizabeth (Gale) Gale, was born April 24, 
1772, died July 21, 1839. He was graduated 
M. D., May 9, 1792, by First Medical Society 
in Vermont. Went to the West Indies, where 
he practiced his profession for a short time. 
Returning to the L'nited States he settled in 
Troy, where he established a drug store that 
he conducted for many years. This was the 
foundation and beginning of the latter day 
house of John L. Thompson, Sons & Com- 
pany, a leading wholesale firm of Troy. In 
1804 he was appointed postmaster of Troy, 
holding until 1828. He was a member of 
the first board of directors of the Rensselaer 
and Saratoga Insurance Company, incorpo- 
rated in 1814: a manager of the Troy Sav- 
ings Bank, incorporated 1823 : director of the 
Farmers' Bank of Troy ; treasurer of the 
Rensselaer County Medical Society, organized 
1806. He married. September 15. 181 1, 
Mary, born December 19, 1788, died January 
I, 1853, daughter of Ezra (2) Thompson, of 
-Stanford. Dutchess county. New York (see 
Thoni])Son \TII). Children: i. Samuel Wil- 
liam, born September i, 18 12, died Septem- 
ber 27, 1813. 2. William Samuel, born July 
10. 1816, died June 30. 1817. 3. Ezra Thomi)- 
son, of further mention. 4. Mary Elizabeth, 
born February 13, 1822, died November 12, 
1829. 5. John Benjamin, born May 9, 1824, 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



421 



died May 17, 1906; married (first) October 
6, 1846, Elizabeth Van Schoonhoven Wells, 
born August 8. 1824, died June 5, 1871 ; mar- 
ried (second) January 27. 1873, Catherine J. 
Wells, sister of his first wife, born February 
16, 1829, who survives him. a resident of Wil- 
liamstown, Massachusetts. The controversy 
between Bishop Doane and John B. Gale arose 
over this second marriage. Children : i. May 
Elizabeth, born August 12, 1847, died April 
!/• 1857: ii. Caroline deForest, born Decem- 
ber 2-j, 1848, married, April 29, 1874, Ed- 
ward Reynolds Ilun, of Alliany, who died 
March 14, 1880 ; iii. Frederick Wells, born 
March 29. 1850, died May 6, 1876. 

(\TI) Ezra Thompson, son of Dr. Samuel 
(2) and Mary (Thompson) Gale, was born 
at Troy, New York, April 27. 1819, died July 
4, 1887. He was educated in preparatory 
schools and was graduated at Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute, class of 1837. He es- 
tablished in the hardware business in Troy, 
in 1840. a junior partner of the firm of Brin- 
kerhoff, Catlin & Gale. In 1843 the firm be- 
came E. Thompson, Gale & Company, con- 
tinuing until 1853, when it was changed to 
Catlin & Sexton, with ^Mr. Gale as a special 
partner. The firm manufactured and dealt in 
hardware, conducting an extensive business. 
In 1857 he withdrew from connection with 
the firm and henceforth devoted all his time 
to the business of banking. In 1850 he had 
been elected a director of the P^armer's Bank, 
president 1859 to 1865. and in the latter year, 
when the bank was consolidated with the Bank 
of Troy, he was chosen president of the new 
institution, holding that position until 1885. 
He was one of the promoters of the Troy & 
Boston railroad in 1848 : an organizer of Troy 
Gas Company ; director of Troy Savings 
Bank ; director of Rensselaer & Saratoga rail- 
road ; trustee of Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- 
tute ; deeply interested in the Young ]\Ien's 
Association, and placed the "Gale Alcove" in 
its library in memory of his deceased son, Al- 
fred deForest Gale : also was an active friend 
of the Troy Female Seminary and supported 
by ])urse and influence every good work in the 
city, regardless of creed or nationality. He 
built the memorial chapel at the Day Home 
and was a strong supporter of the cause of 
education. His love for his alma mater was 
an enduring one and he worked continuously 
for its betterment and endowment. He mar- 
ried. January 17, 1844, Caroline deForest, of 
New York City, born May 27, 1823, died 
March 2, 1864. a descendant of the Huguenot, 
Isaac deForest. a very early settler on Man- 
hattan Island (see deForest \TI). Children: 
I. Alfred deForest, born October 8, 1845, died 



March 30, 1877, unmarried; member of Lane, 
Gale & Company. 2. Eliot Thompson, born 
August 21, 1847, died December 2, 1848. 3. 
Benjamin Herbert, born May 23, 1850, died 
May 14. 1851. 4. Mary deForest. born Sep- 
tember 10, 1852, died February 17, 1905; mar- 
ried, January 4, 1882, John Clatworthy, of 
Taunton, England, born July 26, 1836, died 
October 26, 1902, at Troy. 5. Alargaret 
Eliza, now a resident of Washington, D. C. 6. 
Edward Courtland, of further mention. 7. 
Caroline deForest, married (first) January 
17, 1888, S. Alexander Troy, of Troy, born 
February 11, 1859, died December 2. igo8; 
children : Constance deForest, Elaine Eliot, 
Grace Alexis; married (second) Frederick 
Augustus Von Bernuth, Jr., of New York 
City, nephew of John Clatworthy. 

(VIII) Edward Courtland, son of Ezra 
Thompson and Caroline (deForest) Gale, was 
born October 28, 1861, in Troy, New York. 
He was educated at Troy Academy, St. 
John's School at Sing Sing, New York, and 
entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 
where he was graduated civil engineer, class 
of 1883. He never followed his profession, 
but after the death of his father filled the 
place of his father as a banker and manufac- 
turer of hardware ; director of the United 
National Bank of Troy since 1888 ; trustee of 
Troy Savings Bank since 1888 : trustee of 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ; trustee of 
Troy Public Library ; president of Eagle 
Square Manufacturing Company, of South 
Shaftsbury, \'ermont, making steel carpenter's 
squares, etc ; president of Albany & \'ermont 
Railroad Company : vice-president of Rensse- 
laer & Saratoga Railroad Company ; vice- 
president of Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad 
Company ; secretary and treasurer of Troy & 
Greenbush Railroad Company. He served in 
the New York National Guard from 1883 to 
1892, and during the Spanish-American war 
was captain of Company A, second Regiment 
Infantry, New York Volunteers, United 
States army. He is now president of the Troy 
Citizens Corps. For eight years he was a 
volunteer fireman of Troy, belonging to the 
.Arba Read Ste'amer Company. In politics he 
is an Independent Republican, and during the 
years 1905-06-07 served on the Republican 
county committee. He is a member of Delta 
Phi ('R. p. I. fraternity), the Troy. Pafraets 
Dael and Island Golf clubs of Troy, and the 
Grolier Club of New York City. He mar- 
ried. April 24. 1888, Mary Warren, daughter 
of John I. Thompson, of Troy. Children : 
Alfred Warren, born January 2. 1892: Harold 
deForest. born January 18, 1896 ; Marie Caro- 
lyn ; Katherine. 



422 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(The Eliot Line). 

Hannah Eliot, wife of Dr. Benjamin Gale, 
and mother of Elizaheth Gale, wife of Sam- 
uel Gale, was a descendant of John Eliot, 
known as "the apostle to the Indians." He 
was born 1604, at Nasin, Essex county, Eng- 
land : arrived in Boston November 3, 1631, on 
the ship "Lion": married. October, 1632, An- 
nie ]\Iountfort, born 1604, died Marcli 24, 
1687. 

(HI Rev. Joseph Eliot, son of John and 
Annie (Mountfort) Eliot, was born Decem- 
ber 20, 1638, died May 24, 1694; married 
(first) about 1675. Sarah Brenton, who died 
about 1681. daughter of William Brenton, 
governor of Rhode Island. He married (sec- 
ond) 1684. Mary, daughter of Samuel Wyllys, 
of Hartford, Connecticut, son of Governor 
Wyllys. Samuel Wyllys married Ruth, 
daughter of Governor John and Mabel (Har- 
lakendcn) Havnes, of Alassachusetts. 

(Ill) Jared Eliot, M.D., D.D., son of Rev. 
Joseph and i\Iary (Wyllys) Eliot, was born 
November 7, 1685, died April 22, 1763. He 
married, October 26, 1710, Elizabeth, born 
1693, died February 18, 1761, daughter of 
Samuel Smithson, of Guilford, Connecticut, 
who was the emigrant from Brayfield, North- 
amptonshire, England. 

(R) Hannah, daughter of Jared and Eliza- 
beth (Smithson) Eliot, married Dr. Benjamin 
Gale, son of John Gale (see Gale III). 

(V) Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Benjamin 
and Hannah (Eliot) Gale, married her cousin, 
Samuel Gale, of Goshen, New York. 

(The Thompson Line). 
Mary Thompson, wife of Dr. Samuel Gale, 
of Troy, descended from Henry Thompson, of 
Lenham, England, and Dorothy, his wife. 

(II) Anthony, son of Henry and Dorothy 
Thompson, was born at Lenham, Kent county, 
England, August 30. 1612, died March, 1684. 
He landed at Boston from the ship "Hector," 
July 26, 1637, and was one of the first settlers 
of New Haven, Connecticut, and signed the 
Colony Constitution, June 4, 1669. The name 
of his first wife is unknown. His second was 
Katherine . 

(III) John, eldest son of Anthony Thomp- 
son and his first wife, was born 1632. He is 
called "Skipper" John Thompson, and John 
Thompson, "the mariner," and Mr. John 
Thomp.son. He died June 2, 1707. His wife 
Hellcna died October 8, 1690. 

(I\') Captain Samuel Thompson, son of 
John and Hellena Thompson, was born May 
12, 1669, at New Haven, Connecticut, died 
March 26, 1749: married, November 14. 
1695, Rebecca, daughter of Lieutenant-Gov- 



ernor James Bishop, of Connecticut, and his 
wife, Elizabeth Tompkins. Captain Thompson 
was a merchant, and was successively sergeant, 
ensign, lieutenant and captain. 

(V) Samuel (2), son of Captain Samuel 
(i) and Rebecca (Bishop) Thompson, was 
born December 2, 1(596, at New Haven, Con- 
necticut. He married .Sarah (or Hester) Allen 
(or Ailing), January 20, 1719. He settled in 
Goshen, Connecticut, removing from there to 
Stanford, Dutchess county, New York, where 
with his brothers he bought twenty-eight 
hundred acres of land. 

(VI) Ezra, son of Samuel (2) and Sarah 
(or Hester) (Allen) Thompson, was born 
1734; married Rachel Smith, and resided in 
Stanford, New York. 

(VII) Ezra (2), son of Ezra (i) and 
Rachel (Smith) Thompson, was born at Stan- 
ford, New York, September 3, 1765, died 
April 3, 1829; married, July 13, 1786, Sally 
Burton, of Amenia, New York, born about 
1767, died November 21, 1807, at Poughkeep- 
sie. New York. 

(VIII) Mary, daughter of Ezra (2) and 
Sally (Burton) Thompson, married Dr. Sam- 
uel Gale. 

(The deForest Line). 

(III) David, .son of Isaac (q. v.) and Sarah 
(du Trieux) deForest, was baptized Septem- 
ber, 1669, died- April 20, 1721. He married. 
1699, Martha, daughter of Samuel, son of 
Captain Benjamin Blagge. David deForest 
settled in Stratford. Connecticut, in 1695. 

(IV) David (2), son of David (i) and 
Martha (Blagge) deForest, was born April 
24, 1702: will dated April 18, 1748. He 
settled at Wilton, a parish of Norwalk, Con- 
necticut. He married Abigail . 

(V) Elihu, son of David (2) and .Abigail 
de Forest, was born 1735: married. May 4. 
1761. Rachel, daughter of David and Lurania 
(Bills) Lambert. David Lambert, born 1700, 
son of Jesse Lambert, who came from Eng- 
land in 1680, settled at Milford, Connecticut; 
married, May 10, 1688, Deborah Fowler. 

(VI) Benjamin, son of Elihu and Rachel 
(Lambert) deForest, was born July 16, 1771. 
baptized 1777, died October 27, 1850; mar- 
ried, September 29, 1804, Mary, daughter of 
Thomas Burlock, born January 14, 1759, mar- 
ried, December 27, 1779, Mary Layton. born 
May 5, 1757; died August 13, 1827. The 
Layton sisters were famed for their fine per- 
sonal appearance and were known as the 
"Long Island beauties." 

(VII) Caroline, daughter of Benjamin and 
Mary (Burlock) deForest. married Ezra 
Thompson Gale (see Gale VII). 

(VIII) Edward Courtland, son of Ezra 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



423 



Thompson and Caroline (deForest) Gale, 
married Mary Warren Thompson, and is now 
(1911 1 a resident of Troy, New York. 



De Bas is a well-known 
BASSETT French surname. The Anglo- 
Saxon form is Bass, Basse, 
Bassus, Bassite or Bassett. Other variations 
of the name are Bassano, Basselin, Bassan- 
tien and Bassinus. It is a popular tradition 
that the name came from the French word, 
bas, meaning in this connection, short of stat- 
ure. Bassett is a name found on the roll of 
Battle Abbey, Thurstine de Bassett (the extra 
t was not added until the fifteenth century), 
grand Falconer of William the Conqueror, ac- 
companied him from Normandy and from him 
are descended all the English Bassetts. Corn- 
wall and Devonshire. England, have always 
been strongholds of the family and many of 
them have been owners of the rich Cornwall 
mines. Two distinguished members of tlie 
family were Sir Francis Bassett, vice-admiral 
under King Charles I. ; another Sir Francis, in 
the reign of George HL, was made Baron 
Bassett and Baron of Dunstanville. Under 
Henry L, Osmund Bassett was judge of all 
Britain, as was his great-grandson under 
Henry HL Allan Bassett's name appears in 
Magna Charta among those of the King's 
counsellors. Peter Bassett was biographer of 
Henry V. and his chamberlain. Fulk Bassett 
is remembered in the records of St. Paul's 
Cathedral on account of his gifts to that 
church. The Bass arms are : "Gules, a chev- 
ron, argent between three plates. Crest : a 
demi-lion, gules, resting his paw on an oval 
shield in cartouch, or, charged with a fluer-de- 
lis, azure." 

The first of the name in America was Wil- 
liam Bassett or Bassite, who came over in the 
■"Fortune" in 1621. The tradition is that he 
intended joining the "Mayflower"' pilgrims, but 
waited for his bride. He was an educated man 
and brought his box of books with him. He 
was freeman in 1633 ■ for six years represen- 
tative to the old colony court ; helped to lay 
out Duxbury, and served in the Pequot war. 
A son. grandson and great-grandson were 
named \\'illiam, a favorite name in the family. 
William Henry Harrison, former president of 
the United States, got his first name from the 
Bassett family, to which his mother belonged. 
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, was a son 
of a Bassett, mother a granddaughter of Rich- 
ard Bassett, governor of Delaware and mem- 
ber of the convention of 1787 which framed 
the Constitution of the L^nited States and the 
first to cast a vote for the removal of the Capi- 
tol from Philadelphia to Washington. An- 



other William Bassett came to America at age 
nine in the ship "Abigail." John Bassett 
came from England to New Haven, Connecti- 
cut, in 1643. Robert Bassett was another 
emigrant, as was Joseph. Thomas Bassett 
came in 1634 in the ship "Christian," settling 
in Connecticut. Another very early settler 
was Samuel Bass, who settled in Massachu- 
setts in 1630. His son John married Ruth, 
daughter of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Al- 
dcn of the "Mayflower.'' The family have 
always taken prominent parts in the develop- 
ment of the nation. They helped to subdue 
both forests and Indians and were at the front 
during the revolution: one hundred and fifty 
of the name serving from the state of Massa- 
chusetts alone. Moses Bass sent six sons and 
Henry Bass was one of the famous "Boston 
Tea Party." The Bass family was connected 
by marriage with the Faneuils who gave to 
Boston "Faneuil Hall," called the "Cradle of 
Liberty." The Bassett arms are those of 
Thurstine de Bassett. "the falconer" ; Argent, 
a chevron between three bugle horns, sable, 
crest : a stag's head cabossed : between the 
attires, a cross fitchee, all argent. Motto: 
"Gwill angua na chywilydd." "Death before 
dishonor," the motto having probably been 
added by Wesh members of the family. The 
line ip New York was first settled in Wash- 
ington county by Captain John Bassett, a de- 
scendant of Cornelius Bassett, who probably 
came direct from England. 

(I) Captain John Bassett was a ship master, 
cajjtain of a sailing vessel which ran between 
England and the New England colonies of 
North America. It has been maintained and 
often stated by James Bassett that his father. 
Captain John Bassett, piloted the French fleet 
in 1780 into Newport, and thus Count de 
Rocliambeau and his soldiers were guided by 
the hand of a Bassett to the land which their 
bravery did so much to free from British 
tyranny. About 1760 he married Annie Hilli- 
man and had sons: James: John: Henry, the 
latter going west and settling in Michigan. 

(II) James, son of Captain John and Annie 
(Hilliman) Bassett, was born in Greenwich, 
Washington county. New York, about 1785. 
He was engaged in the grocery business ; a 
Quaker in religion : a Whig in politics : mar- 
ried, in town of Easton. Washington county. 
New York, 1806, Mary, daughter of John 
W'orth (a first cousin of General William 
Jenkins Worth) and his wife, Jemima 
(Swayne) Worth. Children: Frederick M., 
Caroline Tefft. John W., Edwin A., Susan, 
Harriet, Anna M., Oscar M. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Bassett are buried at Fort Miller. 

(III) Oscar M., son of James and Mary 



424 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \"ALLEYS 



(Worth) Bassett. was born in Fort IMiller, 
Washington county, New York, April 12, 
1827. He was engaged in the forwarding 
business in New York, afterward came to 
Fort ^liller and became a wholesale dealer in 
potatoes. In religion a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and in politics a Republican, 
serving as town auditor. He married, at Fort 
Miller, New York, May 14, 1855. Frances M. 
^lills, born July 13, 1831, at Fort Miller, 
daughter of Abram and Catherine (Scoville) 
Mills, and granddaughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Knowles) Mills. Children: F. Her- 
bert, married Mary F. F.urgess, and has a 
daughter Anna : Richard Oscar. 

(R) Richard Oscar, son of Oscar M. and 
Frances M. (Mills) Bassett, was born in the 
village of Fort Miller, town of Fort Edward, 
Washington county. New York, April 15, 
1863. He was educated in the public schools 
of Fort Miller. Schuylerville high school, and 
private school of Rev. Samuel B. Bostwick. 
He is an attorney at law, admitted 1886 from 
attorney's office of Delaware & Hudson Com- 
pany, where he remained for seven or eight 
years, since which time he has practiced his 
profession in the city of Albany, New York, 
where he is now (1911) in practice. He is a 
member of Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and in politics a Republican. , His 
church connection is Protestant Episcopal. He 
married, June 15, 1892, in Albany, Sara A., 
born in that city, 1872. daughter of Robert 
and Catherine (Race) Wands, of New Scot- 
land, Albany county. New York, the former a 
policeman, a veteran of the civil war. His 
father. William Wands, and his six brothers 
settled in New Scotland, Alliany county. New 
York: they were Scotch. Catherine (Race) 
Wands was a daughter of W'illiam and .•Xn- 
toinette ( Corbett ) Race. Children: i. Rich- 
ard Oscar (2). born Alarch 13, 1893, R''^^'" 
uate of Albany high school, student. 2. Cath- 
erine W'orth, born August 23. 1900, student at 
public school. 3. Lloyd Tefft, born 1902, de- 
ceased. 4. Herbert, deceased. 



The ancestor of the 
L'AMORE.\UX L'Amoreaux family was 

a French Protestant 
Huguenot, one of a large number of refugees 
forced to leave France in consequence of re- 
ligious persecutions either before or after the 
revocation by Louis XI\'. of the Edict of 
Nantes in 1685. These refugees set sail for 
the American colonies and landed at New 
Rochclle, Westchester county. New York, be- 
tween 1685 and 1750. In consequence of the 
meager records it is impossible to fix the exact 
date of arrival. There can be little doubt 



some of these French Huguenots had com- 
menced a settlement at New Rochelle before 
1687. It is reasonably well established the 
Huguenots, or French Protestants, of New 
Rochelle were a part of the vast multitude 
who were driven from France by persecu- 
tions for conscience sake and sought refuge 
in lands where they might enjoy religious 
freedom. Some of them, it is said, came from 
the West Indies, where they had lived for some 
years after leaving France, while others came 
no doubt from England and were a part of 
the fifty thousand persecuted who fled into 
that country before the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes. This is confirmed by the charter 
of Trinity Church in New Rochelle. wherein 
they specify that they fled from France in 
1681 ; that they were subsequently transported 
in the King's ships and landed on Daven- 
port's Neck at a place called Bauffets, or 
Bonnefays Point. It seems about this time 
thirty familes comprised this colony of Hugue- 
nots. Very little is known of them at just 
this period, except that other Huguenots ar- 
rived from time to time, so that by the year 
1710 there was a total population of two hun- 
dred and sixty-one persons. The fact that 
these colonists had sacrificed all their posses- 
sions in France and suffered exile for the 
sake of a principle is evidence enough that 
they were men of strong character. That 
many of them were also highly educated and 
intelligent is apparent even in the meager rec- 
ords which show how their public and private 
affairs were conducted. A bronze tablet now 
marks the spot upon which these Huguenots 
first set foot upon the land of their adoption. 

Mr. L'Amoreaux's descendants are domi- 
ciled in manv of the states of the Union and 
in many parts of the state of New York. 
These descendants to the number of hundreds 
assemble annually at reunions at Cayuga 
Lake, New York. This article has to do with 
the Peter L'Amoreaux branch of the family 
that settled at Peekskill, Dutchess county, 
afterward, at a comparatively early date, re- 
moved to Rose \'allcv. Wavne countv. New 
York. 

(I) Peter L'.Vmorcaux was born July 12, 
1761 : married Elizabeth L'Amoreaux, born 
September 12. 1760. and are buried at Rose 
\allcy. New York. They had children: i. 
Daniel, born October 24. 1785, son of Eliza- 
beth by a former husband. 2. John, born Oc- 
tober 24, 1787. 3. Jesse, of further mention. 
4. Catherine, born December i, 1793: married 
Joel Brundage ; lived in Rensselaer county,. 
New York. 5. Joel, born January 13. 1797; 
married a Mrs. Baldwin, and had son ."^ulli- 
van, lieutenant-colonel New \'iirk Ninth 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



42s 



Heavy Artillery ; served in civil war. 6. Eliza- 
beth, born June 10, 1800; married Frederick- 
Tanner ; settled in Illinois. 7. Phoebe, born 
June I, 1802; married David Silliman. 8. 
Jane, born March 24. 1806: married Zacha- 
riah Esmond. 

(H) Jesse, son of i'cter and Elizabeth 
L'Amoreaux, was born at Peekskill, New 
York, November i, 1790, died January 17, 
1869. at Ballston Spa, New York ; married, 
November 21, 18 17, Charity Esmond, born 
at Pittstown, Rensselaer county, New York, 
November 21, 1796, died March 18, 1888, 
daughter of Joseph Esmond, born April 9, 
1765, married Catherine, born May 16, 1765. 
Joseph Esmond had children: i. Elizabeth, 
born April 15, 1788. 2. Thomas, February 13, 
1790. 3. Peter D., August 11, 1792. 4. Char- 
itv, November 21, 1796. 5. Zachariah. 6. 
Joseph j\L Children of Jesse and Charity 
L'Amoreaux: i. Elizabeth, born August 5, 
1819, died April 13, 1892; married Calvin T. 
Peek, February 21, 1839; had two daugh- 
ters: i. Ann Eliza, born February 14, 1840: 
resides at Ballston Spa, New York : married 
(first) Fred J. Wakeman, and had two daugh- 
ters : Lelah E., born October 30, 1862, and 
Irene A., born July 25, 1865. Fred J. Wake- 
man died July 24, 1875, from whom Ann 
Eliza was divorced, and afterward married 
Andrew J. Hall, May 28, 1874: by second 
marriage, one daughter, Nellie May, born 
February 16, 1878. ii. Catherine J. Peek, 
daughter of Calvin T. and Elizabeth Peek, 
born April 20, 1842, died July 21, 1845. 2. 
Catherine LWmoreaux, daughter of Jesse and 
Charity, born .\]jril 16, 1822, died September 
15, 1844. 3. Sarah Maria, born April 14, 
1831 ; died January 24, 1847. 4. Jesse S., of 
further mention. 

(Ill) Jesse S. L'Amoreaux, only son of 
Jesse and Charity (Esmond) L'Amoreaux, 
was born in \\'ilton, Saratoga county, New- 
York, December 11, 1837. He was admitted 
to the bar and began the practice of law at 
Schuylerville, New York, April i, 1857. The 
following year he removed to Ballston Spa, 
at which place he has maintained an office to 
the present writing (1911). 

He married Ellen S. Holbrook, June 8, 
1865 : no children. In 1882 he was elected, 
without opposition, judge of Saratoga county, 
and served until 1887. In 1887 he was the 
nominee of his party for state comptroller, but 
failed of election, the entire state ticket being 
defeated. He took part in the organization of 
the First National Bank of Ballston Spa in 
1865, has since been one of its directors, was 
its vice-president for a number of years, and 
afterwards became and still is its president. 



He has been a member of the Masonic order, 
lodge, chapter, commandery, and a member of 
the I'lrst Presbyterian Church of Ballston Spa 
for many years. He is at present associated 
with Hon. George S. Graham in the practice 
of law in the city of New York. He (Jesse) 
in earlier years engaged in both civil and 
criminal business, during which period he was 
counsel in various of the famous criminal cases 
tried in his county. In later years he has de- 
voted much of his time to corporate work. 



IMany of the original Dutch 
ADRIANCE settlers in this country were 

neglectful in the use of fam- 
ily or surnames, while others who had them 
frequently adopted the christian name of their 
father as a surname, usually, but not invaria- 
bly, adding to it either "sen," "se," "s," sz," 
or "z," all of which had the same meaning- 
and signified son. This often resulted in de- 
scendants of a common ancestor bearing en- 
tirely different names. This is the case in the 
present Adriance and Ryerson families, and 
the Martcnse Arie or .Arien Ryerse and 
Maerte Ryerse, both sons of Ryerse. Ryerse, 
although not a surname, was retained by the 
descendants of Maerte (Marten) Ryerse, who 
are now numerous and bear the name of Ry- 
erson. The descendants of Arie (Arien, 
Adrian) Ryerse added the "se," and used 
Adrian as a surname — which later became the 
present Adriance. Elbert and Marten Adri- 
ense were sons of Adrien Reyerse, of Flat- 
bush, who, with his brother Marten Reyerse, 
came from Amsterdam. The history of this 
family strikingly exhibits the early habit of 
changing names. Reyerse, itself no surname,, 
but simply a patronymic, was retained by de- 
scendants of Marten Reyerse, who are now 
numerous and bear the name of Ryerson. Of 
the two brothers Elbert and Marten Adriense, 
the first settled in Flushing, and his posterity 
there, in Dutchess county and elsewhere, com- 
pose the Adriance family. Marten .\driense 
remained in Flatbush, married Sarah, a sis- 
ter of the wife of his brother Elbert, and had 
sons : Adrian, Rem and Gerrit, who took the 
patronymic Martense, and were the progeni- 
tors of the present Martense family. 

(I) Adrian Ryerse probably emigrated in 
1646, as he took the oath of allegiance in 1687, 
and at that time stated that he had been in- 
America forty-one years. He married Anna, 
daughter of ]\Iartin Schenck. 

(II) Elbert .\driance, son of Adrian and 
Anna (Schenck) Ryerse, was born in 1663. 
He married Catalina, daughter of Rem Jan- 
sen \'anderbeeck and Jannetie, daughter of 
Joris Jansen de Rapalie. The sons of Rem 



.426 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Jansen Vanderbeeck dropped the surname and 
■took instead the father's patronymic, Rem, 
added sen, and thus Rem Jansen Vanderbeeck 
became the ancestor of the Remsens of 
America. 

(HI) Rem, son of Elbert and CataHna 
(Vanderbeeck) Adriance. was born in i6go. 
He married Sarah, born December 18, 1691, 
daughter of Joris and Annetie (daughter of 
Teunis Jansz Coevers, ancestor of the Covert 
family of this country) Brinckerhofif, and a 
direct descendant of Joris Dericksen Brinck- 
erhofif, born in Holland in 1609, came to 
America in 1638, and died January 16, 1661. 

(IV) Abraham, son of Rem and Sarah 
(Brinckerhoff) Adriance. was born in 1720, 
and removed to Fishkill. Dutchess county. 
New York. He married (first) in Fishkill, 
Sarah, daughter of Jeromus and Elizabeth 
(Bedell) Rcpleyea, of Fishkill, a descendant 

of Joris Jansen Repleyea, born in 1623. who 
built the first house on Long Island, founded 
tlie city of Brooklyn, and whose daughter 
Sarah was the first white child born of Euro- 
pean parents in the state of New York. Abra- 
ham Adriance married (second) Phoebe \'an 
Kleek. 

(V) John, son of Abraham Adriance, prob- 
ably by his first wife, but of this there is no 
record, was born in Fishkill, New York, in' 
1753' "^I'^d May 29, 1794. He married En- 
geitje Storm, born in Fishkill. died at the 
age of fifty-four years, and who was a de-, 
scendant of Dirck, who came to America on 
the ship "Fox" in 1662. 

(VI) Abraham J., son of John and En- 
geltje (Storm) Adriance. was born October 
13, 1773, died from the effects of a sunstroke, 
August I. 1 82 1. He married, April 28, 1796, 
Mary Elizabeth Eyrand Van VIeck. born at 
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. March 5, 1778, died 
November 5, 1842. She was the daughter of 
Abraham H. Van Vleck. was born in 1747, 
<died August 29, 1777; he married, December 

13, 1772. Elizabetli Eyrand. born in La Ro- 
chelle, France, daughter of a French artist of 
Huguenot descent, and died July 8, 1828; slie 
married (second) 1792,- Thomas Mesnard, an 
Englishman, who was a shipmaster and died 
July 29, 1827: no children by second hus- 
"band ; her family had migrated to this country 
'On account of religious persecutions. 

The \"an Vlecks were a noted Moravian 
family who left Germany with a colony that 
settled around Bethlehem and Nazareth, Penn- 
sylvania, and for a number of generations 
they had been noted for the number of bishops 
and preachers they had furnished the church. 
Religious persecution w-as the cause of tlicir 
leaving home, and to this day many of the 



ancient customs they established are observed 
in the community, and they are foremost in 
all religious and educational matters. Abra- 
ham J. and Mary Elizabeth Eyrand (Van 
Vleck) Adriance had children: i. Abraham 
Van Vleck, born May 24, 1798. died unmar- 
ried. May 16, 1867. 2. John, born November 
9, 1799, died unmarried, August, 1825. 3. 
Thomas Mesnard, see forward. 4. Judith, 

born December 18, 1803; married 

Welsh ; children : Mary Jane, married Jacob 
Lewis, now deceased : Rebecca, deceased, mar- 
ried Thomas Ward ; Louisa, deceased, married 
Zachariah Mead. 5. Henry, born November 
12, 1805. 6. Elizabeth Eyrand, born June 10, 
181 1, married Charles Genett. died at Rich- 
mond, Virginia, about 1905. 7. George Wash- 
ington, born August 10, 1813; married, and 
left one daughter, Elizabeth, who married 
Charles Seibert. 8. James Lawrence, born 
August II. 1815. died unmarried. 9. Francis 
Vincent Gray, born September 7, 1817. and 
died at Hauppaugeville, Long Island, 1897. 

(VII) Thomas Mesnard, son of Abraham 
J. and Mary Elizabeth Eyrand (Van Vleck) 
Adriance, was born in Dutchess county. New 
York, August 9, 1801, and died December 30, 
1877; buried in Greenwood cemetery. New 
York. In his early manhood he removed to 
New York City, where he engaged in the 
banking business, being connected for his busi- 
ness life as manager with the old banking 
house of John A. Stevens & Company. He 
was a member of the famous Seventh Regi- 
ment of New York, and continued to be ac- 
tively identified with it and with its veteran 
association. At the expiration of fifty years 
of service he received a jubilee gold medal to 
commemorate his half century with the regi- 
ment. He was married, January 8, 1826, the 
Rev. James Milnor officiating at the ceremony 
in St. George's church, in Beekman street, to 
Julia Ann Price, born January 16. 1801. She 
was a daughter of Joseph and Ann (Fern- 
liowcr) Price, the former a native of Wales, 
whose father settled at Red Bank, New Jer- 
sey ; the latter born in I lolland, a daugliter 

of Fernhower, a learned man and a 

teacher of languages. Children : i. Julia Ann 
Price, born January 6, 1828, died July 26, 
1878, unmarried. 2. Louisa Graves, born Au- 
gust 18, 1833: married, June 16, 1863, David 
Walker; died March (or April) 7, 1876. 3. 
Thomas Bloodgood (see forward). 4. Wil- 
liam Joseph, born July 28, 1839, died August, 
igio; married. April 14, 1887. Ella ATaud. 
daughter of Benjamin Franklin; children: 
William Franklin, twrn April 18, 1890; Helen 
Lawrence, February 25, 1892. 5. Frances Ste- 
vens, born December 26, 1841 ; married, April 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



427 



30, 1867, Gideon H. JNIead; lias one son, 
'Charles Adriance. 

(\'ni) Thomas Bloods:ood, son of Thomas 
Mesnard and Julia Ann (Price) Adriance, 
was born in New York City, December 13, 
1836, and died January 20, 1877; buried in 
Greenwood cemetery. New York. He was 
educated in his native city, attending the Me- 
chanics' Society School. Throug'liout his en- 
tire business life he held an important place 
with the riank of Commerce of New York 
Citv. In i860 he removed to Jersey City, 
where he made his residence during the re- 
mainder of his life. He was a member of the 
Twenty-second Regiment, N. G. N. Y., at the 
time of its organization, and during the civil 
war. and was with the regiment when it was 
sent to ^^'ashington and formed a part of the 
reserves at Antietam. He was a member of 
Varick Lodge, Free and .Accepted Masons, 
of Jersey City. He married, September 29, 
1864, Mary E. Holmes, who was born April 
28. 1838. and died May 26, 1910 (see Holmes 
forward). Children: .Anna, Allan Holmes, 
Thomas Floy (see forward). 

(IX) Thomas Floy, youngest child of 
Thomas Bloodgood and Tilary E. (Holmes) 
Adriance, was born in Jersey City, New Jer- 
sey, December 8, 1874. He received his pre- 
paratory education in the public schools of 
Jersey City, then was prepared for entrance 
to the New York University by a private tu- 
tor. Matriculating at the university, he was 
graduated in the class of 1895 with the degree 
of Bachelor of Science, and in the following 
year received his degree of Civil Engineer. 
The next two years were spent under John G. 
Van Home, New York City, in general mu- 
nicipal engineering, and he was then employed 
by the Department of Public Works, New 
York City, as engineer inspector. His next 
position was with the Hastings Pavement 
Company as superintendent, afterward becom- 
ing engineer in charge of the construction of 
the Empire City race track at Yonkers, New 
York. Upon the completion of this work, he 
■went to Nicaragua as assistant engineer to the 
Isthmian Canal Commission on the Nicaragua 
survey, then to Ecuador, South America, as 
one of the engineers on the Guayaquil & Quito 
railway, and acted while there as topographical 
and resident engineer. Returning to this coun- 
try, he was employed by the Hudson county. 
New Jersey, freeholders as engineer in charge 
of the construction of the Baldwin .Avenue 
bridge. In 1002-03 he had charge of the Bu- 
reau of Lamps and Gas for the lighting of 
Manhattan and Bronx boroughs. New York 
City: from 1903 to 1905 he had charge of the 
'highway improvement at Harrisburgh, Penn- 



sylvania ; in 1905 and 1906 he was engineer 
in charge of the T. B. Ackerson Construction 
Company, Brooklyn, New York ; since then he 
has held the position of assistant superintend- 
ent of the International Paper Company's 
mills at Fort Edward, Washington county, 
New York. He is a member of the Delta Phi 
fraternity, as well as of a number of business 
and social clubs. 

Mr. .Adriance married. March 7, 1904, Grace 
Florence, daughter of George Frederick and 
Jennie A. (Gregory) Underwood (see for- 
ward). Children: George Underwood, born 
July 13, 1905; John Gregory and Thomas 
"Holmes (twins), born July 7, 1907. 

(The Holmes Line). 

Mary F. Holmes, mother of Thomas 
P'loy .Adriance, descends from Francis and 
Ann Holmes, who came from Beverly, Eng- 
land, to Wethersfield, then to Stamford, Con- 
necticut, in 1648. His will is on record in 
Fairfield county, 1671. 

(II) John, son of Francis and .Ann Holmes, 
was born in England, came to Stamford in 
1660 and removed to Bedford, New York, in 
1690. He was married in England. 

(HI) John (2), son of John (i) Holmes, 
was born in England in 1639, died in 1729. 
He came to America in 1660, settled first in 
Greenwich, then moved to Bedford, New 
York, in 1681. 

(IV) John (3), son of John (2) Holmes, 
was born in Bedford. New York, in 1690. 
Fie was town clerk in 1732-40, and signed 
the Canfield deeds. 

(\) Reuben, son of John (3) Holmes, was 
born in I'edford about 171 5. He served as 
town clerk of Bedford from 1747 to 1750; as 
town clerk of Newburgh, 1775-82; and was a 
soldier in the revolutionary war. Children : 
Reuben, Burras, Joel and William. 

(\T) Burras, son of Reuben Holmes, was 
of Newburgh, New York, iirior to 1760. He 
was tiiere probably between 174S-53 and after 
1775. He married and had children: Daniel 
and Gilbert. 

(\TI) Rev. Daniel Holmes, a minister of 
the Methodist church, son of Burras Holmes, 
was born in 1770. died in 1839. He was of 
Middle Hope, Newburgh, New York, and 
married Mary Purdy, who was born in 1771, 
diefl in 1833. Children. William S. and 
thirteen others. 

(\TII) William S., son of Rev. Daniel and 
Marv ( Purdy) Holmes, married (first) Eliza 
Kniffen. and had children: Charles. Gilbert, 
Reuben, Lucien, James K., Mary E., see for- 
ward, Daniel. He married (second) Eliza 
Staples, widow of Charles KnifFen, a brother 



428 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



of his first wife, and had: Milton T., Aman- 
da, Frances, Martha, Adehne. 

(IX) Mary E.. daughter of WilHam S. and 
Ehza (Kniffen) Hohnes, married Thomas 
Bloodgood Adriance (see Adriance X'HI). 

William S. Holmes was a brick manufac- 
turer at Haverstraw, \'erplancks Point and 
Kingston Point, New York. Shortly after his 
second marriage he moved to Manchester, 
Iowa, where he died. 

(The Underwood Line). 

The L'^nderwood families of America, who 
claim descent from pre-revolutionary ances- 
tors, descend from one of the following: i. 
Joseph Underwood, see forward. 2. William 
Underwood, of Concord, Massachusetts. 3. 
Henry Underwood, settled in or near New- 
port, Rhode Island, about 1665. 4. William 
Thomas Underwood, settled in Virginia about 
the middle of the seventeenth century. 5. 
Alexander Underwood, settled in Maryland 
about the same time that settlement was made 
in Virginia. These were five of seven broth- 
ers who came to America together, Joseph be- 
ing the ancestor of the branch here under con- 
sideration. 

(I) Joseph Underwood left London, Eng- 
land, for Virginia in 1635 ; afterward re- 
moved to Waterbury, Massachusetts ; was one 
of the proprietors of Hingham, Massachusetts, 
in 1637 ; was admitted freeman at Watertown 
in 1645 ; died there prior to 1677. He had a 
brother whose wife was named Magdalene. His 
will, dated February 15, 1658, left his real es- 
tate to his wife, Magdalene, and to Thomas, 
son of his brother, who was then living with 
them. Thomas also left legacies to his broth- 
er Joseph, and to his nephews and nieces, chil- 
dren of Joseph Underwood. Joseph Under- 
wood married (first), 1645, Mary , 

who died February 13, 1658: married (sec- 
ond) April 29, 1662, Mary Howe, of Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts. Children : Joseph, 
see forward, Sarah, .Anna, Elizabeth, Thomas, 
Martha. 

(II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (i) and 
Marv Underwood, was born in Watertown, 
Massachusetts, 1650, died 1691. He married, 

in 1673, Elizabeth . Children: i. 

Mary, born in Watertown, Massachusetts, 
1673. 2. Joseph, Watertown, 1675. 3. John, 
Watertown. 1677, settled in Charleston. 4. 
Elizabeth, Watertown, 1679, married Nathan- 
iel Cutler. 5. Joseph, see forward. 6. Jo- 
hanna, Redding, 1682, settled in Sherburne, 
Massachusetts. There were, perhaps, other 
children, including Hannah, married, 1709, 
Daniel Richardson. 

(III) Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2) and 



Elizabeth Underwood, was born in Redding,. 
Massachusetts, 1681, died in Westford, Massa- 
chusetts (set off from Chelmsford), January 
19, 1761. He removed from Redding to West- 
ford in 1715. He and his brother were sub- 
scribers to the covenant in 1727, when the 
church at Westford was formed from the 
church at Chelmsford. He married at Red- 
ding, 1707, Susannah Parker, born in 1689, 
died February 18, 1769. Children, first four 
born in Redding, the remainder in Westford : 

I. Joseph, born 1708, died 1745; married, 
1739, Ruth Bancroft. 2. Thomas, 1709, died 
1732. 3. Mary, 171 1, married Colonel Bulk- 
ley. 4. Elizabeth, 1714, married Joseph 
Fletcher, moved to Dunstable. 5. Jonatlian, 
see forward. 6. Amy, 1717, married. 1736, 
Joseph Spaulding. 7. Ruth, 1719. died 1775; 
married Joseph Reed. 8. Phineas, 1722, died 
in ]\Ierrimac, New Hampshire, 1757. 9. Tim- 
othy, 1724. 10. Susannah, 1725, died 1729. 

II. John, 1727, died 1756. 12. Bethiah, 1729, 
married Oliver Prescott. 13. James, 1731. 

(R') Jonathan, son of Joseph (3) and Su- 
sannah (Parker) Underwood, was born at 
Westford, Massachusetts, January 22. 1716, 
died at Marlboro, Vermont, May 26, 1794. 
He moved to Marlboro about 1776. He en- 
listed in Captain Kent's company on the alarm- 
and went to Lexington in April, 1775, serv- 
ing in this company thirty-nine days, until 
wounded. Captain Kent's company was 
formed at Suffield, Connecticut: was at the 
siege of Boston eight months in 1775, and was 
at Ticonderoga in 1777. He married Hannah 
Richardson. Children: i. Jonathan, see for- 
ward. 2. Susannah, born 1747, married Si- 
mon .Adams, of Suffield, Connecticut. 3. 
Oliver, 1762, died November 18, 1765. 4. 
Hannah, 1760. 5. Thaddeus, died September 
8, 1840: married Mary Farr, of Boylston. 
6. Samuel. 7. Phineas. 8. John, 1773, died 
February 7, 18 16. 

(V) Jonathan (2), son of Jonathan 1 i 1 and 
Hannah (Richardson) Underwood, was born 
in Westford, Massachusetts, 1774, died in 
Vermont, December 21, 1801. He had a 
grist and saw mill, and was also engaged in 
farming. He married, 1777, in Brimsfield, 
Massachusetts, Deborah, daughter of Isaac 
Morgan: she died in 1830. Children: i. Oli- 
ver, see forward. 2. Polly, born October 31, 
1781, died May 29, 1863: married Jonathan 
Ingraham. 3. David, February 12, 1783. died 
at Marlboro, November 13, 1863. 4. Jona- 
than, August, 1784. 5. Deborah, .April 22, 
1787. 6. Roxy, July 2, 1788. 7. Erastus,. 
Ajjril 5, 1791. 8. I.ucinda. 9. James. Decem- 
ber 17, 1795. 

(VI) Oliver, son of Jonathan (2) and De- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



429 



"borah (.Morgan) Underwood, was born April 
7, 1779- He married Maria Nichols and 
•moved to Chestertown, New York. Children : 

I. Oliver, born .\ugust 22, 1806. 2. David, 
!May 13, 1809, died .\pril 19, 1885; married, 

1836, in \'onkers, Hannah Waring. 3. I'lavel, 
Julv 14. 181 1. 4. Christopher, see forward. 
■5. Lemuel. 1815. 6. Burnham. 7. Houghton, 
February i, 1818. 8. Rosana, January 28, 

1821, died May 9, 1900; married, March 29, 
1848, Lorenzo Heminway. 9. Lucy. 10. Sam- 
-iiel. II. Miles. 12. Sydney. 

(\'H) Christopher, son of Oliver and Ma- 
ria (.\ichols) Underwood, was born Septem- 
ber 6, 1813. died April 28, 1898. /\fter his 
marriage he removed to Chester, New York, 
and from there to Fort Edward, Washington 
county, where his death occurred, lie mar- 
ried, July 2, 1841, Mahala Griffin, born May i, 

1822, died November 2"]. 1904. Children: i. 
Sibyl -Armenia, born July 6, 1842, died Janu- 
ary 17, 1848, 2. Emmeline R.. July 6, 1844. 
3. George Frederick, see forward. 4. Myron S., 
July 29, 1850, married, September 9, 1877, 
Anna Horton ; child: Clarence 11. Horton. 
5. Herson, December 8, 185 1. 6. David C, 
May 2},. 1855. 7. Leroy, July 24, 1856. 8. 
San'ford R., August 13, 1858. 9. x\nna \., 
September 3, 1862. 

(V'lll) George Frederick, son of Christo- 
pher and Mahala (Griffin) Underwood, was 
born at Horicon, Warren county. New York, 
July 18, 1845. He was educated at Fort 
Edward L'nion School, Fort Edward Collegi- 
ate Institute, and was graduated after taking 
a full course at Eastman's Business College, 
Poughkeepsie. He at once engaged in lum- 
bering, holding the position of general man- 
ager fourteen years, at first with the firm of 
Bradley & Underwood in Fort Edward, and 
until 1880 for the Bloomingdale Lumber 
Company of Sandy Hill. In the latter named 
year he became interested in his own personal 
business affairs, and became one of the largest 
dealers in timber and lumber in his section. 
In 1896 he was elected director in the Inter- 
national Paper Company and has been vice- 
president of that company since 1907 ; he is a 
director of several other companies and banks. 
His political affiliations are with the Repub- 
lican party, and he is a member of the Pres- 
byterian church. He married, June 24, 1875, 
Jennie A., daughter of Simeon R. and Jane 
Delavan (LTnderhill) Gregory, of Fort Ed- 
ward, New York. Children: Grace Florence, 
see forward ; Maude S., Harry Gregory, Ma- 
rion Anna, Maud S. married Walter W. 
Wait : child, Harry Gregory Wait, born June 
20, 1900. 

(IX) Grace Florence, daughter of George 



Frederick and Jennie \. (Gregory) Under- 
wood, married Thomas Flov Adriance. 



Since the compilation of the W- 
.\LDEN den genealogy by Mrs. Charles 

L. .-Alden, of Troy, New York 
(New Eng. Hist. Gen. Mag., Vols. 51, 52, 54, 
56), further research has been made in Eng- 
land. It is now almost proven that John .\1- 
den, the pilgrim, was a son of Joseph Alden, 
shipwright and cooper near South Hampton, 
England, and not of nobility or entitled to a 
coat-of-arms. This will be given to the public 
in the near future by Mrs. .Alden. 

(I) John Alden married Priscilla Molines. 
Children: i. Elizabeth, the first white woman 
born in New England, 1622-23: married Wil- 
liam Pabodie. 2. Captain John, born 1624 ; 

married (first) Elizabeth , (second) 

Elizabeth (Phillips) Evcrill. He was the 
commodore of the Massachusetts colony 
navy. He left a small family, and three gen- 
erations later "none in the name." 3. Joseph, 
married Mary Simmons (Moses), and two- 
thirds of those bearing the name of .Alden are 
traceable to him. 4. Sarah, married .Alex- 
ander Stanclish. 5. Ruth, married John Bass. 

6. Mary, married Thomas Delano. 7. Jona- 
than, married Abigail Hallett. 8. Rebecca, 
died unmarried. 9. David, see forward. 10, 
Priscilla (?). 11. Zachariah (?) .A Mary 
signed the settlement of heirs, wife or widow 
of an unknown son. 

(II) David, son of John and Priscilla (Mo- 
lines) .Alden, married Mary, daughter of Ed- 
ward Constant and Elizabeth (Collier) South- 
worth, and had children: i. Henry, see for- 
ward. 2. Ruth, married Samuel Sprague, of 
Du.xbury and Rochester, Massachusetts. 3. 
Elizabeth, married, 1697, John Seabury, and 
went to Stonington, Connecticut. 4. Priscilla, 
married, 1699, Samuel Cheeseborough, of 
Stonington, Connecticut. 5. Sarah, married, 
prior to 1702, Thomas Southworth, of Du.x- 
bury. 6. .Alice, married, 1706, Judah Pad- 
dock, of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

7. Benjamin, married Hannah, daughter of 
Wrestling Brewster, and lived in Duxbury. 

8. Samuel, born in 1689: married Sarah 
Sprague, and lived in Duxbury. 9. Probably 
Anna, married Snell . 10. Mary, mar- 
ried Samuel Allen, 

(III) Henry, son of David and Mary 
(Southworth) Alden, was born about 1673. 
He was of Dedham, and was sent off to Need- 
ham, when that town was laid out. When 
young he was a mariner with his uncle, Cap- 
tain John .Alden of Boston, and upon the 
death of the latter, in 1704, or about that year, 
he was in Dedham with his wife and his 



430 



HUDSON AND AIOHAWK VALLEYS 



dausjhter, Alice, and in that town his son 

John was born. He married Deborah , 

whose maiden name has not been discovered. 

Children: i. Alice, married . 2. John, 

see forward. 3. Deborah, married Thomas 
Dunton. and was insane during the latter part 
of her life. 4. William, married (first) Ruth 
Kingsbury, (second) Mary De Costa. De- 
scendants say Coastic. and one record gives 
the one spelling, another gives the other. 5. 

Susannah, married Kinch. 

(IV) John, son of Henry and Deborah Al- 
den, was baptized in Dedham in 1704. His 
will was dated June 26, 1782, and in it he 
mentions his wife, sons John, Henry, Samuel, 
Thomas, daughters Jemima Pratt, Alice Ca- 
pron, Mary Paine, and granddaughter Lydia 
Smith. His son Silas executor, fie married, 
November 26, 1728, Thankful, of Dedham, 
daughter of Samuel and Mercy Parker, and 
granddaughter of Samuel Parker. Children : 
I. Jemima, 1730. (Did she die young and an- 
other Jemima marry Moses Pratt?) 2. John, 
173 1 ; married Mary Adams, of Med way. 3. 
Alice, 1733; married Jonathan Capron. 4. 
Henry, see forward. 5. Silas, 1736; married 
Margaret Capron. 6. Samuel, 1743 ; married 
Susannah Coller. 7. Moses, died young. 8. 
Moses, died young. 9. Thomas, married Polly 
Cheny. 10. Thankful. (Did she marry a Smith 
and have a daughter Lydia?) 11. Mary, mar- 
ried Samuel Paine. 12. Bethiah, died March 

6, 1742-43- 

(Y) Henry, born November 27, 1734, died 
September 28, 1809. He married, March 25, 
1762, Thankful, born July 22, 173 1, daughter 
of John Parker, of Needham, whose direct an- 
cestors for three generations were also named 
John, and were respectively of IMuddy River, 
Boston and England. Children: i. William, 
see forward. 2. Rebecca, born March 25, 1765. 
3. Asa, born January 16, 1767, died May 10, 
1769. 4. Mehitable. born March 23, 1769, 
Family tradition says that others died young, 
and the impression exists that this was the 
case with Rebecca and Mehitable also. 

(VI) William, eldest child of Henry and 
Thankful (Parker) Alden, was born at Need- 
ham, July r, 1763, and died at Calais, \'er- 
mont, September 27, 1842. He married Su- 
sanna, born December 9, 1766, died February 
27, 1844. ilanghter of Jason and Elizabeth 
(Real) \\'hitney. Jason Whitney was a sol- 
dier during the revolution and his line of de- 
scent is through Mark, Benjamin and John : 
Elizabeth (Real) Whitney is descended 
through Joseph, William and William. Chil- 
dren, all born in Needham: i. Isaac, see for- 
ward. 2. William, born .August 22, 1791, died 
August 4, 1861 ; married (first), 1818, Ann 



Fuller, who died in 1822; married (second),. 
1824, Elizabeth Bacon, and among their chil- 
dren was Charles, father of Annie Cutler, of 
Chelsea, Massachusetts. 3. Asa, born Septem- 
ber 25, 1794, was of Calais, Vermont: mar- 
ried, October 29, 1822, Avis Hammet Snow, 
sister of the wife of his brother Isaac; none of 
his children were married. 4. George, born 
in 1797, died in Eden, Vermont, November 27, 
1846; married, 1826, Clarinda Mclntyre : their 
children died without leaving descendants. 5. 
Elizabeth, born in 1802, married Isaac Ken- 
non, of Eden, Vermont, and had five children ; 
she died in Worcester, Massachusetts, where 
she was living with her daughter, Mrs. Bas- 
sett, now also deceased, the latter leaving twO' 
sons, George AI. and Arthur Bassett, both 
married and living in Worcester. 6. Hannah 
W., born in 1806, married Washington Fiske, 
of Flyde Park, \'ermont, and had three chil- 
dren. 

William Alden was a farmer, a mill owner 
and a manufacturer. He was in military serv- 
ice for a short time, then, being an invalid,, 
he contributed money. A record of his serv- 
ice is to be found in the Year Book of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. 

(\TI ) Isaac, eldest child of William and Su- 
sanna (Whitney) .Alden, was born in Need- 
ham, Massachusetts, March 19, 1789, and died 
in Lewis, Essex county, New York, .August 
17, i860. He was a farmer, saw and other 
mill owner, manufacturer of nails, and was 
engaged in a variety of business enterprises. 
He served during the war of 1812, and the 
musket which he used in that struggle is still 
in the family, but his war record has not been 
preserved. After his marriage he lived at 
Newton Upper Falls until between 181 3 and 
1817, when, with his wife and two sons, he re- 
moved to Calais, Vermont, His first wife died 
there, leaving an infant daughter, and he sub- 
sequently went to Essex county. New York, 
where he made his permanent home in Essex. 

He married (first), 1813, Maria Stone, Irorn 
in Newton, January i, 1792, died in Calais, 
Vermont, February 11, 1818. He married 
(second), August 30, 1818, Hannah Snow, of 
.Montpelier, X'ermont, born October 2S. 1792, 
died in Sand Lake in 1869, (See Snow). 
Children by first marriage: i. Edwin .Augus- 
tus, born in Newton Upper l'"alls, March 10, 
1814; married, September 18, 1848, Mary 
Elizabeth, born February 10, 1828, died No- 
vember 12, 1856, daughter of Dr, Ira Hay- 
ward, of Clintonville, New York ; children : 
i. Helen Maria, married Henry Nason, and 
lives in Brooklyn, New A'ork. ii. George, born 
October 3, 1852, died unmarried, iii. Kate, 
born November 26, 1854; married Judge Lu- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



431 



cius L. Sheddon, of Plattsburg'. New York, 
and has : George, Shepard and Elizabeth. 2. 
Joseph Jackson, born in Newton, Massachu- 
setts, September 19, 1815, resided at Sand 
Lake and Troy, New York, and died in the 
latter city, in 1897; he married, July 27, 1842, 
at Troy, Sarah Waterman, born October 4, 
1824, daughter of Captain Benjamin Mar- 
shall : children : i. Maria Stone, born May 
29. 1844; married, June i, 1864. Jonathan Al- 
den, and lived in Brooklyn, New York. ii. 
Marshall Benjamin, born November 27, 1846, 
died August 8, 1847. "'• Harry Marshall, 
born August 2, 1848, died in Troy, New York, 
in 1902 : married, 1870, Julia Louise Bab- 
cock, and had two sons : George AL and Mar- 
shall MacClay. iv. Emma Hepsebeth, born 
March 11, 1854, died January 26, 1890; she 
married, October 8, 1879, Frederick Carver, 
and had one child, .Arthur, v. Mary Newcomb, 
born November 26, 1856, died February 18, 
1886: she married, December 3, 1889, El- 
bridge Garret Stannard. and had one son : 
Alden. vi. Edward Marshall, born March 21, 
i860, married, October 12, 1887, Helen Van 
Doren, of New York, and had : Gladys, Mil- 
dred and Marshall. Edward Marshall and 
Harry Marshall .A.lden carried on the grocery 
business left by their father, the firm having 
first been J. J. Alden, then J. J. Alden & Sons, 
and at present J. J. Alden's Sons. 3. Olive 
Maria, born at Calais, Vermont, August 4. 
1817, was an infant when her mother died, 
and for some years her home was with her 
mother's family in Newton : she married, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1840, in Lewis, New York. John 
James Knox, born October 26, 1815, died after 
1854 ; children : i. Charles Lucius, born Sep- 
tember I. 1841, was a soldier during the civil 
war : married in Nebraska, and died, leaving 
one daughter, ii. Ruby Emeline. born June 1, 
1846 ; married Prouty, and had chil- 
dren, iii. Elizabeth Viola, born March 23, 
1852, is living in Worcester, Massachusetts, 
unmarried, iv. Eliza Cornelia, born February 
27, 1854 : married Charles O. Prouty, lives in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, and has one son, 
Alden Knox. Children by second marriage: 
4. Ruby Hanimet, born March 18, 1821, lived 
in Wisconsin and Iowa, in which latter state 
both she and her husband died : she married in 
Lewis, New York, .August 20. 1845. David 
Swan Sykes : children, of whom all but the 
second are living in Iowa : i. Maria Jane, 
born in 1846, married Benson, ii. Da- 
vid, born in 1848, married, iii. Horatio, born 
in 1854, married. iv. Mary, married, v. 
Charles .Alonzo, married. 5. Emily Doane, 
born in Lewis, New York, December 18, 
1824, is now deceased : she married, Decem- 



ber 29. 1841. Shubal Moses Coll, born in 
Westport, New York, January 20, 1821, also^ 
deceased; children: i. Sarah Marshall, born 
November 30, 1842, died unmarried, ii. Mary 
Elizabeth, born February 11, 1845, 's living in 
Leadville, Colorado. She married Willard 
Brown and has had four children, iii. Francis- 
Herbert, born December 23, 1846 : is living 
in the West ; he married, iv. Isaac Levi, born 
February 20, 1852, died young. 6. Charles L., 
(see forward). 7. Avis Ellen, born Decem- 
ber 8, 1830; married, September 23, 1848, 
George Palmer Prescott, and lives in Albany,. 
New York: children: i. Richard, born Octo- 
ber 28, 1849, graduated from Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute, and is now dead ; married, 
but left no children, ii. Anna Maria, born 
November 26, 185 1, unmarried, and lives in- 
Albany, New York. iii. Alice, born January 
15, 1854, died young. 8. Alonzo Isaac, born 
July 18, 1834, and died: he was educated in 
the district schools of Keeseville and Wil- 
liams College, from which he was graduated 
in 1859, and was admitted to the bar. He 
entered the army, first as lieutenant of the 
Thirtieth Volunteers, New York, and was ad- 
vanced through the various ranks until he be- 
came colonel of tlie One Ilimdred and Sixty- 
ninth New York Volunteers. He was recom- 
mended for bravery by Brigadier-General' 
Terry. After the war he became postmaster 
of Troy, New York, and a general in the- 
National Guard. He married, 1866, Charlotte 
Dauchy, born February 20, 1845, and had chil- 
dren : i. Joseph Dauchy, married Clara Nie- 
brugge, and had : Marion. ii. Frederick 
Alonzo, graduated from \\'illiams College and' 
Auburn Theological Seminary, and is living 
at ^lontrose, Pennsylvania : married and has 
children : Frederick .Alonzo and Ruth. iii. 
Marion, died young. 

(\TII) Charles L., son of Isaac and Han- 
nah (Snow) -Alden, was born in Lewis, Essex 
county. New York, August 21, 1827. and died 
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, November. 
1902. He was educated in the district schools 
of Westport and Lewis, Essex county, until 
1843, and in the following year he went tO' 
Oberlin College, Ohio, where he spent his 
freshman and sophomore years. Illness neces- 
sitated his return to Troy, New York, in 1848. 
and in 1849 he entered Williams College as a 
junior and was graduated in 185 1. In 1852- 
he became a clerk in the law office of Hunt, 
Fairbanks & Gale in .Albany, and was admit- 
ted to the bar in 1853. Two years later he 
was admitted as a member of the above-men- 
tioned firm, and in the same year Mr. Fair- 
banks retired, and the firm then practiced un- 
der the name of Gale & .Alden. In 1884 Henry 



-432 



HUDSON AND :\IOHA^^■K \'ALLEYS 



King and Henry J. Speck entered the firm, the 
name heing changed to Alden. King & Speck, 
and in 1890 I\lr. John B. Gale removed from 
the city. Mr. Alden then practiced independ- 
ently, but retained the same offices with 
Messrs. King and Speck. Later he retired 
from active practice and removed to Dorches- 
ter, Massachusetts. His political affiliations 
were with the Democratic party until the civil 
war, and after that troublous time he was a 
supporter of Republican principles. He was 
a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity of 
Oberlin and Williams College, of the Ionic 
and Troy clubs, of Troy, New York, and 
treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church, of 
Troy, New York. 

Mr. Alden was married, by Rev. John Mat- 
tocks, in St. Paul. Minnesota, October i, 1868, 
to Mary Langford Taylor, born in Westmore- 
land, Oneida county. New York, August 16, 
1846. (See Taylor). Children: i. Antoinette 
Spencer, married Theodore Pierpont, son of 
Theodore F. and Mary Augusta (Pierpont) 
Barnum, and lives in Troy, New York : one 
■child, Mary Alden. born December 31, T905. 
2. Mary Curran, died at age of eight years. 
J. John Gale, born 1878, died 1881. 4. Chloe 
Sweeting, born 1882, died 1883. 5. John Gale, 
"born January 24, 1884 : lives in Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts : he received his education in the 
"Troy Academy, Dorchester high school and 
Massachusetts Technical school : he is a yacht 
broker and designer ; married, August 5, 1908, 
Helene, daughter of Richard and Harriet 
(Bray) Harvey, of Laurium, Michigan, and 
have one child : Harriet Harvey. 6. Lang- 
ford T.. born in Troy, New York, January 7, 
1887 ; was educated in Troy Academy, Dor- 
chester high school and Rensselaer Polytech- 
nic Institute, from which he was graduated 
with the degree of civil engineer in 1909 : he 
is now in the employ of the Mexican Northern 
railroad in northern Mexico. He married, at 
El Paso, Texas. November 19, 1910, Louise 
Howard, daughter of Richard B. and Alice 
(Greene) Com stock ; she was born in Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, in 1887, and was gradu- 
ated from Smith College in 1908. 7. Charles 
'Snow, born November 8, 1889; was educated 
in Troy Academy, the Naval Preparatory 
School, and is now (1911) in the United 
States Naval Academy at .\nnapolis, Mary- 
land, a member of the class which will gradu- 
ate in 19 1 2. 

(The Snow Line). 

(I) Nicholas Snow, immigrant ancestor, 
■came in the second ship which carried the 
Pilgrims to this shore. He married Constance, 
who came to this country in the "Mayflower," 



with her father, Stephen Hopkins. Nicholas 
and Constance Snow lived at Eastham. 

(II) Mark, eldest son of Nicholas and Con- 
stance ( Hopkins ) Snow, married Jane, daugh- 
ter of Governor Thomas and Mary (Collier) 
Prence, and granddaughter of William Col- 
lier. Among other children they had : 

(III) Nicholas, who removed with his fam- 
ily to Rochester, Massachusetts, in 1729, pos- 
sibly earlier. He married Lydia Shaw. 

(I\') Jonathan, eldest son of Nicholas and 
Lydia ( Shaw ) Snow, married in Cape Cod, 
Thankful Freeman, whose line of descent is 
through Edmund, Major John to Edmund 
Freeman. INIajor John Freeman married Mary 
Prence, a granddaughter of Elder Brewster, 
of the "Mayflower." Jonathan Snow went 
with his father to Rochester, and died there. 
Among his children was: 

(V) Mark, son of Jonathan and Thankful 
(Freeman) Snow, was born in Rochester, 
Massachusetts, and was in active service as a 
soldier during the revolution. He married 
(first) Hannah, daughter of Paul and Charity 
( W'hittredge) Sears, her paternal line being 
through two other Pauls to Richard, the im- 
migrant : through her grandmother Sears, she 
is descended from Major John Freeman, and 
through his wife from Elder Brewster. Mark 
Snow married (second) Susanna (West) 
\Mieldon. Children by first marriage: Jona- 
than ( see forward ) : IMark : Paul : Edmond ; 
Charity and Thankful. By the second mar- 
riage : Loammi, afterward Loum, was a sea- 
captain from New Bedford, and some of his 
descendants are still there ; Abner ; West ; and 
two daughters. 

(\T) Jonathan, son of Mark and Hannah 
(Sears) Snow, went in 1791, with three oth- 
ers, from Rochester, Massachusetts, to Mont- 
pelier, \'ermont, blazing their way. They then 
returned, married, and took their wives back 
with them to the new settlement. He mar- 
ried Lydia Hanimet. of Long Plain, near New 
Bedford, Massachusetts, whose line of descent 
was through Barnabas, Micah, to Edward, the 
immigrant. 

(\TI) Hannah, eldest child of Jonathan and 
Lydia (Hammet) Snow, was born in 1792, 
the second white child born in Montpelier. 
She married Isaac Alden. (.Mden \TI). 

(The Taylor Line), 
fl) Simon Taylor, great-grandfather of 
Mary Langford (Taylord) Alden, was a na- 
tive of Yorkshire, England, and came to this 
country in Burgoyne's army. He was in that 
army when it surrendered to the continental 
forces, in which were three great-grandfathers 
of Mrs. Alden — Silas Wickes, George Lang- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \^A.LLEYS 



433 



•ford and Xathaniel Sweeting. Simon Taylor 
■was paroled and went to New England. At 
the close of the war England was able to take 
"back less than one-half of her paroled soldiers, 
and he remained in hiding until the British 
forces had left. About 1800 he came to 
Thompkins. Cayuga county, where he died. 
He married Ruth Chappell, of New London, 
Connecticut, whose direct paternal ancestors 
Avere four Georges, and had a family of thir- 
teen children, among them being: Lucy, 
Mary, Henry, James. Richard Durfee, Simon, 
who died young, and others. The greater 
number of these married in central New York, 
then went farther west, some to Michigan, 
Wisconsin. California. 

(II) James, son of Simon and Ruth (Chap- 
pell) Taylor, was born in New London, Con- 
necticut, and died in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 
1880. His boyhood years were spent in Ca- 
yuga county, and he was admitted to the bar, 
served as judge, and lived in Penn Van, New 
York, until 1856, when he went to St. Paul, 
Minnesota, and after one year to Leaven- 
worth. Kansas, where he made his permanent 
home. He married Maria Wickes. born in 
Schaghticoke. Rensselaer county. New York, 
1794. died in Leavenworth, Kansas. (See 
W'ickes). Children: i. James \^'ickes (see 
forward). 2. Eliza, married Septimus Watkins, 
■of Waterloo, New York : had three children ; 
there are few descendants, among them being 
IMrs. Melvin O. Hecker, of Leavenworth, 
Kansas. 3. Charles, died unmarried, in Penn 
Yan. 4. Henry, drowned in Canandaigua 
lake. 3. Harriet Newell, married Claudius 
Broughton Brace, of \'ictor and Penn Yan, 
New York, who died in Leavenworth ; chil- 
dren : i. Maria Porter, married Major James 
P. Kimball, U. S. A., and has one child, ii. 
Kate Scott, married Lieutenant William Gil- 
patrick, L^. S. N. iii. Walter is a mining en- 
gineer in Denver, Colorado : married and has 
children, iv. Charles, married, and lived in 
St. Louis, ]\Iissouri, now living in Arkansas. 
V. James Taylor, graduated from Cornell Uni- 
versity ; was a lawyer in Kansas City, whence 
lie went to the Klondike and died there of ty- 
phoid fever. 

(III) James Wickes, eldest child of James 
and Maria (Wickes) Taylor, was born in 
Yates county. New York, and died in Mani- 
toba, in 1893. He was educated in the 
schools of Penn Yan, then went to Hamilton 
College, from which he was graduated, and 
"was in the same class as George Langford. 
Avho later became his brother-in-law. \\'hile 
at college he was a member of the Alpha Delta 
Phi fraternity. He was admitted to the bar in 
•the state of New York, then went to Cincin- 



nati, Ohio, in 1842, and found he must study 
in a law office for one year before he could 
be permitted to practice in that state. He was 
a personal friend of .\lphonsus Taft, father 
of President Taft, and of Salmon P. Chase, 
being a clerk in the office of the latter, and 
having a partnership otifered him. .-Xt this 
time the new party was forming, and Mr. 
Taylor accepted the editorship of the Signal, 
a short-lived political paper. He wrote the 
letter nominating Zachary Taylor for the pres- 
idency. He was prominent in literature, as 
well as in politics, conimenced a "History of 
Ohio," one volume of which was published, 
and was an active participant in the Ohio 
state convention. He resided in a number of 
cities in Ohio — Cincinnati. Sandusky, Cleve- 
land, Columbus — as editor of several papers 
and as a leader in political affairs. Until the 
civil war he was a Democrat, and after that 
a Republican or War Democrat. In July, 
1856, he took his family, consisting at that 
time of his wife, four children, to St. Paul, 
Minnesota. He was accompanied by his fath- 
er and mother, his sister Harriet, her husband 
and two children. The climate was too rigor- 
ous for Mr. Brace and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, 
and Mr. Brace took his family to Leaven- 
worth, Kansas, in 1857. Mr. Taylor was 
noted as an orator and scholar, and was 
greatly beloved. As an editor, he displayed 
exceptional ability, and at Washington he was 
a special commissioner of statistics of the 
great northwest territory, especially the Sas- 
katchewan \"alley, until about 1869. He was 
then appointed as consul to Manitoba, where 
his death occurred. He excelled in tact and 
diplomacy, and his report of the "Rehl pro- 
ceedings to U. S. authorities, prevented severe 
friction between Great Britain and the 
L^. S.," and Queen Victoria dictated a personal 
letter to him, thanking him for his efforts "for 
peace," and at his death the British flag, by 
her direction, was placed at halfmast on Wind- 
sor Castle. 

Mr. Taylor married Chloe Langford, who 
was educated in the schools of Westmoreland 
and Utica, where her father was cashier of 
the Oneida Bank, and also at Miss Sheldon's 
Female Seminary, which was later known as 
Miss Jane. Kelly's School, and was burned in 
1865. (See Langford). Children: i. Mary 
Langford (see forward). 2. Helen .\ntoi- 
nette. born 1848, died 1850. 3. .-Xlice, born in 
185 1 : married Charles J. Monfort. of St. 
Paul, and died leaving one daughter, Alice, 
married John W. G. Dunn, and has two chil- 
dren. 4. Harriet Brace, born 1854, died 1880. 
5. Elizabeth, born January 8, 1856 ; was a 
member of the .-Xrt Students' League, of New 



436 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK VALLEYS 



spent three winter months in Lansingburg 
''with relatives or friends," as the tradition 
goes. George Langford married iii 1781, Abi- 
gail Elliott. (See Elliott). Children: i. 
James, died unmarried. 2. Charles, was a 
mechanical genius, but unsuccessful, and had 
to receive lielp from his father : he married 
and went west, and Judge William Langford, 
of Walla Walla, Washington, is one of his 
descendants. 3. George (see forward). 4. 
Abigail, died young. James Langford was 
dissipated, and his father was impoverished 
by him, so that in his old age he and his wife 
were given a comfortable home by their son 
George. 

(l\") George, son of George and Abigail 
(Elliott) Langford, was born in Clinton, 
Oneida county. New York, and died in Utica. 
He lived for a time in Westmoreland, was one 
of the first organizers of Hecla Furnace, then 
removed to Utica, and was cashier of the 
Oneida Bank. 

George Langford married, 1813, Chloe 
Sweeting. (See Sweeting). Children: i. 
Mary, married Edward Curran, of L'tica, New 
York : children : i. George Langford, married 
Cornelia Douglas, of Utica. ii. ^lajor Henry 
Hastings, killed in battle of the Wilderness, 
iii. Philip, died unmarried, iv. Mary Lang- 
ford, married Willard Peck, of Hudson, New 
York, and had ; Philip C, Darius E. and Mary 
Curran. v. John Elliott, married Lilla ^lul- 
ford, and has : Henry Hastings, Gerald and 
Eleanor. 2. George, graduated from Hamil- 
ton College, went to Marshall, Michigan, 
where he died of malarial fever. 3. Philip, 
died in infancy. 4. Philip, married Mary 
Thomas : had one child, Fannie, who is liv- 
ing with her mother in California. 5. Chloe, 
(see forward). 6. De \\'itt. deceased, married 
Mary Morrison, also deceased : children, all 
living in Vernon, Oneida county. New York : 
Mary ^L, Helen D., George and Gertrude 
Chloe. 7. Abigail, died in St. Paul, Minne- 
sota : married \\'illiam R. Marshall, who died 
in Pasadena, California : he served as major, 
colonel and general during the civil war, re- 
sided in St. Paul. Minnesota, and was gover- 
nor of that state two terms : their only child. 
George, married Carolyn Rumbough, of Ash- 
ville, North Carolina, and he died leaving an 
only daughter, .^lice. 8. Moreau, died un- 
married. 9. Marie .Antoinette, married Wil- 
liam Austin, son of Joshua .Austin and Electa 
(Dean) Spencer, of Utica, New York: they 
went to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1856, where 
they spent the remainder of their lives. Chil- 
dren : Sherwood Day, deceased : Charles 
Langford, married Margaret Clough, lives in 
St. Paul ; Edward Curran, deceased ; William 



Austin, married Lilly White. 10. Charles C, 
lived in L'tica, and married Louise Penfield, 
of Catskill, New York ; children : Louise Pen- 
field, deceased ; several others died young. 
Mrs. Langford is also dead. 11. Nathaniel P., 
went to St. Paul. ^Minnesota, 1856-57, then to 
Montana on the first overland expedition. He 
was the first white man to climb Mount Lang- 
ford, which was named in his honor. Later 
he was appointed bank examiner for the terri- 
tories, and was one of the early settlers of 
Helena, Montana. He returned to St. Paul, 
where he married (first) Emma Wheaton, 
(second Clara Wheaton. Has no living chil- 
dren. 12. Augustine G., went to St. Paul in 
1856-57, and after a time to Pike's Peak. 
Colorado. After his marriage he settled in 
Denver, Colorado. He married Elizabeth Rob- 
ertson, of St. Paul, who returned to that city 
with her three boys after the death of her hus- 
band : children, all married : Nathaniel, \\"i\- 
liam and George. 13. Harriet White, died in 
infancy. 

(\') Chloe. daughter of George and Chloe 
(Sweeting) Langford, was born in West- 
moreland, Oneida county, New York, and 
married, 1845, James \\'ickes Taylor. (Tav- 
lor HI). 

(The Elliott Line). 

(I) Hon Andrew Elliott, the immigrant an- 
cestor, came from Somersetshire, England, 
and the members of his line were verv tall, 
dark and swarthy. (H) William. '(HI) 
John. 

(IV) Nathaniel Elliott was in Beverly, for 
a time in \\'oodstock. where his children were 
born, and later settled in Southampton. He 
was in active service in the French and Indian 
war, and while on his way to New York 
passed through Chesterfield, Massachusetts. 
He liked the region so much that he had land 
granted him in Narragansett township No. 4, 
and settled there, but went later to Southamp- 
ton, and settled in that part afterward set off 
to \\'esthampton. His death occurred just 
before the commencement of the revolution- 
ary war. He married (first) in Beverly. .Abi- 
gail Edmonds, of Roxbury, .Massachusetts, 
daughter of Captain Ebenezer Edmonds, of 
Roxbury, who commanded a company at An- 
na])olis Royal, and his .sons settled in Wood- 
stock, Connecticut. He married (second) 
Elizabeth , who came with her step- 
daughter Abigail to Oneida county New York. 
-Among the children of Nathaniel Elliott were: 
I. Abigail (see forward). 2. Elizabeth, mar- 
ried Seth Plulburt and settled in Central New 
York. 3. John, was a soldier of the revolution 
and drew a pension : lived in Easthampton, 
and later removed to Ohio. 4. Francis, lived 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



43? 



and died in Southampton ; was also a soldier 
of the revolution. 

(V) Abigail, daughter of Nathaniel and 
Abigail (Edmonds) Elliott, married George 
Langford. (Langford HI). 

(The Sweeting Line). 

(I) Henry Sweeting, the first English set- 
tler of this family, is descended from the Van 
Swietens of Leyden, from which place he 
fled in 1580 to escape the persecutions of the 
Duke of Alva, according to the researches of 
Rev. Walter Sweeting, of Market Deeping, 
England. A large number of Dutchmen and 
Walloons took refuge in Southern England 
at that time and contributed greatly to the 
prosperity of that country, especially in the 
manufacturing industries. 

( H) Lewis, son of Henry Sweeting, was of 
Somersetshire. England. He and all the men 
of the family were clothiers and men of edu- 
cation. The manor houses in which they lived 
are still in existence in Southern England. 

( in ) Lewis, son of Lewis Sweeting, was 
of Owey Stowey. Somersetshire, England. 

(IV) Henry, son of Lewis Sweeting, was 
born in Somersetshire, England, and died in 
Rchoboth. Massachusetts, in 1728. He and 
his brother Lewis (tradition says), were in the 
Monmouth rebellion. They were taken pris- 
oners at the battle of Bridgewater and were 
condemned to death, but "Bloody Jeffries" was 
willing to be bribed, and the father and the 
youngest brother not being involved, they 
were rescued, and taken to Bristol, where a 
sloop waited in readiness. They took refuge 
in Rehoboth. but it was not until 1687, when 
William and Mary ascended the throne, that 
they appeared and registered their lands. Mr. 
Henry Sweeting was a very wealthy man for 
the time, educated, and one of four only in 
Rehoboth who had the title of Mr. He mar- 
ried (first) Joanna or Joan , who be- 
came the mother of two children. He married 
(second) Martha Cole (Hugh", James') : chil- 
dren: Henry: Lewis (see forward); Benja- 
min : John ; Experience, married John Carey : 
Mary, married Noah Mason ; Sarah, married 
William \\'alker ; there were one or two other 
daughters. 

(\') Lewis, son of Mr. Henry and Martha 
Sweeting, was born in Rehoboth, and his 
father gave him a valuable mill site near or 
on the site of Pawtucket Mills. About four 
years after his marriage he was taken ill with 
a violent fever, which lasted for six weeks, "a 
man nurse, etc.," all this being shown in the 
widow's account, besides "a trip to Boston for 
best morning." He was married in Wren- 
tham, Massachusetts, to Zebiah, daughter of 



John and Mary (Billings) Whiting, of \\'ren- 
tham and Dedham ; granddaughter of Nathan- 
iel and Hannah (Dwight) Whiting, of Ded- 
ham : granddaughter of William liillings, of 
Stonington, Connecticut : and great-grand- 
daughter of John Dwight. Children : Jo- 
anna, who died in infancy: Lewis (see for- 
ward). Zebiah (Whiting) Sweeting went 
back to Wrentham with her two children to 
live with her father, and, in spite of "best 
morning," soon married Dr. William Ware, of 
Dighton and Norton, Massachusetts. 

(\T) Dr. Lewis, son of Lewis and Zebiah 
(Whiting) Sweeting, was born in Rehoboth 
in 1723. and was brought up by his stepfather, 
with whom he studied medicine. He was a 
man of prominence in the community, and 
when Mansfield was set off from Norton it 
took in that part of the town in which he lived. 
He and his wife died in Manlius, New York. 
He married Abiah Cobb, of Norton and Taun- 
ton. (See Cobb). Children: i. Zebiah, mar- 
ried Solomon Wetherell : children : i. Han- 
nah, married Sennett, in Rensselaer 

county : her daughter married Scol- 

lard, one of whose descendants being Clinton 
Scollard, the poet of Oneida county. New 
York. 2. Abiah, married Job Gilbert, and has 
descendants living in Michigan and Wiscon- 
sin. 3. Lucy, married Spencer Pratt, and has 
descendants living in the vicinity of Boston. 

4. Lewis, married and removed to Manlius, 
and many of his descendants are in the west. 

5, .A.nna, married Captain Alexander D'Aubie, 
an aide of La Fayette, and lived in Lee. Mas- 
sachuetts, and in Utica, New York. 6. Whit- 
ing, married. 1791, Sarah Kilbourne : chil- 
dren : i. Whiting, died unmarried, ii. Abiah, 

married Worden. and has descendants 

in Syracuse, New York. 7. Eliphalet. mar- 
ried Lovina (Benton) Luce, and has descend- 
ants in New York and the west. 8. Nathaniel 
(see forward). 9. Mary, married Jacob Tyr- 
rell. ID. John, married ]\Iary Sessions, and 
has descendants in the far west. 11. Mason, 
married Judith Pratt, and has descendants in 
Lyons, New York, and its vicinity. 

(\'n) Nathaniel, son of Dr. Lewis and 
Abiah (Cobb) Sweeting, was born in Norton, 
Massachusetts, 1758, and died in Oneida coun- 
ty. New York. He was a pensioner of the 
revolution, during which time he was active 
and prominent. In the Lexington alarm his 
father, aged sixty, three sons, four sons-in- 
law, besides many cousins and other relatives, 
marched to Lexington, arriving just after the 
battle. Dr. Lewis Sweeting remained with 
the army until the "eight months' men" could 
organize and return, in order to keep the 
British in Boston. Nathaniel and his brothers 



438 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



returned in a few days to Norton or Mans- 
field, re-enlisted for eight months, and when 
Dr. Lewis Sweeting returned he was placed 
on important war committees, etc. He served 
as a surgeon in the army, but no documentary 
proofs of this service have been found. Na- 
thaniel Sweeting's pension describes the line 
of march to Dorchester Heights, where they 
were then stationed. At the end of eight 
months he re-enlisted. Later, about August 
2g. he was at Tiverton, as lieutenant, and was in 
charge of a boat and company intending to 
attack the British in Rhode Island, but the 
boat stuck fast on a bar, and the expedition 
failed. He was in the battle of Rhode Island. 
He was stationed at Fogland, in Little Comp- 
ton or Tiverton, guarding the coast. The 
American headquarters were at the Wing 
house, and a little farther to the north La 
Fayette had his headquarters at the Brown 
house. About 1781 we find Nathaniel and his 
brother Lewis in a militia company in Ste- 
phentown (now Rensselaer county), Kiliaen 
Van Rensselaer having raised a regiment by 
promising large bounties of his lands to sol- 
diers. After the war, until 1791, we find, 
where Stephentown, Berlin, Sand Lake and 
Nassau come together, in the high lands, Dr. 
Lewis Sweeting, Lewis Sweeting, Whiting 
Sweeting and Nathaniel Sweeting, and sev- 
■eral of their sisters and their families. In 
1791 Nathaniel and Eliphalet went to Oneida 
county. Dr. Lewis Sweeting and his sons, 
Lewis, John and Mason, went to Manlius. 
Onondaga county. Some time during the rev- 
olution Nathaniel Sweeting was on a "service 
of great peril," and acquitted himself so well 
that George Washington wrote him a letter 
commending him. This was probably the serv- 
ice of a spv, of which no records were kept. 
This letter was a highly prized treasure, and 
was ])acked in the box with Mary (Tyrrell) 
Sweeting's wedding china and her gold beads. 
This box broke away from the remainder of 
the load and went over Oneida Falls, the con- 
tents being entirely lost. Nathaniel Sweeting 
had had considerable experience with iron fur- 
naces at Raynham, through the Cobbs of 
Taunton, his mother's family, and he was for 
a short time at Lee, Massachusetts. When 
he came to Whitestone he started the Hecla 
Furnace, and his brother Eliphalet started the 
first furnace of Oneida county, at Paris Hill. 
One of the descendants of Eliphalet is Mrs. 
Henry O. R. Tucker, of Troy, New York. 
From Whitestown, Nathaniel Sweeting re- 
moved to Westmoreland, where his death 
•occurred. He married in Mansfield, Mary 
Tyrrell. (Sec Tyrrell). Children: i. Na- 
thaniel, married Ruby Phelps. 2. Almon, mar- 



ried and went west. 3. Philip Belin, mar- 
ried Myra Barnard. 4. Chloe, see forward. 
5. Anna, died unmarried. There were others 
who died young. There are very few descend- 
ants of his name ; some in Michigan and a few 
in Oneida county, New York. 

(\'III) Chloe, daughter of Nathaniel and 
Mary (Tyrrell) Sweeting, was born in 
Whitestown, New York, in 1794. She mar- 
ried. 18 1 3. George Langford. ('Langford 
IV). 

(The Cobb Line). 

( I ) Augustine Cobb was in Taunton in 
1670. He had a brother John, who also had 
a son Morgan, which would indicate that there 
was a connection with a Morgan family in an 
earlier generation. He married Elizabeth 



(II) Ensign Morgan, son of Augustine and 
Elizabeth Cobb, was prominent in Taunton 
during the French and Indian war. He gave 
liberally to the First Episcopal church of 
Taunton. He married Abigail, daughter of 
Benjamin, and granddaughter of John Willis. 

(III) Benjamin, son of Morgan and Abi- 
gail (Willis) Cobb, was born in Taunton and 
died just prior to the revolution. Several of 
his sons were active participants in the revo- 
lution and died young. Just before removing 
to Norton he married Mary, daughter of En- 
sign John and Mercy (Myrrick) Mason. 
Children: Captain John; Captain Benjamin; 
Colonel Silas; Mason; Abiah (see forward); 
and several daughters who married into the 
Briggs, Makepeace, Babbitt, Lane and other 
families. 

(IV) Abiah, daughter of Benjamin and 
Mary (Mason) Cobb, was born in Norton, 
and died in Manlius. She was a remarkable 
woman in many ways and the influence of 
her character was beneficially felt. She mar- 
ried Dr. Lewis Sweeting. (Sweeting VI). 

(Tlie Tyrrell Line). 

(I) William Tyrrell, of Boston, is the first 
of whom we have record. He was a Scotch- 
man, and his descendants have intermarried 
with the best families of Weymouth and Ab- 
ington — Nash, Pratt, Kingsman, Simpkins, 
etc. 

(II) Gideon was the son of William Tvr- 
rell. 

(III) Samuel, son of Gideon Tyrrell. 

(IV) Alexander, son of Samuel Tyrrell, 
was born in Abington. He married in Wey- 
mouth, where he lived after bis marriage, 
Mary, his cousin, who was a daughter of Ja- 
cob Tyrrell, granddaughter of William Tyr- 
rell, and great-granddaughter of William Tyr- 
rell. Children, all born in Weymouth : i. 




^ivh 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



439 



Jacob, married Mary, sister of Nathaniel 
Sweeting, mentioned above, and his descend- 
ants are throughout the west. 2. Job, married 
Abigail Cobb ; he was captured by the Alger- 
ines, and. returning after many years, found 
liis wife had married again : he went to Cen- 
tral New York, where he also married again, 
and where he died. 3. Mary (see forward). 
4. Chloe. married Captain John Cobb, and 
<lied soon after without leaving children. 

Tradition says that Alexander and Jacob 
Tyrrell, of Bridgewater, ran the gauntlet at 
Fort William Henry, and proof of this is 
found in the State House in Boston — the en- 
listment of Alexander in the troops at Fort 
William Henry and two or three records of 
liis wounded condition, and his death in the 
hospital in Albany. The Tyrrells of Wey- 
mouth and Abington were noted as fast run- 
ners. 

(\") Mary, daughter of Alexander and 
Mary (Tyrrell) Tyrrell, married Nathaniel 
Sweeting. (Sweeting VH). 



Robert R. Livingston, 
LRTNGSTON jurist, son of Robert 

(q.v. ) and Margaret 
'(Howerden) Livingston, was born in New 
York City, in August, 17 18, died at his coun- 
try seat. Clermont. New York, December 9, 
1775. He acquired an excellent education 
•which thoroughly prepared him for the active 
duties of life, and he devoted his attention to 
the practice of law in New York City. He was 
■a member of the provincial assembly, 1759-68, 
and also served in the capacity of judge of the 
admiralty court, 1760-63: justice of the co- 
lonial supreme court, 1763; a delegate to the 
■stamp act congress of 1765 : commissioner to 
decide ujion the boundary line between New 
York and Massachusetts, 1767, and again in 
1773, and a member of the committee of one 
hundred in 1775. He married Margaret, 
•daughter of Colonel Henry and Janet (Living- 
ston) Reekman. 

Robert R. (2). son of Robert R. (i) and 
Margaret (Beekman) Livingston, was born 
in New York City, November 27, 1746, died 
suddenly at Clermont. New York, February 26, 
18 1 3. He was a student at King's College, 
which institution conferred upon him the de- 
■grees of A.B., 1765, and A.M.. 1768. after 
which he pursued the study of law under the 
preceptorship of William Smith and William 
Livingston. He was admitted to the bar in 
1773, and formed a partnership with John Jay, 
with whom he practiced in New York City, and 
u])on his retirement from public life removed 
to Clermont, New York, where he engaged in 
agriculture and stock raisin.g, being the first 



to introduce gypsum in agriculture,- and also 
introduced Merino sheep west of the Hudson 
river. Being a man of scholarly attainment 
and wide influence, he was chosen for posi- 
tions of public trust and responsibility, fulfill- 
ing the duties thereof with al)ility and credit. 
He served as recorder of the city of New 
York by appointment of Governor Tryon, 
1773-75, but was obliged to relinquish the posi- 
tion on account of his outspoken espousal of 
the patriot cause in the latter-named year. He 
was a member of the provincial assembly in 
1775 ; was a delegate to the continental con- 
gress, 1775-77 and 1779-81, and was a mem- 
ber of the committee of five, comprised of 
.■\dams, Jefferson, Franklin, Livingston and 
Sherman, appointed to draw up the Declara- 
tion of Independence, but was obliged to re- 
turn to his duties in the provincial assembly 
without signing the instrument. He was a 
member of the committee that drafted the 
state constitution adopted at the Kingston 
convention in 1777; he was chancellor of the 
state under the new constitution, 1785-1801, 
and in that capacity he administered the oath 
of otifice to President Washington, April 30, 
1789 : he was secretary of foreign affairs for 
the United States, 1781-83, and was chair- 
man of the state convention at Poughkeepsie 
in 1788, to consider the adoption of the United 
States constitution. He declined the office of 
LTnited States minister to France proffered by 
President Washington in 1794. and in i8oi 
the portfolio of the navy from President Jef- 
ferson, who also offered him the mission to 
France, which latter he accepted, resigning 
his chancellorship. While in France he formed 
a strong friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte ; 
he also made the initial movement that re- 
sulted in the purchase of Louisiana from the 
French in 1803. He resigned from the office 
of LTnited States minister to France in 1803, 
after which he spent some time in traveling 
through Europe, and while in Paris became 
interested in the invention of the steamboat of 
Robert Fulton, whom he assisted in his en- 
terprise with his counsel and money, eventu- 
ally becoming his partner. The first steamboat, 
owned by Livingston and Fulton, was built in 
France and was launched upon the Seine, but 
was a failure, and on returning to America 
they built and launched on the Hudson an- 
other steamboat, the "Clermont,"' in 1807, 
which was named in honor of the Livingston 
home in New York. 

The honorary degree of LL.D. was con- 
ferred on Mr. Livingston by the regents of the 
University of the State of New York in 1792. 
He was a founder of the .Vmerican .\cademy 
of Fine Arts in New York in 1801, and w'as 



440 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



its first president ; was president of the New 
York Society for the Promotion of Useful 
Arts, and upon the reorganization of the New 
York Society library in 1788. he was ap- 
pointed a trustee. He published many essays 
and addresses on fine arts and agriculture. 
His statue, with that of George Clinton, form- 
ing the group of the most eminent citizens of 
New York, was placed in the capitol at Wash- 
ington by act of congress. In the selection of 
names for a place in the Hall of Fame for 
Great Americans, New York University, 
made in October, 1900, his was one of 
the thirty-seven names in "Class M, Rulers 
and Statesmen," and received only three votes, 
his votes in the class equalling those for 
Richard Henry Lee and Stephen A. Douglas, 
and exceeding those for Martin Van Buren, 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, John J. Crit- 
tenden and Henry Wilson. 

Mr. Livingston married I^Iary, daughter of 
John Stevens, of New Jersey. Children : 
Elizabeth S., married Edward P. Livingston. 
Margaret M., married Robert L. Livingston. 



Robert Easton, the emigrant 
EASTON ancestor and founder of the 

Albany, New York, family 
herein recorded, came to this country from 
the north of Ireland in 1818. He was of 
Scotch origin ; his father, James Easton, is 
supposed to have been of the Fifeshire (Scot- 
land) family. It is not known positively 
when Robert Easton was born, but probably 
about 1775, at Carnmoneytown, near Belfast, 
county Antrim. He is designated there as a 
"small farmer," working leased land on the 
domain of the Marquis of Donegal, the family 
all being Scotch Presbyterians. He married 
and his children were born at this place. He 
was in comfortable circumstances until two 
rainy seasons in succession destroyed the 
crops (1816-17). To avoid going in debt for 
seed, wheat, and potatoes for another season, 
he decided to sell out his stock and emigrate. 
In 1818. with his wife and eight diildrcn, he 
sailed from Belfast, Ireland, for Montreal, 
Canada. Soon after his arrival at that city 
he died suddenly of an illness contracted while 
in search of suitable land on which to locate. 
His wife survived him but a few months. He 
married, in Ireland, Eliza, daughter of Eph- 
raim Craig, of Carrickfurgus. Tradition 
places the Craigs among the Covenanters in 
the early part of the seventeenth century. 
when a company of these persecuted people 
left Scotland and colonized in the north of 
Ireland. Children: Jane, James. Ejihraim f of 
further mention), Eliza, Charles, Margaret, 
Matilda, and Robert. Of these only four mar- 



ried : I. Jane, born 1797, married Robert 
Stewart, July, 1823, at Montreal, later locating 
in Albany, New York ; children : Robert, 
James, Ephraim, Eliza, all died unmarried. 2. 
Eliza, born 1808, died December 10. 1883; 
came to Albany in 1823, later removing tO' 
New York City, where she married Andrew 
Mills: children: Anna, married Orville Ben- 
nett ; Fannie, married C. M. Mather : John ; 
Isabel and Andrew (2). Andrew Mills (i), 
born in New York City, 1806, died there, 
June 23, 1879. He was extensively engaged 
in shipbuilding for many years, and at the 
time of his death was president of the Dry 
Dock Savings Bank, being succeeded by his 
son Andrew (2). 3. Charles, died July 4, 
1869; followed the other members of the fam- 
ily to Albany, later settling in New York City, 
where he became prominent as a very wealthy 

cotton broker. He married Deborah , 

who died July i, 1879, aged eighty-one years; 

children: Charles (2) married Taber, 

of Albany ; Louisa ; Henry ; Walter, unmar- 
ried ; ]\Iary E., married Edward Fuller : Al- 
fred, married Ford (had Anna, mar- 
ried Charles Lane Poor) ; Frederick, married' 
Williams (had Charles Philip, Wal- 
ter, and Isabel). 4. Ephraim, through whom 
the line continues. 

(II) Ephraim, son of Robert and Elizabeth 
(Craig) Easton, was born in county Antrim, 
Ireland, in Carnmoneytown. about 1801, died 
July 2, 1879. He accompanied the family emi- 
gration to Canada, residing in Montreal until 
his marriage in 1824, when with his bride he 
came to Albany, making the journey (which 
consumed two weeks) in a sleigh, bringing 
with them all their belongings. In 1833 he 
became a naturalized citizen, and the same- 
year bought his first piece of property, and 
until his death always owned the home he 
occupied. He married, in Christ Church Ca- 
thedral, Montreal, Canada, January 24, 1824, 
Eliza Patterson, widow of John Walker. She 
was born, June, 1796, in the parish of Kiltart, 
situated on Lake Allen, county Leitrini, Ire- 
land, eldest child of William and Nancy 
( Trimble ) Patterson. William Patterson 
owned or had a life lease of a large farm on 
the Wliitlaw (or Whitan) domain, of which' 
his father, Mark Patterson, was the agent. 
Mark had two sons, William and John, and 
four daughters. William died at Kiltart, Jan- 
uary 14, 1803, comparatively a young man, 
and is buried in the Louders family vault 
within four miles of Ballinamore. At his- 
death the farm reverted to his brother John, 
the widow and seven children going to live- 
among her own people, the Trimbles, of Man- 
or Hamilton, Leitrim county. Nancy was a: 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



441 



daughter of James Trimble, a native of Fer- 
managh county, and his wife Dorothy James, 
who had other children — Mary, Betty. Dolly, 
James, John, William — the latter having been 
educated for the ministry. In 1812 Nancy 
Trimble Patterson died, and her children, Eliza, 
John, and Jane, were taken by relatives. 
Eliza went to live with her Aunt Betty Algoe, 
and in 1818 married John Walker, son of a 
well-to-do farmer. In the fall of 18 19 they 
left Belfast for Montreal, Canada, accompa- 
nied by her sister Jane and brother John Pat- 
terson. In March. 1820. her daughter Eliza 
(2) was born, and in April of that year her 
husband. John Walker, died in Montreal. 
Eliza Walker (2) married in Albany, New 
York, December 27, 1838, George Ovens, 
born in Wiltshire, England. Eliza (Patter- 
son) \\'alker married (second) January 24, 
1824, Ephraim Easton. and died on Christ- 
mas day, 1886, at Albany, in her ninety-first 
year. She was a woman of strong character, 
staunch and steadfast, a loyal adherent of the 
Church of England, as were her ancestors. 
At the time of her death she was the oldest 
communicant of the Church of the Holy In- 
nocents, and it seemed especially fitting that 
she was laid to rest on Holy Innocents Day. 
(Ill) Charles Patterson Easton, only child 
of Ephraim and Eliza (Patterson) Easton, 
was born at Albany, New York, October 10, 
1824, and died at St. Augustine, Florida, 
March 3, 1885. He received his education in 
private schools and at the Albany Academy. 
In 1838 he started his business career as a 
tally boy in the Albany lumber district ; from 
this subordinate position he rose to the high- 
est. In 1847 he engaged in the retail lumber 
trade on his own account with more pluck and 
energy than cash capital. In 1857 he estab- 
lished himself in the wholesale lumber busi- 
ness and became one of the largest dealers. 
As his sons grew up to manhood they were 
admitted as partners in the business, and the 
firm of C. P. Easton & Company was recog- 
nized as one of the most sagacious and reliable 
in the district, maintaining a credit and an 
integrity unsullied. In religious and charit- 
able undertakings ]\Ir. Easton was very promi- 
nent, being a faithful working Christian : he 
was zealous in Sunday school work of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, which he joined 
at the age of eighteen, although he had been 
brought up in the Episcopal church. Mr. Eas- 
ton was a Republican in politics, having joined 
that party at its formation. He was for sev- 
eral years member of the Republican general 
committee, and its president for one year. He 
was candidate for member of assembly in 
1872, and for state senator in 1873, but in 



both instances was defeated. He had never 
sought political distinction and in both cases- 
the nomination sought the man. He was fre- 
quently a delegate to the Republican state 
conventions ; in 1872 was an alternate and in 
1880 a delegate to the national convention. 
He was one of the renowned three hundred, 
and six that stood by General Grant to the 
last ballot, and received one of the bronze 
medals commemorating that struggle. In 
1878 Mr. Easton was appointed by the legis- 
lature one of the commissioners to enlarge 
Clinton prison, and in 1880 he was appointed 
by the same authority a member of the com- 
mission to erect the new city hall at Albany.. 
Governor A. B. Cornell appointed Mr. Easton,. 
January, 1880, on his military staflf as quarter- 
master-general, with rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral. In 1865 Mr. Easton was elected a mem- 
ber of the Board of Public Instruction, and 
was successively re-elected for a period of six- 
teen years, seven of which he was president 
of the board. All of these years he devoted 
himself untiringly to the educational interests- 
of the community, especially to the advance- 
ment of public school methods. He was the 
author of the preamble and resolution provid- 
ing for the organization of the Albany Free- 
Academy, afterwards called High School, 
which was adopted by the board in July, 1867. 
When opposition became most positive and 
powerful, when others faltered and despaired, 
his faith and determination never wavered, and 
finally he succeeded in securing an appropria- 
tion for a high school. When its rapid 
growth made enlargement and better accom- 
modation necessary, he became the leader of 
the public sentiment which demanded and se- 
cured the new building. This building has for 
some years been inadequate and now (1911) 
it is about to be abandoned as a high school 
for a new and modern building in the West 
End of Alban}-. In the Albany high school,, 
founded largely through his agency, Mr. 
Easton achieved the greatest success of his 
public life, and as long or wherever the insti- 
tution exists in Albany it will be a monument 
to his labor and public spirit. At the time of 
his death, he was a director of the National 
Exchange Bank : a trustee of the Albany Or- 
phan Asylum : manager of the Albany County 
Bible Society ; an ex-president of the Young 
Men's Association, and a charter member and 
trustee of the Fort Orange Club. In every 
one of the many positions Mr. Easton was 
called on to fill, he displayed marked execu- 
tive ability, sound judgment, strict fidelity, 
and the plainest common sense. 

Charles Patterson Easton married Mary J. 
Boyd, at Albany, New York, January 26,. 



442 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



1847, the daughter of Jesse Conde and Elcy 
(Noble) Eoycl (see Boyd), born August 9, 
1827, in the fourteenth township of Warren 
■county, New York, near Johnsburgh, where 
her father was engaged in the manufacture 
■of himber, having a saw-mill at that place. 
When she was four years old the family re- 
moved to Albany, where she grew to woman- 
hood, for some years attended the Albany 
Female Academy, and married before she was 
twenty years old. Hers was a beautiful Chris- 
tian character, her life spent in quiet, loving 
devotion and willing service to her family and 
home, in which she found her greatest happi- 
ness. She died October 30, 1903, in her seven- 
ty-seventh year. Nine children were born to 
Charles P. and Mary Boyd Easton : 

1. William, born January 23, 1848. He be- 
gan his education at the early age of five 
years, attending a small private school, then 
a public school, then Professor Charles An- 
thony's Classical Institute, afterward finish- 
ing with a course at Bryant & Stratton's Com- 
mercial College. In 1863, when fifteen years 
■of age, he started as tally boy in his father's 
lumber yard, and in 1869 became a partner in 
the business, which was carried on success- 
fully until 1902. In that year the business 
was closed out : this was thought advisable be- 
•cause the wholesale lumber trade had become 
in a measure diverted from Albany. In 1902 
William Easton, with his brothers, Frederick 
and Irving B., bought a large tract of timber 
in Canada, and as soon as the mill was built 
began the manufacture of lumber. The firm 
was changed in 1904 to a corporation of the 
same name, and in 1906 the brothers retired 
from the business. Mr. Easton was promi- 
nent in Masonry, being a Knight Templar 
and thirty-second degree Mason. He has sev- 
eral times held office on the Board of Lumber 
Dealers and Young Men's Association ; was 
trustee, 1890-93, of the Fort Orange Club ; 
was one of the founders and a trustee of the 
National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Associa- 
tion, and a trustee of the First Reformed 
•Church. In 1896 he was presidential elector. 
William Easton married, February 21, 1882, 
■Caroline Allen Newton. Her father was 
John Milton Newton, who through his mother, 
Martha Whiting, was a descendant of Gov- 
ernor William Bradford. Her mother, Jane 
Pierson Allen, was a descendant of several of 
the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Their 
children: Helen Newton, born March 10, 
1883; Mary Boyd, born November 6, 1886. 

2. Charles P., Jr., born December 22, 1849; 
died April 23. 1858. 

3. Mary Boyd, born September 28, 185 1; 
•died September 21, 1858. 



4. Edward Easton, born April 17, 1854 (see 
forward). 

5. Alice Easton, born January 13, 1857. A 
graduate of the Albany Female Academy, sev- 
eral times an officer of the Alumni Associa- 
tion, identified from its beginning with the 
work of the Young \\'omen's Christian Asso- 
ciation ; a charter member of Gansevoort 
Chapter, D. A. R. ; married, February 4, 1880, 
Arthur W. Pray, born at Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, June 8, 1855, died at Albany, New 
York, July 21, 1898, son of William Hanum 
Pray and Elizabeth Sawin Bird, grandson of 
John Hancock Pray, the founder of the well- 
known carpet business in Boston, Alassachu- 
setts, 1817, and ninth in descent from Quinton 
Pray, the first of the name to come to New 
England in 1639. Mr. Pray came to Albany 
in 1877 as salesman for the firm of A. B. Van 
Gaasbeek & Co., carpet dealers, where he re- 
mained until his death in 1898. In 1874 Mr. 
Pray enlisted as a private in the Massachu- 
setts volunteer militia ; in 1875 he received his 
first commission as second lieutenant : in Sep- 
tember, 1876, he was commissioned first lieu- 
tenant, and in November, 1876. was honorably 
discharged. Very soon after locating in Al- 
bany he enlisted as a private in Company A, 
Tenth Battalion, N. G., State of New York, 
and was successively elected sergeant, second 
and first lieutenant. Resigning from the 
Guard, December, 1892, he became an active 
member of the Old Guard. .Albany Zouave 
Cadets. Mr. Pray ranked high as a soldier 
and a gentleman. He will always he remem- 
bered for his genial companionship and as 
a generous host. 

6. Frederick Easton, born January 5. 1859. 
in Albany, has spent his life in the immedi- 
ate vicinity of his birthplace. He received his 
earlv education in the iiublic schools and at- 
tended the Delaware Institute at Franklin, 
New York. On the death of his father he 
became a partner with his brothers William 
and Edward in the lumber business. I'or 
nearly ten years he was a jirominent member 
of Company .-X, Tenth Battalion, and is now 
an active member of the Old Guard, .Mbany 
Zouave Cadets. He has been an active mem- 
ber of the Capital City Republican Club since 
1872, having held the office of president, chief 
of staff, and lieutenant. He is also active in 
Masonic circles, being a member of Temple 
Commandery, and a thirty-second degree Ma- 
son. He was twice elected secretary and 
treasurer of the Board of Lumber Dealers : 
was manager three years and vice-jiresident 
one term of the Young Men's .Association, of 
.Mbany. In politics Mr. Easton has always 
been an ardent Republican, displaying deep 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



443 



interest in party affairs. On January 22. 
1895, Governor Levi P. Morton appointed liim 
superintendent of public buildings of the state 
of New York, which position he held for four 
years. Frederick Easton married, June 13, 
1883, Mary Young, daughter of John C. 
Young and Mary Sigourney. The latter is a 
lineal descendant of Andrew Sigourney, the 
Huguenot refugee, who came to Boston, 
Massachusetts, in 1686. Their only child, 
Alice Easton, born March 5, 1884. 

7. Isabel Easton, born August 19, i860; 
died May 17, 1864. 

8. Howard Easton, born February 2, 1863; 
died June 30, 1864. 

9. Irving Boyd Easton, born November 22, 
1868. Early in life he first attended Miss 
Shank's private school, afterward the public 
school ; in 1882 entered the class of 1888. Al- 
bany Academy, and was graduated from Cor- 
nell University in 1891 with degree B. L. 
While a pupil at the academy he was presi- 
dent of the Beck Literary Society, 1887, first 
lieutenant of the Academy Battalion, and an 
editor of The Cue. In 1897 he was a mem- 
ber of the committee that organized the Alum- 
ni Association, was its second president, and 
in 1899 an alumni trustee of the academy. On 
entering Cornell he became a member of the 
Alpha Delta Phi fraternity : was editor-in- 
chief of the Cornell Daily Sun. 1890-91 : man- 
ager of the Cornell football team in 1890-91 ; 
and of the Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Club. 
Following his graduation in 1891, Mr. Eas- 
ton and his mother spent one year traveling in 
Europe, then he entered the Albany Lumber 
District. After some time spent there he 
went to Boston, Massachusetts, and later to 
New York as the local representative of C. P. 
Easton & Company. From there he went to 
Canada, where the firm bought a large tract 
of timber and entered upon the manufacture 
of lumber. In May, 1907. Mr. Easton went 
to New York as manager of the Robinson & 
Edwards Lumber Company, of Burlington, 
\'ermont. and in April, 1909, engaged on his 
own account in the wholesale lumber busi- 
ness in New York City. Mr. Easton is a 
member of the Fort Orange and University 
clubs at Albany, having been secretary 1897- 
99, and trustee, 1899-1902. of the former. 
\\'hile residing in Quebec. Canada, he was a 
member of the Garrison Club, Quebec Yacht 
Club. Snowshoe Club, and an honorary mem- 
ber of the Royal Canadian Artillery Mess. 
In New York, Air. Easton is one of the gov- 
ernors of the .\lpha Delta Phi Club : a mem- 
ber of Cornell L'niversity Club : tlic Lumber- 
man's Club, and the Society of Colonial Wars. 

(IV) Edward Easton, born April 17, 1854. 



He attended for a while the Albany .Academy, 
then became a pupil in the public school, and 
in 1868 entered the Albany Free Academy, 
graduating at the end of a four-years course 
with the class of 1872. As a business man, 
Mr. Easton's whole career has been identified 
with the Albany lumber district, where he 
started first as a tally boy, then as clerk and 
bookkeeper, and in 1876 as a partner in the 
firm of C. P. Easton & Company. In 1902 
he retired from that firm and established a 
business under his own name, dealing ex- 
clusively in cypress lumber. In 1906 the Eas- 
ton Cypress Company was established, of 
which Mr. Easton is president and treasurer. 
In 1884 he removed to Loudonville, a suburb 
of Albany, where he now resides, and where 
he has proved himself most efficient as school 
commissioner and in Sunday school work. 
Mr. Easton is a member of the Friendly Few, 
the Fort Orange Club, the Lumberman's Club 
of New York ; he has held office in the Board 
of Lumber Dealers, and has been a director of 
the National Exchange Bank (now the First 
National) since 1886, when he took his fath- 
er's place on the board. Edward Easton mar- 
ried, January 25, 1876, Sarah Frances Jones. 
Her father, Isaac Jones, is the son of Abra- 
ham and Jane Jones, who was the daughter 
of Roland Jones and Margaret Davies, all na- 
tives of \\'ales, and early settlers of Albany. 
Her mother, Elizabeth Poinier, is the daugh- 
ter of Thomas Jefferson Poinier and Jemima 
Paris, a descendant of the Schenectady family 
of that name. Children of Edward and Sarah 
(lones) Easton: i. Charles P. (3), born Tan- 
uary 8, 1877, died July 2, 1888. ii. Edith, 
born July 3, 1878, married October 15. 1902, 
Ernest Livingston Miller, son of Ernest J. 
Miller, and Jessie McNaugJiton. daughter of 
Dr. Peter and Jane Guest McNaughton : their 
children: Jane Guest Miller, born May 5, 
1905, and Edith Easton Miller, June 18, 
1908. iii. Edward, Jr., born April i, 1880. of 
whom further, iv. Mary Boyd, born January 

17, 1882 married, January 25, 1908, Andrew 
Thompson, son of David A. and Margaret 
McNaughton, daughter of Dr. James and 
Caroline (Mclntyre) McNaughton ; their chil- 
dren : David A. Thompson. Ix)rn November 

18, 1908. and Margaret McNaughton Thomp- 
son, March, 1910. (See Thompson family). 
James and Peter McNaughton were brothers. 
V. Roland Jones, born August 26, 1884; edu- 
cated at public school in Loudonville, and 
Boys' Academy in Albany, is associated with 
his father in lumber business in Albany lum- 
ber district, is a member of Troop P>., N. G. 
S. N. Y. ; married, July 2, 1909, Ellen M. 
May ; their child, Elizabeth Easton, born 



444 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



April, 19 lO. vi. Elcy Noble, born October 
29, 1886, died February 29, 1897. vii. Arthur 
Boyd, born October 5, 1888. viii. Robert 
Poinier, born June 23. 1890. ix. William 
Easton, born July 10, 1892. x. Lillian Alice, 
born March 15, 1894. xi. Conde Philip, born 
December 5. 1896. xii. Adrian Noble, born 
May 14, 1898 ; died January 14, 1899. 

(V) Edward (2), son of Edward (i) and 
Sarah Frances (Jones) Easton, was born in 
Albany, April i, 1880. He was educated in 
the public schools of Loudonville ; prepared at 
Albany Boys' Academy : entered Yale Uni- 
versity, whence he was graduated A. B., class 
of 1902. Having decided upon the profession 
of law, he entered Albany Law School, being 
graduated LL. B., class of 1904. He at once 
began the practice of his profession in Albany, 
continuing alone until 1909, when he formed 
a law partnership with Ellis J. Staley, under 
the firm name of Easton & Staley, with offices 
at 83 State street. He was clerk of the Mu- 
nicipal Civil Service Commission in 1906-07, 
and second assistant corporation counsel of 
the city of Albany two years. 1907 to 1909. 
Mr. Easton is a member of St. Paul's Episco- 
pal Church, and of the Albany Young Men's 
Christian Association. His college fraternity 
is Alpha Delta Phi, of Yale. His fraternal 
orders are the Masonic and the Elks. His 
social clubs are the Fort Orange, Albany, 
University aand Country, of Albany, and the 
Alpha Delta Phi. of New York City. His 
political clubs are the Unconditional and the 
Young Men's Republican, both of Albany. 
Edward Easton (2) married, June 8, 1904, 
Martha (Van Antwerp) Stanton, only child 
of Josiah R. and Kate (Van Antwerp) Stan- 
ton, the latter daughter of John \'an Antwerp. 
(See Van Antwerp and Stanton). Children 
of Edward and Martha Easton : Kate Van 
Antwerp, Edward (3), John Van Antwerp, 
Mary Boyd. 

(The Boyd Line). 

-Man, First Lord High Steward of Scot- 
land, married Margaret, daughter of Fergus, 
Earl of Galloway, and had five children, the 
third being Simon, progenitor of the Boyds. 
Alan died in 1153, and Simon, his third son, 
became the second Lord High Steward of 
Scotland. Robert, son of Simon, being of 
fair complexion, was called "Boidlc" or "Boid- 
e!" in (laelic. meaning Boyt or Bo — "fair or 
beautiful." This became a surname, and 
Robert Boyd, "the Fair," is the common an- 
cestor of all of the name Boyd. He died prior 
to 1240 A. D., and left a son, Sir Robert 
Boyd. Dean Castle, long the residence of 
the ancient family of Boyd, stands about a mile 
from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, on the west coast 



of Scotland. The descent to the American! 
Boyds during the centuries has been in many 
instances through younger sons of whom nO' 
record has been kept in the register's office 
of Scotland. They are first on record in 
America at Londonderry, where Boyds settled 
in 1718. They were Scotch-Irish who had 
gone into northern Ireland from Scotland 
about 1688. there married, and bred the hardy 
pioneer Scotch-Irish who perpetuated their 
home names in the new towns they created. 
The name is next found in New York City 
and Pennsylvania, where they settled prior to 
the revolution. There was also an early set- 
tlement in Virginia. The Boyds, like all the 
Scotch-Irish, were hardy, energetic, desirable 
citizens, and in settling in /a new country usu- 
ally chose the rugged country instead of the 
more fertile river bottoms, as did the Dutch. 
This was due to their early environment, as 
each chose location in accordance with youth- 
ful surroundings. 

(I) John Boyd was born in the year 1725, 
of Scotch parentage, and as conclusive evi- 
dence shows, was of the Kilmarnock family, 
some of whom settled in the north of Ireland, 
county Antrim, where he was either born or 
taken by his parents at an early age. He mar- 
ried, in 1757, in Ireland, Ann Logan, born 
1739, and with his wife and three children ar- 
rived at New York in 1762. \\'ith John Boyd 
was his brother-in-law, John Rogers, who 
married Agnes Logan just before the party 
started for America. John Boyd resided at 
Albany until 1793, when, as appears on the 
sessions- record of the First Presbyterian 
church, of which he was an elder, he removed 
to the country with his family, meaning Johns- 
town. New York. John Rugers, who was a 
wheelwright, accompanied him and there they 
erected saw mills, and there John Boyd died, 
July 6, 1799. His wife, Ann (Logan) Boyd, 
survived him, dying in Albany, New York, 
February 9, 1815, aged seventy-si.x years. 
They are both buried in Johnstown, New 
York. Children : 

1. John L., born October 8, 175S. 

2. Nancy (Agnes), born February 26, 1760, 
died February, 1851 ; married Peter McHench, 
May II, 1786: had five children, including 
William, who married Margaret, daughter of 
David and Margaret (Maxwell) Boyd. 

3. James Boyd (see forward). 

4. Alexander, the first born in America,, 
September 14, 1764, died 1854. He was a 
prosperous farmer of Schoharie county. New 
York, owning much land and many slaves. 
In 1813 he was elected to congress as a \\'hig. 
He was a deacon of the Dutch Reformed 
church for many years. He married Eliza- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



445 



lieth, daughter of Peter Becker. Children : 
i. John, born July 29, 1784, married Kate Van 
Epps ; no issue, ii. Helen, born December 10, 
1785, married James Van Gaasbeck, M. D., 
of Schoharie county : seven children, iii. Da- 
vid, born Xovember t,, 1788, married Nancy 
Van Derzee : nine children, iv. Ann Boyd, 
born ^larch 7, 1791, married George Dial; 
had issue, v. Albert, born March i, 1793, 
married Ann Heron : seven children, vi. Pe- 
ter, born August 25, 1795, married Laney or 
Helen De \'oe : four children, vii. James, 
born December 6, 1797. married Emily Stimp- 
son : two children, viii. IMargaret, born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1800, married John C. \'an Vechten ; 
nine children, ix. W'illiam A., born Septem- 
ber 13. 1802. married Margaret Dougherty, 
who died 1830: two children: married (sec- 
ond), Sarah M. Sternberg: five children, x. 
Nancy, born February 2, 1805, married Dan- 
iel Larkin: four children, xi. Alexander (2), 
born February 26, 1807. xii. Hugh, died 
young, xiii. Delia, born July 15, 18 12, mar- 
ried Jehicl Larkin : no issue. 

5. Hugh, born January 25, I7fi7- '''^'fl De- 
cember 29, 1816: married January 14, 1796, 
Catherine Staats. 

6. David, born December 4, 1770, died No- 
vember 3, 1834, at Schenectady. He was a 
prominent man of Schenectady, and one of 
the organizers of the Mohawk Bank, one of 
the oldest banking institutions of the state. 
Por a great many years he held the position 
of cashier. February 5, 1823, he was elected 
county judge, serving until January 31, 1825. 
In 1826 he was elected mayor of Schenectady. 
In 1812 he was presidential elector. He mar- 
ried, March 7, 1793, Margaret Maxwell, born 
December 29, 1772, died October 14, 1856. 
Children : i. Euphemia, born January 24, 
1794, died March 15, 1851, unmarried, ii. 
Hugh T\I., born December 8, 1795, died May 
7. 1847, married Mary Dow. iii. Margaret, 
born December 16, 1797, died October 18, 
1852, married William McHench. iv. David 
M., died in infancy, v. Ann. born August 30, 

1802. unmarried, vi. John H., born 

9, 1805. vii. L'rsula Jane, died in childhood. 
viii. Ursula Jane (2), born September 24, 
181 1, died 1877, married George H. Thacher 
(sec Thacher). ix. David, born December 4, 
1815: graduate of L^nion College: died un- 
married, December 12. 1865. 

7. Dr. Thomas, born April 19, 1772, died in 
New York City. March 18, 1856. He prac- 
ticed medicine over sixty years, fifty of them 
in New York City, and at the time of his 
death was the oldest physician in the city. 
The press of the city spoke of him in most 
■ complinientary terms at the time of his death. 



He married, October 22, 1793, Sarah Graham, 
daughter of Rev. Chauncey and Elizabeth 
(\'an Wyck) Graham. She was born January 
II. 1770. died August 16, 1844. Children: 
i. Elizabeth, married John H. McCall, died 
February 12, 1881. ii. John Thomas, born 
July 4, 1797, died June 8. 1859, married Han- 
nah Agnes Shea. (The founder of Boyd's 
City Express. New York City), iii. Theo- 
dore C. born September. 1799, died August 7, 
1843, married Sarah P. Cummings. iv. ]\rar- 
garet A., died February 27, 1841, married 
.Alexander Chalmers, v. William II.. a phy- 
sician, died September 6, 1837. at New Or- 
leans, vi. Maria, died October 21, 1879. vii. 
Sarah Matilda, died June 6, 1881. 

8. William, born September 14, 1775. died 
April 24. 1840 : was captain of a passenger 
sloop running between .\lbany and New- York 
for a number of years : then engaged in the 
jewelrv business with William Shephard, con- 
tinuing later under the firm name of Boyd & 
Mumford : he married. May 29, 1809. Hannah 
Hook, born 1783, died February, 1856: chil- 
dren: i. Catherine Hook, died in infancy, 
ii. John, died in childhood, iii. Thomas Hook, 
died in infancy, iv. Thomas Hook, died in 
childhood, v. William, born 1817. died .\pril 
6. 1895. vi. Howard, born May. 1819, died 
July 27, 1889. married Mary A. Morrow, vii. 
Catherine (2), born September, 1821, died 
November 22. 1880. married Stephen R. 
Schuyler, viii. Anna Mary, died in childhood. 

9. Hamilton, born February 17. 1778. died 
September 20. 1820. In association with his 
brother. Captain Hugh Boyd, he operated a 
line of river sloops with headquarters at Troy, 
New York. Tradition says Hugh and Hamil- 
ton Boyd were pilots on the first steamboat 
that ever came to Albany from New York. 
Hamilton Boyd married (first) Ann Brad- 
shaw (second) Eliza Kirby, who died Janu- 
ary 15, 1824: children: i. James Hamilton. 
died young, ii. Mary .Ann, born 1804. died 
March 3. 1878. married James Peter Boyd, 
a grandson of James and Jane Boyd, who emi- 
grated from Scotland to America in 1774. iii. 
Edward Hugh, born May, 1815. died 1884. 

(II) James, second son and third child of 
John and Ann (Logan) Boyd, was born in 
county Antrim. Ireland. February 2, 1762, 
died at Albany, New York, February 22, 1839. 
He was an infant in arms w'hen his parents 
came to Albany. He grew up and was edu- 
cated in that city and became a well-known 
public man and prosperous farmer of the town 
of Glenville, Schenectady county. He served 
in the revolutionary war as private under 
Colonel Philip Schuyler from October 28, 
1779. to November 4. 1781. He owned a fine 



446 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



farm in Glenville, but through endorsement of 
notes lost it, and removed to Johnsburg, War- 
ren county, New York, where he operated a 
saw mill. He later removed to Albany. New 
York, where he was public weighmaster many 
years. For fourteen years he represented 
Glenville on the Schenectady county board of 
supervisors ; was elected to the state legisla- 
ture in 1811, reelected in 1812, and held other 
offices of trust. He married, at Schenectady, 
January 16, 1783, Alida Conde, of Charlton, 
Saratoga county, New York, granddaughter 
of Adam Conde. constable of Albany, New 
York, in 1724, and high constable in 1725. He 
removed to Schenectady, where he was killed 
in the Buelkendal Indian massacre in 1748. 
He was called a "Hollander." but there is a 
well-founded belief in the family that he was a 
Huguenot descendant of the French Conde 
family, who fled from France to Holland to 
escape persecution. He married, November 
30, 1736, Catherine DeGraaf, daughter of 
Jesse and Aaltie (Hennion) Ackerman, 
of New York, and granddaughter of 
Claas Andriesse De Graaf, born 1628, the 
early settler of Schenectady, who married 
Elizabeth, daughter of William Brouwer, of 
Albany. Jesse De Graaf was his oldest son, 
and was for a time held captive in Canada by 
the French and Indians. Adam Conde and 
Catherine De Graaf had Johannes, Susannah, 
Alida', Jesse (see forward), Eva and Adam 
(2). Jesse Conde was born in Schenectady, 
March 13, 1743, died 1818. He settled in the 
town of Charlton, Saratoga county. New 
York,- in 1775, where he died. He married, 
July 5, 1762. Parthenia Ogden, born July 14, 
1744, died December 11. 1817. daughter of 
Jonathan Ogden, of Westchester county, New- 
York. Jesse and Parthenia (Ogden) Conde 
had twelve children, Alida, Jonathan, Jona- 
than (2), Adam, Albert, John, Wilmot, Jesse, 
Susannah, Nicholas De Graaf, Isaac and 
Jesse (2). Alida, eldest of these children, 
born June 16, 1763, at Schenectady, died at 
Albany, August 4, 1838. Tradition says she 
received from her parents a peck of gold 
(which may be a fable) and a family of negro 
slaves (which is a fact) as a marriage por- 
tion. She married James Boyd, January 16, 
1784. Children: i. Catherine, born Novem- 
ber 17, 1785, married Jacob \'iele. 2. John, 
born February 12, 1787, died January 21, 
1887, lacking a month of completing a full 
century of years ; he was a captain in the war 
of 1812, and married Maria Vedder. 3. Ann, 
born 1792, died at New Orleans, March, 1830: 
married Charles \'e(l(ler, and had James, Cath- 
erine, and other children. 4. Parthenia, born 
November 29, 1794, married, Februaj'y 18, 



18 1 3, Christopher Whittaker. 5. Wilmot, born 
December 29, 1796, died IMarch 20, 1877 ; mar- 
ried Charles Taylor Brown, July 21, 1814, 
and died March 20, 1877. 6. Margaret, born 
October 25, 1800, died June 4. 1878: married 
I-'rederick N. Clute, i8ig. 7. Susan, born De- 
cember 18, 1801, died August 9, 1895 ; married 
Nathaniel Griffing, July 20, 1823. 8. Jesse 
Conde (see forward). 9. Nancy McHench, 
born November 5, 1807, died May 18, 1883: 
married Jesse Martin \"an Slyck. James and 
Alida Boyd were buried in the Dutch Re- 
formed church cemetery, Albany ; later they 
were removed to Rural Cemetery; when the 
former was taken for \\'ashington Park. 

(HI) Jesse Conde, son of James and Alida 
(Conde) Boyd, was born in Schenectady. New 
York, June 5, 1803, and died at ]\Iontague, 
Michigan, June 6, 1891. He was a farmer of 
Johnsburg. then weighmaster of Erie canal 
freight ; later a lumber dealer of Albany. He 
removed to the west and engaged in the manu- 
facture of furniture at Chicago ; leaving there, 
he resided on a farm five miles north of Dixon, 
Illinois. He was of Grand Detour, Michigan, 
and Aurora, Illinois, and after losing his wife 
returned to Chicago, where he lived with his 
children until 1889, when he exchanged some 
city property for a farm near Montague, 
Michigan, where he moved at the age of 
eighty-four years, again began farming, and 
there died. He is buried in Graceland ceme- 
tery. Chicago, Illinois. He married, January 
15. 1824, Elcy Noble, born in Johnsburg. New 
York. January 8, 1805, died at Aurora, Illi- 
nois, July, 1872, daughter of Edward and 
Mary (Leach) Noble. Edward was born in 
Ireland, October 12, 1772, died in Johnsburg, 
March 12. 1857. He came to the LTnited 
States in 1795. He was a member of the 
Methodist church, and his home in Johnsburg 
was noted for its hospitable entertainment of 
the ministers of that denomination. He mar- 
ried, .April 23, 1801, Mary Leach, born in 
Westchester county. New York, February 5, 
1782, died October 5, 1849, daughter of Wil- 
liam and Elcy (Ward) Leach. Children: i. 
Margaret, died 1852, unmarried. 2. Jane, 
married John Fuller. 3. Elcy. born January 
8, 1803, married Jesse Conde Boyd. 4. John, 
n^arried Ellen Armstrong. 5. Sally, married 
Joseph Leach.* 6. Mary, married William A. 
Potter. 7. William, married Caroline Stewart. 
8. Edward, married Eunice F"ish. 9. Orrilla, 
married Harvey Schermerhorn. 

David Noble, grandfather of Elcy (Noble) 
Boyd, was born at Terrahen, Ireland, died at 
.Arlington, \'erniont, July 14, 1807. In 1795 
he came to the LTnited -States. He was a local 
jircacher of the Methodist Episcopal cliurch^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



447 



and eminent for his piety and many virtues. 
He died in the pulpit at the close of a sermon. 
He married, in 1768, Margaret Caruthers, 
born in Holywood, Fermanagh county, Ire- 
land, about 1752, daughter of William. She 
died in Ireland, February 28, 1790, aged 
thirty-eight years. They had seven children, 
of whom Edward was the second. Archibald 
Noble, great-grandfather of Elcy (Noble) 
Boyd, was born in Terrahen, Fermanagh 
county, Ireland. The family were noted for 
great strength and moral integrity. They 
were originally members of the Church of 
England, but later became followers of John 
Wesley, a faith their descendants in the Uni- 
ted States have adhered to with great uni- 
formity. He married Eleanor Jamison, who 
died in Ireland. They had eight children, of 
whom David was the third. 

Children of Jesse Conde and Elcy (Noble) 
Boyd: i. Alida, born January 25, 1826, mar- 
ried Hiram Burton, born at East Greenbush, 
New York. 2. Mary J., born August 9, 1827. 
married Charles P. Easton (see Easton). 3. 
Margaret, born December 22, 1828, married 
Thomas R. Ferris. 4. James, born June 22, 
183 1, married Sarah J. Locke, Chicago, Illi- 
nois. 5. Edward. 6. John. 7. William, died 
in infancy. 8. David, born July 4, 1839. 9. 
Robert, born in Albany, July 13, 1841 ; mar- 
ried (first) Celia Stowe. (second) Helen 
Pitcher. 10. Charles Lansing, born in Al- 
bany, May II, 1843, married Melvina Locke, 
Chicago, Illinois. 11-12. Caatherine, Caro- 
line (twins), born and died November 23, 
1845- 



Melchort De Forest, of 
DE FOREST Asvesnes. France, was the 

father of Jean De Poorest, 
the first Protestant of the De Forest family, 
and was the grandfather of the first De For- 
est emigrant to America. He married Cath- 
erine de Fosset, of Mons. Jean, their young- 
est son, married Anne Maillard, and settled 
in Holland along with thousands of his coun- 
trymen, Walloons and Huguenots. 

(I) Jesse, son of Jean and .Anne (Mail- 
lard) De Forest, was born about 1575. There 
is no important information concerning him 
after December i, 1623. when in a tax list of 
Leyden. Holland, opposite his name is the 
entry "gone to the West Indies," which may 
have meant anywhere in North or Central 
America. Up to 1606 he appears as a mer- 
chant residing at Sedan. France, and in 1615 
he appears in the Walloon registers of Ley- 
den, where he was residing in 1620, the time 
of the departure of the Pilgrim fathers for 
America. He conceived the design of plant- 



ing a colony of his own people in the New 
World, and this design he carried from year 
to year and from state to state until he had 
brought it to execution. He gathered a colony 
of fifty or sixty Walloon and French fam- 
ilies, "all of the Reformed faith," and prayed 
the King of England to grant them a set- 
tlement in Virginia and "to maintain them 
in their religion" by undertaking their pro- 
tection and defence. The petition or demand 
was signed by fifty-si.x men, mostly heads of 
families, the first of whom was Jesse De For- 
est. They prayed the King that he would' 
grant them a territory of sixteen miles in 
diameter where they might cultivate fields, 
meadows, vineyards, etc., and article seventh 
of the petition reads : 

"Whether they would be permitted to luint all 
game, whether furred or feathered; to fish in the 
sea and rivers, and to cut heavy and small tim- 
ber, as well for navigation as for other purposes, 
according to their desire; in a word, whether 
they might make use of everything above and' 
below ground, according to their will and pleas- 
ure, saving the royal rights and trade in every- 
thing with such persons as should be there to- 
privilege." 

The petition was not acted upon favorably. 
He continued his enrolling, and looked for 
aid from Holland in getting the colony to 
.\merica. Here Jesse De Forest disappears 
from distinct sight. It seems clear, however, 
that his first and perhaps only colonizing ven- 
ture, was to that part of South America which 
the Dutch called the "wild coast," or Guinea. 
To this region two successive bands of set- 
tlers were despatched from Leyden in 1623. 
The fleet which Jesse De Forest accomjjanied 
sailed out of the Neuse, twenty miles south 
of Leyden, December 23, 1623. Nothing fur- 
ther is known of him. He was a man of fixed 
purpose, which he carried into execution, but 
whether he sleeps beside the Oaypok or beside 
the Hudson is not known. He had aroused 
and directed the emigrants who founded New 
York as well as those who established a dwell- 
ing place in Guinea and among the Carribean 
Islands. He married ?klarie du Clou.x, and 
their seventh recorded child. Isaac, is the 
founder in America of the De Forests of 
Schenectady. 

(II) Isaac, son of Jesse and Marie (du 
Cloux) De Forest, was baptized at Leyden, 
Holland, July 10, 1616. With his brother, 
Henry, then thirty years of age, Isaac, who- 
was ten years his junior, quitted Amsterdam, 
October i, 1636, in a small vessel called the 
"Renssalaerwyck,"" which belonged to Kiliaerr 
Van Rensselaer, the first patroon. They 
reached New Amsterdam in safety and set- 
tled upon the broad fertile flat called "Mus- 



448 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



coota," now the site of Harlem, upper New 
York City. Henry had a grant of two hun- 
dred acres ; Isaac, a strip of one hundred acres 
along the Harlem river and part of the later 
day Morris Park. Henry, the wealthier and 
apparently the abler of the two brothers, died 
July 26, 1637. The interests of his widow 
were safeguarded by Dominie Evarardus Bo- 
gardus, as her attorney. She married again. 
Isaac was still vmmarried, and for several 
years remained at Harlem raising tobacco and 
selling it at New Amsterdam for transport 
to Holland. On June 9, 1641, he married 
"Sarah du Trieux of New Amsterdam, spin- 
ster," daughter of Phillip du Trieux and Ja- 
queline Noiret, founders of the Truax family 
of America. He became a wealthy tobacco 
dealer and brewer of New Amsterdam, and 
was appointed in 1658 by Governor Stuyve- 
sant and council a "great burgher." When 
the English fleet took New York in 1664 he 
was one of the persons of distinction seized 
and held. His will is dated June 4. 1672. 
He died in 1674. His widow died in 1692. 
Their children were: Jesse, born 1642, died 
young; Susannah, born 1645, married Peter 
De Reimer; Gerrit, born 1647, died young; 
Michael, born 1649, died young; John, born 
1650, "chivurgeon," or physician ; Philip, born 
1652, a cooper; Isaac, born 1655. a baker; 
Hendrick, born 1657, a glazier ; J^Iaud, born 
1666, married Bernard Darby; David, born 
1669. a glazier. 

(III) Philip, fifth son of Isaac and Sarah 
{du Trieux) De Forest, was born in New 
Amsterdam, in 1652. He became the founder 
of the Albany branch of the De Forests. He 
married, January 5, 1676, Tryntje, daughter 
of Isaac Kip. and removed to Albany. He 
served as high sheriff, and held many offices. 
He died in 1727, and was buried August 18 
of that year. Children: i. Sara, baptized 
in New York, January 2. 1678. 2. Susanna, 
baptized in .A.lbany, April i. 1684. 3. Mertje, 
July 25, 1686. 4. Isaac, February 20, 1689. 
5. Jesse, January 13. 1692, married Neeltje 
Quackenbush. 6. Catrina, November 25, 
1694. 7. Johannes, September 12, 1697, mar- 
ried Marie Quackenbush. 8. David, Septem- 
ber 8, 1700, see forward. 9. Abraham, Feb- 
ruary 21, 1703, married Rebecca Symonse 
Van Antwerpen. 

(IV) David, fourth .son of Philip (of Al- 
bany) and Tryntje (Kip) De Forest, was a 
farmer. He married .Abigail \'an Alstyne, 
November 8, 1717. Children: i. Philip, bap- 
tized February 21, 17 19, died young. 2. 
Philip, May i, 1720. 3. Jeanetje, March 11, 
1722. 4. Marten, May 14, 1724, see forward. 
5. Catharine, September 15, 1728. 6. Susanna, 



September 26, 1731. 7. Maria, April 21, 1734. 
8. Jacob. March 3, 1737. Marten, Philip and 
Jacob lived on adjoining farms in North 
Greenbush, Rensselaer county. New York. 

(V) Marten, third son of David and Abi- 
gail (Van Alstyne) De Forest, was baptized 
May 14, 1724. He was a farmer of Green- 
bush, Rensselaer county. He married Tan- 
neke Winne. Children: i. Catarina, bap- 
tized September 15. 175 1. 2. Peter, baptized 
April 15, 1753. 3. David, September 21, 1755. 
4. Phillipus, January 15, 1758. 5. Willem, 
April 13, 1760. 6. Catharine, May 6, 1762. 7. 
Rachel, born March 23, 1764. 8. Jannetie, 
born September 14, 1766. 9. Marytje, Janu- 
ary 29. 1769. 10. Jacob, see forward, ii. 
Daniel, baptized August 4. 1774. 

(\'l) Jacob, fifth son of Marten and Tan- 
neke (Winne) De Forest, was born in Green- 
bush, New York, May 28, 177 1, died in the 
town of Rotterdam, Schenectady county. New 
York, June. 1854. He went to Duanesburg, 
Schenectady county. New York, in 1780. In 
1809 he went to Rotterdam, and late in life 
removed to the village of Schenectady. He 
married (first) February 2, 1794, .Anna Lan- 
sing, who bore him five children. He married 
(second) July 30, 1808, Mary Wiley, died 
April II, 1859. who bore him four children. 
Children : Cornelia, married Andrew White ; 
Jacob, born October 23, 1797, married .\nna 
Schermerhorn, and had twelve children, of 
whom the eldest was Colonel Jacob De Forest, 
a distinguished soldier and officer of the civil 
war, died 1909 : Tenetta : Sarah ; Obadiah 
Lansing ( see forward ) : Anna : John : Mar- 
ten : and James. 

(\TI) Obadiah Lansing, son of Jacob and 
Anna (Lansing) De Forest, was born in the 
town of Rotterdam, New York, August 8, 
1806. died April 17, 1859. He was reared to 
agricultural pursuits, and in addition learned 
the trade of cooper. Leaving the farm he lo- 
cated in Schenectady, where he had a shop 
and worked at his trade. He was active in 
local politics, and was a leader. He was elec- 
ted deputy sheriff on the Know Nothing 
ticket, and in 1855 was elected sheriff of Sche- 
nectady county, serving three years, 1856- 
59. He was a Democrat in politics, and a 
member of the Free and Accepted Masons. 
He married, in Rotterdam, Sarah Vedder, 
born in Rotterdam, March 19, 1808. died Feb- 
ruary 18, 1867 (see Vedder). She was a 
member of the Dutch Reformed church. Chil- 
dren : I. Ann Lansing, born November 29, 
1826. died July 20, 1849, during the epi- 
demic of cholera that devastated the section 
in that year ; she was unmarried. 2. Re- 
becca, born October 20, 1829 ; married Ste- 





Ov 



■'^'^ ^'yif^ 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



449 



phen D. Gates, of 1006 Union street, Sche- 
nectady ; she survives him and is a resident 
of Schenectady. 3. Jacob, born November 29, 
1832, died January 28, 1895; like his father, 
was sheriff of Schenectady county ; he mar- 
ried (first) Agnes Dorn ; one Hving daugh- 
ter, Anna, unmarried; married (second) /\Hce 
Turnbull, now deceased ; children : Henry, 
Mellia, Burdella. 4. Ella \'edder, born Feb- 
ruary 27, 1837, died February 19, 1895 ; mar- 
ried Christopher \'an Slyck, deceased. 5. 
Frank \'., born April 11, 1843; he is now 
retired from business and resides at 105 Bran- 
dywine avenue, Schenectady ; married Rachel 
Schraff; children living at the present time: 
Walter. Nellie, Frank V. Jr., Belle, William, 
Martha, Jay and May. 6. Henry S., men- 
tioned below. 7. Lansing, mentioned below. 

(\'HI) Henry S., third son of Obadiah 
Lansing and Sarah (\'edder) De Forest, was 
"born February 16, 1847. lie was educated 
■in the high school of Schenectady and at 
Poughkeepsie Business College. He has for 
•many years been actively engaged in the real 
estate business in Schenectady, transacting a 
ver}^ large business in this line. He is a di- 
rector of the Citizens' Trust Company, in 
-which he is the largest stockholder. He 
served as city recorder of Schenectady from 
1 88 1 to 1885. and as mayor from 1885 to 
1887 and from 1889 to 1891. During his 
"business career he has erected more than 
twelve hundred houses in Schenectady, and 
his own home, located on tlie corner of Union 
street and Seward Place, was erected at a 
cost of $150,000, being the finest in the city. 
Mr. De Forest is an exceedingly energetic and 
■enterprising citizen, and is highly regarded in 
the community. He is a member of St. 
George Lodge, No. 6. Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons, also of the Alohawk and Golf clubs. Mr. 
Henrv S. De Forest was elected to the House 
•of Representatives on the Republican ticket on 
November 8. 1910, in the Twenty-third Con- 
gressional District, comprising the counties 
of Albany and Schenectady. He carried both 
•counties, his plurality being over 1900. His 
Democratic opponent was Hon. Curtis N. 
Douglas, of Albany, a brother-in-law of Gov- 
ernor John A. Dix. who was elected on the 
Democratic ticket at the referred to election 
■of November, 1910. 

Henry S. De Forest married, September 6, 
1876, Lucy E., daughter of Harmonus Van 
Epps. Children: i. Beulah De Forest, mar- 
Tied William Howard Wright, son of Profes- 
sor Thomas W. Wright, of Schenectady : chil- 
dren : Lucie De Forest, died, aged five years : 
A'ivian : Elva ; Henry De Forest. 2. Pearl 
X)e Forest, married George K. Morris, of 



.Amsterdam, New York, a manufacturer; no 
issue. 

(\TH) Lansing, fourth son of Obadiah 
Lansing and Sarah (Vedder) De Forest, was 
born August 17, 1849. He learned the trade 
of machinist, after which he went to Green 
Bay, Wisconsin, where he was for nine years 
employee! as foreman of the railroad com- 
pany's machine shops. In 1895 he returned 
to Glenville and now resides there. He is a 
member of the Reformed church, and a Dem- 
ocrat in politics. He married, November 12, 
1873, Philena C, born in Rotterdam, New 
York, May 13, 1856, died in Glenville, May 14, 
1910, daughter of Richard D. and Cordelia 
(Gregg) Cook, both natives of Schenectady 
county. New York. Richard D. Cook, son of 
Richard M. Cook, was a photographer of 
Schenectady ; he enlisted in the Union army 
in 1861. and was captain of a company of the 
Thirty-fifth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, 
in which he enlisted ; he died in the military 
hospital at Elmira, New York, June i, 1865, 
of disease contracted in the army. His wife, 
Cordelia (Gregg) Cook, died three weeks 
previous to his death. They had one child, 
Mrs. De Forest, above mentioned. Children 
of Mr. and Mrs. De Forest: i. Lansing B., 
born September 12, 1874; a farmer of Glen- 
ville : married Ella E. Baldwin, of Wisconsin ; 
children : Ruth M. and Helen. 2. Ella Ved- 
der, born June 7, 1881 ; married Charles 
Kline, a farmer of Glenville, resides with her 
father. 



Jasper Van Wormer, 
\'AN WORMER son of Peter Van Wor- 
mer and Mary Van 
Dyke, was born near Crane's \'illage (Glen- 
ville), Montgomery county. New York, May 
23, 1822, and for the greater part of his life 
resided in Albany, where he became one of 
the leading men of the city. 

He was of the old Dutch stock which set- 
tled the provinces of New York and New Jer- 
sey, and in the line of descent, extending over 
more than two centuries since arriving in 
America, he lost none of the best traits of 
their sturdy character — was energetic, pro- 
gressive, strictly honest and most companion- 
able. 

Henri Van Wormer was the original Amer- 
ican ancestor of this family, who came with 
a brother from Wormer, Holland, about 1655, 
and first settled in New Jersey, but later on 
moved up the Hudson river and located in this 
locality, after which time the descendants 
spread throughout the northern part of New 
York state. The same family was ably repre- 
sented in the revolution by Lieutenant Henry 



450 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \"ALLEYS 



Van Wormer, of the Continental army, of the 
Fourteen Albany County Regiment, and his 
son Abram served in the war of 1812 with dis- 
tinction. In this way the family turns to im- 
perishable records connected with the found- 
ing of the nation. 

When Jvlr. Van Wormer was twenty-one 
years of age he came to Albany to make his 
way in the world, that is, expecting better op- 
portunities than in mid-state, and he not only 
found these, but made excellent use of them 
as they were presented to his attention, for 
his life work was a success. His more active 
business career dates from the year 1847, 
when he became associated with Michael Mc- 
Garvey in the retailing of stoves. About 
twenty years later, in 1866, the firm then 
known as Van Wormer & McGarvey built a 
foundry of some size and commenced the 
manufacture of stoves. At this time Albany 
was becoming recognized throughout the coun- 
try as a great stove manufacturing center, and 
in large measure it was due to the factory of 
this firm, who were practically among the pio- 
neers and supplied the enormous western 
trade. After the death of Mr. McGarvey, in 
1876, the business was conducted under the 
title of J. \'an Wormer & Co., and it then ex- 
panded considerably until it was regarded as 
one of the prime industries of the city. In 
1905, ]\Ir. Van Wormer, in advanced age, re- 
tired, but continued his interest in banking af- 
fairs. 

Upon the organization of the Albany 
County Savings Bank in 1874, Mr. Van Wor- 
mer was made a member of the board and 
was elected its vice-president. In 1883 he 
was chosen president of this bank, which of- 
fice he held up to the time of his death, and 
three years after his election the bank took 
steps towards erection of its handsome edifice 
on the historic site of the birthplace of Gen- 
eral Philip Schuyler, which ancient building 
then gave way for this step in improvement 
of property. Mr. \'an Wormer was regarded 
by the leading business men of Albany as an 
excellent adviser in banking matters, one who 
could be progressive and at the same time hew 
close to the line of conservatism so as not to 
involve the institution with undue risk, and he 
was made a director of the Merchants' Na- 
tional Bank of Albany. He was also an incor- 
porator of the Albany Trust Company, and 
retired from the board to be succeeded by his 
son. For more than twenty years he served 
as an inspector at elections of the New York 
Central railroad, which meetings were always 
held in .Mbany, and on retiring was again 
succeeded by his son. 

He was deeply interested in the religious ac- 



tivities of the city, and was a member of 
the First Lutheran Church. He was an in- 
corporator of the original Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, in 1867, and when he died 
there was only one survivor of that board. He 
was its treasurer from 1886 until his death. 
He was one of the earliest members of the 
Holland Society of New York, joining it Oc- 
tober 25, 1886. He was a member of several 
other organizations, and held in highest re- 
spect by all his business associates in the most 
prominent affairs of the city. Although a man 
advanced in years and at times not enjoying 
very good health, he was to be seen nearly 
daily on the streets, and gave the appearance 
of one possessing considerable energy, active 
in movement, and keeping abreast of public 
matters up to the last. His residence, No. 25a 
State street, was among the handsomest in 
the city, and it was here that he died Novem- 
ber 4, 1907. 

Mr. Van Wormer married at Albany, New 
York, September 20, 1848, Mary Louise, 
daughter of John T. and Gertrude Bridges, 
and she was residing at No. 252 State street 
in 191 1. Children, born in Albany, New York: 
I. William Henry, married, at Albany, Belle 
McGarvey. 2. Julia, married, at Albany, 
Nicholas Swits Walls. 3. Emma, educated at 
Albany Female Academy. 4. Frederick, died 
at Albany, September 29, 189 — ; received his 
early education at the Albany Academy ; grad- 
uate of Williams College, afterwards gradu- 
ating from the School of Mines of Columbia 
University, and engaged in architecture with 
Marcus T. Reynolds, at Albany. 5. Edwin, 
married Helen Adams, at Albany : educated at 
the Albany Academy. 6. Mary Louise, married 
at Albany, April 18, 1895, George Comstock 
Baker, born at Comstock, New York, April 
29, 1868, died there, February 2, 1908; attor- 
ney ; was son of Hon. Isaac V. Baker, Jr. ; 
graduate of Union University ; post-graduate 
course at Cornell ; engaged in law department 
of Delaware & Hudson railroad ; member of 
Masters' Lodge ; deputy attorney-general of 
New York ; president of Albany Camera Club ; 
president of New York Society of the Second 
War with Great Britain ; member of Society 
of Colonial Wars ; regent of Philip Livingston 
Chapter, Sons of the Revolution ; member of 
the Fort Orange Club, Psi Epsilon and Phi 
Delta Phi societies. 



John Williams, son of Col- 
WlLLl.XMS onel Joseph and Rebecca 
(Lanier) Williams, the for- 
mer a soldier in the revolutionary war. grand- 
son of X'athaniel Williams and of Thomas and 
Elizalicth (1 licks) Lanier, and a great-grand- 




^)cn. ^}c\\u VilViuiu 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \ALLEYS 



451 



son of Jolin Williams, the imiiiiLrraiit, was 
born in Surry county. North Carolina, Janu- 
ary 29, 1778, died in Knoxville, Tennessee, 
Aug;ust 10, 1837. Three of his brothers were 
active and prominent in public affairs, Lewis 
serving as representative in congress, and 
Robert and Thomas L. were distinguished 
jurists. U]X>n the completion of his literary 
studies, John Williams pursued a course of 
study in law in Salisbury. North Carolina, was 
admitted to the bar in 1803, and began prac- 
tice near Knoxville, Tennessee. He served as 
captain in the Sixth United States Infantry 
from April. 1799. to June, 1800, and served as 
captain in the regular army in the w'ar of 

181 2, also as colonel of a regiment of East 
Tennessee Mounted Volunteers, which he had 
raised and which he successfully led into Flor- 
ida against the Seminoles : he was commis- 
sioned colonel of the Thirty-ninth United 
States Infantry, June 18, 1813, and subse- 
quently served under General Jackson against 
the Creek Indians in Alabama, participating 
in the battle of Horse-Shoe Bend, March 27, 

1813. He completed the unexpired term of 
United States Senator George W. Campbell, 
resigned, served from December 4, 1815, to 
]\larch 3. 1823, officiating as chairman of the 
committee on military alTairs. He was de- 
feated for re-election in 1823 by Andrew Jack- 
son. He was charge d'affaires to the Centra! 
American Federation by appointment from 
President John Quincy Adams from Decem- 
ber 29. 1825, to December i. 1826; subse- 
quently a state senator, and declined a justice- 
ship in the supreme court of Tennessee. He 
married Melinda. daughter of James and 
Marv ( Lawson ) \\'hite. 



This family has contributed 
PUMPELLY three generations to Albany 
citizenship, coming here 
from Owego, New York, before which time 
the family resided at Salisbury, Connecticut. 
and previous to that period lived in Pembroke, 
Massachusetts. 

The Pumpelly arms : Argent chausse azure 
on a pale gules, accosted by two roses in base 
(on the azure) : a fleur-de-lis or : a chief of the 
last an eagle displayed sable. Crest : On an 
esquire's helmet, ornamented with a wreath of 
the colors and lambrequins of azure and ar- 
gent, a ship on stormy waves. Motto: Telle 
est la 1-ie (Such is life). To this description, 
which appears on the John H. Pumjielly tree, 
is added the following note: "The above- 
mentioned crest was used by the representa- 
tives of Numa Pompilius far back in Roman 
times, first on coins, as the prow of a ship, 
and afterward as a full Roman galley. James 



Puniijelly, of Owego. used it on his seal in 
1809; Harmon Pumjielly used it in 1825, and 
John Pumpelly, the father, used it on a seal, 
at Pembroke, about xjCyo." 

(I) The first to bear the name of Pumpelly 
in America was Jean Pompili, whose family 
came from Avignon, and whose ancestors 
came there from Spoletto, Italy, in the train 
of Cardinal Abornoz. His son: 

(ID Jean Pompili, was a sea captain at 
Plymouth, and was knocked overboard by a 
boom and drowned, a short .time before the 
birth of his son, John Pumpely (Pumpelly. or 
Pompilie). His wife, who was a Miss Mon- 
roe, married (second) a Rev. Mr. Glover. 

(Ill) John, son of Jean Pompili, ran away 
from home when about fifteen years of age, 
and was next heard from when he enlisted 
September 15, 1755, as a drummer-boy in 
Captain John Loring's company of His Maj- 
esty's Foot, serving until December 17, 1755. 
He was patriotic, for he enlisted time and 
again ; made the entire campaign of the French 
and Indian war. and w^as made sergeant for 
distinguished bravery, carrying despatches 
alone ; he was a member of Captain Samuel 
Thaxter's company, to Fort William Henry, 
at tlie southern end of Lake George, through 
a decidedly wild and hostile countrv. when 
the forest wilderness was practically filled 
with bloodthirsty savages. He was sergeant 
of Captain Abel Keen's company, at Lunen- 
burg. March 30 to November i, 1758. He 
was one of the Crown Point expedition, and 
at one time a member of Rogers' Rangers; 
also a messmate of Daniel Webster's father. 
He was engaged in the siege of Louisburg, 
and at the side of General Wolfe when he fell 
mortally w^ounded on the Heights of Abraham 
in 1759, assisting to carry that brave general 
from the firing line to die. He was a commis- 
sary under General Israel Putnam at the tin^e 
of the battle of Saratoga, in October, 1777, 
with rank of third lieutenant. Another enlist- 
ment records that he entered Captain John 
Loring's company as drummer, April 22, and 
server! until November 5, 1756. He took the 
oath of fidelity to the state, January 25. 1778. 
After his second marriage and taking up his 
residence at Salisbury, Connecticut, he be- 
came superintendent of the Connecticut Iron 
Mine and Furnace, an establishment engaged 
in casting^ cannon used in the revolution, and 
he had a corps of fifty men so em]jloyed under 
him. After leaving the army he was for a 
time an architect. In 1803 he removed with 
his family to settle at Danby. Broome county. 
New York, near Owego. where his son. Hon. 
James Pumpelly, had settled and become a 
man of wealth. During the latter part of his 



452 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



life he was a surveyor and also managed his 
farming interests. He died July n, 1819. 
His portrait is yet in his granddaughter's 
house. 

John Pumpelly married (first) Eppen Hille- 
branz Meijer, a lady of birth, of Dutch extrac- 
tion, by whom he had the following children : 
I. Bennett, married E. Merrill. 2. Barnet, 
served through much of the revolution. 3. 
Elizabeth, died young. 4. John, married Mary 
French. 5. Eppen, married Seth Samson. 6. 
Samuel, married Sarah True. 

John Pumpelly married (second) Hannah 
Bushnell, of Salisbury, Connecticut. She was 
born in 1756, died at Owego, New York, De- 
cember 31, 1832, daughter of Captain Samuel 
Bushnell, of Salisbury, who was a sea captain 
and came from Saybrook. The arms of the 
Bushnell family, used ever since coming to 
this country, are as follows : Argent, five fu- 
sils in fess gules, in chief three mullets sable. 
Crest: On a ducal coronet a wivern, sans 
feet. 

Children of John Pumpelly and Hannah 
Bushnell: i. John, born at Salisbury, Con- 
necticut, 1775, died at Owego, New York; 
married Mary Pixley Tinkham (daughter of 
Col. David Pixley and widow of Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham) who was born at Stock- 
bridge, Massachusetts, May 11, 1777, died at 
Owego, New York, June 4. 1848: three chil- 
dren : George James, Lydia Abbey and Fred- 
erick Henry. 2. Charles, born at Salisbury, 
Connecticut. 1776; removed to Owego, New 
York, in 1803; died there in 1855; married, 
September 2, 1803, Frances Avery, born Janu- 
ary 9, 1775 : children : John Charles, Mary 
Ann, Susan Isabella. Frances Eliza, Catherine 
Ann, Harriet Amelia, Stella Avery, Caroline 
Augusta, James and Lydia Abbey. 3. Jerusha, 
died without issue. 4. Maria, born 1786, died 
1855; married, at Owego, Abner Beers: chil- 
dren: Harmon Pumpelly, Dr. Eli, David, 
Emma, Abner, Frances, John James, Mary 
Pumpelly, Charles, Edward, and John James. 
5. William, born at Salisbury, Connecticut, 
June 17, 1788: president of the Bank of Owe- 
go: died there in 1876: married (first) Sarah 
Emily Tinkham (died 1822), daughter of Dr. 
Samuel and Mary Tinkham : one child, Sarah 
Emily: married (second), October 24. 1824, 
]\Iary H. Welles (born Athens, Pa., May 6, 
1803; died at Paris, France, December 4, 
1879), daughter of George Welles: children: 
John Hollenbcck, Susan Mary, Marie An- 
toinette, Josephine and Raphael. 6. Harriet, 
born 1791, died August 25, 1863; married. 
March 3, 1809, David Quigg, merchant, of 
Ithaca, New York, who was born June 2, 
1781, died December 17, 1862 ; children : Ben- 



jamin D., Emeline, Harriet M., John Wil- 
liam, James, Edward and Helen. 7. Harmon, 
born at Salisbury, Connecticut, August i, 
1795, died at Albany, New York, September 
28, 1882; married (first) Delphine Drake; 
(second) Maria Brinckerhoff (see forward). 

1 1\') Harmon, youngest child of John Pum- 
pelly and Hannah Bushnell, was born at Salis- 
bury, Connecticut, August i, 1795. He re- 
sided in Albany, New York, most of his life, 
and when he died there, September 28, 1882, 
was one of the oldest men in that city, besides 
being one of the most conspicuous and es- 
teemed. 

.\t the age of six years he removed with his 
father's family to Owego, New York, where 
his youth and manhood were spent. He early 
learned to rely upon his own resources, and 
without much further education than that 
which he received from constantly reading 
well-selected books, he set out in the battle 
of life with an equipment in which sturdy 
energy and indomitable perseverance more 
than compensated for any lack of training. He 
was an omniverous reader, and from every 
book he gleaned some useful knowledge, lay- 
ing it by for future service. Among other 
accomplishments of a practical kind he gained 
a knowledge of surveying, and at the age of 
twenty-one was found in that occupation in 
connection with his brother James, who had 
charge of the extensive Harper and Caton es- 
tates in the vicinity of Tioga county. New 
York. His energy of character and spirit of 
enterprise soon led him beyond the routine of 
surveying. He threw into everything he did 
his habits of promptness, forethought and in- 
tegrity, and almost everything he touched 
prospered. Much of his time in those years 
having been occupied as land agent for sev- 
eral large capitalists of New York City, he 
began tlie purchase and sale of lands on his 
own account, and thus laid the foundation of 
his large fortune. Together with his brothers 
he dealt in lumber and cattle, always display- 
ing unusual tact, and not infrequently clear- 
ing goodly sums in his transactions. He was 
made president of the board of trustees of 
Owego in 1835, and so long as he remained 
there was the foremost man of the place. He 
was captain of a cavalry company noted for 
the beautiful uniforms they wore and the 
fine horses they rode ; before this he was lieu- 
tenant of riflemen. 

About 1841 he married and then removed 
to Albany. Having no business save the care 
of his property, which had gradually accumu- 
lated on his hands, he had been but a few 
years in that city when he became identified 
with its three oldest business institutions, the 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



453 



Alban\- Savings Bank, the Albany Insurance 
Company, and the Albany Gaslight Company, 
and was soon elected president of all three of 
these large corporations. Aside from his pri- 
vate or social position, this gave him a promi- 
nence in the city's big affairs practically be- 
yond all other men. The energy and prudence 
which he exercised in the administration of 
these concerns contributed much to their finan- 
cial prosperity and the high position they have 
occupied in the confidence of the community. 

After the death of his first wife he placed 
his two children at school and went to Europe, 
traveling in splendid style in a beautiful car- 
riage with four horses and postillions in blue 
livery and an outrider also in blue. He went 
to Italy, Switzerland, France, England and 
Germany. 

He continued to be successful in all that he 
undertook, and preserved all his mental facul- 
ties to the very last day of his life. He en- 
joyed excellent health, for he had been en- 
dowed with a wonderfully vigorous constitu- 
tion. A great lover of good horses and an 
accomplished equestrian, he undoubtedly pro- 
longed his life several years by his daily habit 
of horseback riding. He never lost his love 
of books, and notwithstanding his diminishing 
eyesight, was a constant reader until his fatal 
illness. His life was singularly happy, un- 
doubtedly due in large measure to personal 
traits of character, moral and mental, which 
insured success and commanded respect of 
his fellow-men. He was an affectionate hus- 
band and father, a faithful and genial friend. 
He was truly all of these, and in every rela- 
tion he undeviatingly proved himself a man 
of high principles and upright life. His Chris- 
tianity was large and broad, well-informed, 
and based upon an earnest faith. For many 
years he was a vestryman of St. Peter's Epis- 
copal Church at Albany, and for the last seven 
years of his life was senior warden of the 
parish. To liis memorv a beautiful window 
has been placed in the nave of that handsome 
edifice. 

Following his tleath, the vestry of St. Pe- 
ter's church bore testimony to the fact of "his 
even temper, his sagacity, his unyielding fidel- 
ity and his genial manner made him at once a 
wise counsellor, a discreet leader and a charm- 
ing companion. He loved the church and con- 
tributed liberally towards its support. Though 
a man of strong will and positive opinion, he 
was broad and charitable towards those with 
whom he differed in deed and doctrine. He 
left a record of a life unsullied ; in character a 
true. Christian gentleman." 

The directors of the Albany Gaslight Com- 
pany testified: "For the last thirty-six years, 



Mr. Pumpelly was president of this board and 
chief manager of the affairs of the company. 
He was a man of marked business capacity, 
of excellent judgment, of stern dignity, and of 
great fidelity to his trust. The prosperity it 
enjoyed is due to him." 

Harmon Pumpelly married (first), at 
Owego, New York, November i6, 1830, Rev. 
Mr. Putnam officiating, Delphine Drake, and 
he married (second), at .Albany, New York, 
October 19, 1S41, by Rev. John A. Yates, 
Maria BrinckerhofT, daughter of Peter 
BrinckerhofT, of New York City, and his wife, 
Elizabeth Bleeckcr, daughter of Rutger 
Bleecker and Catherine Elmendorf. ^laria 
Brinckerhoft' was born in New York City, 
January 30, 1803, and died at the Pumpelly 
home. No. i. Elk street. Albany; by her he 
had no issue. 

Delphine Drake was born at Owego, New 
York, April 11, 181 1, and died at Owego, 
February 27, 1839, aged twenty-seven years, 
ten months and sixteen days. She was the 
daughter of Judge John Reuben Drake and 
Jerusha Roberts. Judge Drake w-as born at 
Pleasant Valley, New York, November 28, 
1782, and died at Owego, March 24, 1857. 
He was a projector of the New York & Erie 
railroad: supervisor, 1813; first judge of 
Broome county, 1815-1823; reappointed that 
year and served until April 18, 1838 : member 
of congress, 1817-1819: member of assembly, 
1834; president of Owego village, 1841 to 
1845, inclusive : in 1823 was one of three com- 
missioners to supervise the construction of the 
first Tioga county courthouse : a man of great 
vigor of mind and body, and throughout his 
life a factor in affairs of the county and that 
portion of the state where he lived ; Master of 
the Free Masons' lodge of Owego. His 
father was the Rev. Reuben Drake, a Baptist 
minister, owner of large property, living in a 
fine, stone house, and married Phoebe Sher- 
wood. His father was William Drake, a large 
land owner and a man of wealth. The coat- 
of-arms of the Drakes is yet to be seen on a 
ring belonging to Judge Drake : it is a shield 
argent, and a hibern tailel nowed sable. 

Harmon Pumpelly and Delphine Drake had 
issue : 

I. Adeline Jerusha. born at Owego. New 
York, April 2", 1832: residing in 191 1 at No. 
7 Elk street, Albany : married at Albany, May 
13, 1874, James Kidd : no issue (see forward). 
She is a woman possessing the kindest of in- 
stincts towards all with whom she conies in 
contact, and her unknown acts of charity are 
of daily occurrence. Her home is regarded 
as one of the leading salons in Albany, where 
people of note and refinement are wont to 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWTC VALLEYS 



saiber. Jtler regard for ai?m\ak of erers- de- 



28- I-XJZ. 






i direct descend- 
iaieral Read was 
:f the Order o€ 

!--_ _ _ -"-^i nrinister to 

Greece, wbere he beci rnate friend 

of King' Georfe: wa.^ - ites consnl- 

geaeral to France, and lirou^i^id the aege 
of Parii dnring^ the Franoo-Pmssian war. re- 
maioed ai ins pc^t. despite the tact that a cao- 
noa tiall pierced bis Toam. 

Ddpimie ^larie I^nnpelhr and General 
John Sferexfitfa Read had issue: <^a> HamioD 
Pompelhr. boni at AJbauj, Xew York, Jnlr 13, 
1S60: educated at Paris. France, and Athens. 
Greece, also at St John's MiKtarr School, and 
'^-^— "-"e^e: i^om oi Roral Geographical 
Loodoo. also of die Geognq^bxal 
■ Paris: member of Historical So- 
cietv of Xew York and of Pena s tlvania; 
rr-^rJerrr of die Yoong Men's .Associatioo ; 
: ride practice. Natiooal Gtiard. 
Yith TzA. oi major : Mason, thir- 
i . T<^. :. . itigree : captain-genera! -' - - - - - f 
die Golden Cord, .Ancient Fren: 
eent of Philip Livingston Chap : :' 

?- •-: member of the Cincinnau vi Li*ia- 
- i-T J rrroor-general of the Order of Albi- 
'.n -. i.zr/-ArAeA hy maror of .ABianr to serre as 
^rrmg chairman on coamnttee to receire Ehike 
of Veragna : secretarr of a committee to wel- 
come the Postal Congress. Hon. John Boyd 
Thadier. mayor : and in ReptAhcaa drde? his 
a-^-.-'e fe often soaght. He married, at St. 
T-.-hr. ; Chnrch, Stanford, Coanecticnt, \a- 



gnst zx. 1880. by Rev. W. Tattock, D. D., 

= ~ ^'~ '--—-Trite de Carroa d" ABondans, 

Moosienr Jacques Frederic de 

radans. moiiicipal counaDor 

iSjf. died in 1870), who married. 

- T*6f C^tfcerine Marguerite PiUard. 

- of Monsieur Georges 

' d'AUondans, warden of 

— - — 2I cooDcinor, a 

.xh respected. 

-;: -Aznre three 

^^ e* ciiiTOtis or > x ucs 1 . \_ rcsi . Out of a corona 

e La an eagle displayed bearii^ cm the breast a tile 

' '1 or. Motto: Loyante. 'b» Emily Meredith. 

IXHTi at Albany. Xew York. Jannary 7. 1863; 

married (first* at Xewport. Rhode Island, 

Acgnst 21, 1884. Hon. Francis .\qnila Stoat, 

president of the Xicaragna Canal Company. 

son of -A- G. Stoat and Lonise Morris, of Mor- 

rissania, and he died at the Thousand Islands, 

Johr 18. 1892. Louise Morris was daiigfater 

of Coionel Lewis Morris, a signer of the 

Dedaiation of Independence. She married 

(seoood) at Paris, Edwards Spencer, a 

descendant of Jonathan Edwards. < c 1 John 

Meredith, bom at Albany. Xew York. Jmie 

27, 1869: raised a regiment of more than two 

thousand men to aid the United States in lib- 

eratioa of Coba in 1898, and a member of a 

ntimber of organizations: married, at Rome. 

1900, Coontess .\lix de Foras <" daughter of 

Coont -Amede de Foras. of the Castle of Thuy- 

set). who was bom at Thuyset in 1866: by 

whom: John Meredith Read flVj. bom at 

PontOTse, Xorember 12. 1901, presented to 

Depaty Mayor. Xovember 15. 1901. (d) 

Marie Ddphine, bom at Paris, ilardi 9, 1873 ; 

married, at Paris in the Chnrch of St Philippe 

dn Roole. Xovember 5. 1895. Coont Max de 

Foras, Knight of St. Manrice and Lazare. son 

of Coont .Amede de Foras ( Knight of the 

Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem), 

tnr whom: Coontess Hngnette. Coontess Del- 

pfaine and Coont Joseph. 

.Arms of Foras: Or a cross azure. The 
Foras family were represented in the third 
crusade by Barle de Foras. 

James Kidd, son of .\rchibald Kidd. of 
Ballston. Xew York, was a stsccessful and 
p rominent .Albanian. In a nttmber of ways 
be figured in the citj-'s pobUc life, as well as 
in its bosin^s affairs. S\"hen he died be was 
wdD classed as one who had been among 
Albany's most earnest and progressive citizens. 
and had coatriboted a fall share to its leading 
interests. 

He was paymaster general of the State, with 
the rank of cotonel. January- i. 1&47. He was 
Albany ootmty treasurer for the three years 
commencing in 1848. He was appointed post- 



HUDSON AND MOH-WVK \ALLEYS 



master of Albany and held office 1858-61. He 
was in 1863 and for a number of years a mem- 
ber of the board of water commissioners, and 
did all he could towards the adoption of the 
system to yield an adequate supply. He was 
one of the first board of trustees of the Albany 
Cit]i- Savings Institution when incorporated, 
March 29, 1850. When the .Albany Railway 
Company was incorporated. September 14, 
1863. he was a member of the board, and upon 
organizing was elected the first president of 
that concern, which was one of the most im- 
portant in the cit>-. He was a trustee of the 
-Albany Savings Bank and a director of the 
.■\lbany Insurance Company. In many re- 
spects he was a self-made man, imbued with 
public spirit and ever ready to help others to 
do as he had done. Charities likewise engaged 
his attention as a delight, and he gave to the 
Albany Guardian Societv- the site for its Home 
for the Friendless, which was opened, free 
from debt. May 5. 1870. at the comer of Clin- 
ton avenue and Perr},- street. 

Securing a position in the dr\--goods house 
of Isaac W. Staats. at the northwest comer 
of Broadway and Maiden Lane, on beginning 
his business career, he applied himself with 
such perseverance to his vocation, that he was 
enabled six years later to engage in the busi- 
ness for himself in the .Athenaeum Building 
on Broadway, north of State street. After a 
few years he turned his attention to a new 
branch and opened a carpet store on the prom- 
inent comer of Broadway and State street. He 
was a Whig in politics, and when given office 
in recognition of personal worth and for ef- 
ficient part\- services, always filled the same 
with unimpeachable integrity. 

His home was at Xo. 7 Elk street, and he 
died there May 20. 1879. The Albany Gas- 
light Company's directors voiced the senti- 
ment : "He had long been a member of 
the hoard and a constant and sagacious 
trustee of the many interests he was called 
to preserve. His judgment was always the 
result of careful consideration and his ac- 
tion was both pmdent and wise." The 
.Albany Savings Bank testified : ""His ex- 
cellent business qualifications and experi- 
ence, his strict integrity and sound judg- 
ment, made his services useful, and the kind- 
ness of his heart made intercourse pleasant." 
The Albany Insurance Company directors sub- 
scribed : "-An intercourse of many years has 
made this board the witness of his great integ- 
rity and stability of character, of his uniform 
courtesv and urbanity of manner : his sound 
and practical judgment, together with the 
value and wamith of his friendship." 

Probablv no institution in .Albanv missed his 



assistance so much as St. Peters Episcopal 
Church, of which vestn.- he was a member and 
which resolved: "With profound grief and a 
deep sense of personal bereavement, the \'es- 
tr>- of St. Peters Church records the death. 
He was for many years one of the most in- 
fluential citizens of this coiiununit>-. His quiet 
courtesy, his wise forethought, his high sense 
of mercantile honor and unimpeachable in- 
tegrity, gave him an eminent position among 
his associates. He was a man of singularly 
sound judgment and honorable life, of large 
and discriminating charitj-. and of a thought- 
ful and intelligent concern in questions touch- 
ing public good. He was devotedly attached 
to the parish of which he was for many years 
vestr>-man. and he had an unflagging interest 
in its welfare. He was prompt to aid everj- 
department of its religious and charitable 
work with judicious counsel and generous 
gifts, and at the same time unremitting in his 
attendance." 

James Kidd married (firsts Jane Maria 
Shepard: by whom: i. James, the well 
known artist, and who held ^■arious militar}- 
commissions. 2. William, bom at Albany. 
March 7. 1842; residing in Washington. D. 
C. in 191 1 : married. June 2^. 1869. Caroline 
Minerva Manindale. who was bom at Ba- 
ta\-ia. Xew York. October 17. 1851. daughter 
of General Martindale : by whom : Harr].- Mar- 
tindale. and Jane Manindale. who married 
Am.asa J. Parker, Jr. 3. Robert, horn at Al- 
bany. March 7. 1S42 (twinV 4. Howard, bom 
at .Albany: married Elizabeth (daughter of 
Judge Xott>. who died at Scarsdale, Xew 
York. Januan.- 22, 1911. 

James Kidd married (second"). AdeUne J. 
Piimpellv. at .Albanv. Xew York. Mav 13. 
1874- 



The maternal ancestor of 
STOCKWELL llysses G. Stockyell. of 

-Albany. Xew York, is 
John \\etherbee, bom in England and an 
early settler at Sudbun.- and Marlboro. Massa- 
chusetts. The earliest form of the name in 
X'ew England was Witherby. but has since 
passed through several changes, as Wetherby, 
Witherbee. \Vetherbee. Weatherby. etc. The 
Xew York family generally use the form, 
Witherbee. John \\etherbee married (first") 
in Marlboro. Massachusetts. September 18, 
1672. Man,- Howe, bom June 18. 1654. died in 
Stow. Massachusetts. June 5. 1684. daughter 
of John and Mary Howe. He married 
(second* Lydia More, who survived him. 

(in John (2"). son of John (i) and Marj' 
(Howei Wetherbee. was bom in MarlK->ro. 
Massachusetts. March 26, 1675. He resided 



456 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



in Stow, Massachusetts, where he died about 
1720. By wife Catherine he had seven sons 
and one daughter. 

(HI) Hezekiah, son of John (2) and Cath- 
erine \\'etherbee, married, April 23, 1728, 
Huldali, daughter of Thomas and Alary 
(Gove) Martyn. They resided a short time 
in Marlboro, where their eldest child was born. 
In 1729 he removed to Lunenburg, Massa- 
chusetts, and there resided until his death. 
The exact date of his demise is not known, 
but was prior to 1759, as on that date inten- 
tions of marriage were published between 
"Abel Platts of Rowley, Canada, to Phebe 
\\'etherbee, daughter of Widow Wether- 
bee from over beyond Mulpus." Mulpus 
is the name of a brook in Lunenburg. 
Widow Huldah Wetherbee married (second) 
January 12, 1773, Deacon Ephraim Peirce, of 
Lunenburg, whom she survived, later remov- 
ing to Rindge, New Hampshire, with her chil- 
dren. Children: Benjamin, died young; 
Thomas ; Phebe, died young ; Sarah, married 
Noah Dodge, a soldier of the revolution ; 
John; Abraham; Hezekiah; Rachel; Benja- 
min (2), a soldier of the revolution; Mary; 
Kezia. 

(I\') Thomas, son of Hezekiah and Huldah 
(Martyn) Wetherbee, was born in Lunen- 
burg, Massachusetts, November 27, 1730. He 
removed to Rindge, Massachusetts, between 
1777 and 1780, and to New Ipswich, same 
state, in 1800. He married, April 22, 1756, 
Hannah Munroe, of Carlisle, Massachusetts. 
Children, all born in Lunenburg: i. Thomas, 
August 7, 1757; married Maria Sawtell. 2. 
Daniel, December 16, 1758; married Hepsibah 
Merriam. 3. Hepsibah, February 28, 1760; 
married Nathan Hewett. 4. Isaac, September 
2, 1761 ; married Llannah Knapp. 5. Sarah. 
March 30, 1763; married (first) Joshua 
Heald ; (second) a Mr. Hamblin ; (third) a 
Mr. Nesmith. 6. David, of further mention. 
7. Hannah. February 16, 1766; married Tilley 
Mason. 8. Lucy. August 4, 1767 ; married 
Gregory Fairlie. 9. Josiah. March 17, 1769; 
married Lavina Hyde. 10. Martha, October 
16, 1771 ; married Benjamin Bachellcr. 11. 
Molley, November 14, 1773. 

rV) David, son of Thomas and Hannah 
(Munroe) Wetherbee, was born in Lunen- 
burg, Massachusetts, May 31, 1764. Tie re- 
moved to the state of Maine, later settling in 
Washington county. New York. He served in 
the war of 1812 against Great Britain and re- 
ceived an award of money for his services. 
After the war he removed to Oswego county. 
New York, where he died. He married, in 
Massachusetts, Esther Hathorne, of the Mas- 
sachusetts family of Judge Hathorne, the 



"Witchcraft" judge, and of Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne, the distinguished author. 

(VI) Waldron S., son of David and Esther 
(Hathorne) Witherbee (as the name is now 
used in the family), was born in 1802 (per- 
haps in Connecticut, where David may have 
lived for a time) ; came to Washington coun- 
ty, New York, in 1818, settled in the town 
of Dresden, where he died in 1883, aged 
eighty-one years. He was collector of the 
town in 1865 ; a prosperous farmer ; member 
of the Baptist church ; a Republican in politics. 
He married Paulina Guilford, born in Hamp- 
ton, Washington county, New York, in 1810, 
died 1876. She was also an active member of 
the Baptist church. Children: i. Marcena, of 
further mention. 2. Robins M., born Novem- 
ber 16, 1843; became a leading wholesale and 
retail merchant of W' hitehall. New York ; a 
veteran of the civil war and prominent in his 
coirmunity ; married Mary L. McLaughlin; 
children : Minnie E., married Emmet L. Gray ; 
Clayton R. ; Ada J. 3. Waldron. 4. John J., 
of Dresden, New York. 

(VII) Marcena, daughter of Waldron S. 
and Paulina (Guilford) Witherbee, was born 
in the town of Dresden, Washington county, 
New York, in 1833, died in 1870. She mar- 
ried Isaac Hall, the revolutionary soldier and 
the adopted son of .\braham Stockwell, born 
1792, a prosperous farmer of Dresden, married 
but without children. Abraham was no doubt 
a descendant of Abel (3) Stockwell. of Marl- 
borough. \'ermont, born in IMassachusetts, 
1744. kept an inn which was a great resort 
for the "Green Mountain Boys" during the 
revolution, served as a soldier during almost 
the entire revolutionary period, received a sol- 
dier's grant of land in New York state. His 
father, Abel (2) Stockwell, born in 1708, was 
the first actual settler of Marlliorough. \^er- 
mont, where he was sheriff and inn keeper. 
Sessions of court were frequently held at his 
inn. Abel (i) Stockwell was of Salem, Mas- 
sachusetts, had a brother Quinton who was 
captured by the Indians from his home in 
Dcerfield, Massachusetts, September 19, 1677, 
taken to Canada, ransomed in 1678 and re- 
turned to his home by way of Albany, New 
York. Isaac Hall was born in the town of 
Queensbury, Warren county, New York, 
Alarch 23, 1838. He was educated in the 
l>ul)lic schools. After his adoption by Abra- 
liam Stockwell (whose name he took legally) 
he lived in Dresden, Washington county, 
where he grew to manhood. He was a boat- 
man on the canal and river, later worked at 
the carpenter's trade. His residence is now 
(1910) at Ticonderoga. He married Mar- 
cena Witherbee. She was a devout Congrega- 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



457 



tionalist. Children: i. Abraham, born 1863, 
died February 6, 1905 : married but had no 
children. 2. Ulysses G., of further mention. 
3. Dorcas, died in infancy. 

(VHI) Ulysses Grant, second son of Isaac 
and Marcena (Witherbee) Stockwell, was 
born in Dresden, New York, April 6, 1867. 
He was educated in the town schools of Dres- 
den, New York, and West Haven, Vermont, 
and at Troy Business College, where he was 
graduated in 1886. He began his business 
career as a life insurance agent in Troy, New 
York, and was so successful and well adapted 
to the business that he made rapid strides 
upward. He was appointed general agent for 
the state of Vermont by the Washington Life 
Insurance Company, with offices at Rutland, 
and continued until 1890. For the following 
three years he was manager for the United 
States Life Insurance Company with head- 
quarters at Scranton and Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania. From 1893 to 1896 he was superin- 
tendent of agencies for the Netherland Life 
Insurance Company with offices in New York 
city and Albany. This company retiring from 
business, Mr. Stockwell assumed a similar 
position with the American Life Insurance 
Company, continuing with that company until 
1898. In that year he retired from the life 
insurance field and has since been engaged as 
a real estate operator and general contractor 
in Albany. He has been a potent factor in the 
improvement of the city, where he has erected 
two hundred and twenty-five dwellings. His 
greatest activity has been in the erection of 
houses and modern apartments, in the latter 
having introduced features and conveniences 
hitherto unknown in .Albany. He is a man of 
great energy and has gained his prominence 
in Albany solely by his own force of character 
and acknowledged reliability in business deal- 
ings. He is well-known and highly respected 
by all who know him. He is of the Presby- 
terian faith, and a Republican in politics. He 
holds all degrees in the Masonic order except 
the thirty-third degree of the Scottish Rite. 
He is affiliated with Temple Lodge. No. 14, 
Free and Accepted Masons ; Champlain Chap- 
ter, No. 25, Royal Arch Masons, of Whitehall, 
New York ; DeWitt Clinton Council, No. 22, 
Royal and Select Masters ; Temple Comman- 
dery. No. 2 ; Knights Templar ; Cyprus Tem- 
ple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of 
the Mystic Shrine ; .Albany Sovereign Con- 
sistory. -Ancient .Accepted Scottish Rite. He 
married, June 30, 1891, Florence, daughter of 
^^'illiam and granddaughter of Samuel Clark, 
born in Sharon, Vermont, who had children: 
Harry, Emmeline, .Amanda and William. 
William Clark was born in 1819, and died 



1899. He married, March 26, 1844, Eveline, 
daughter of William Porter, of Quechee, \'er- 
mont. Children : Helen, William, John, Sam- 
uel, Florence, who married Ulysses G. Stock- 
well. Children : Anna Porter, born April 6, 
1893 : Florence C, May 30, 1901 ; Helen, June 
7, 1904. 



Hon. \'erplanck Colvin, super- 
COL\'IN intendent of the New York 
State Land Survey, was born in 
Albany, New York, January 4, 1847. His 
father was the Senator, Hon. Andrew James 
Colvin, who was born at Coeymans, Albany 
county, New York, April 30, 1808, and died 
at -Albany, July 8, 1889. Senator Colvin mar- 
ried, in Trinity Church, Newark, New Jersey, 
September 2, 1845, Margaret Crane -Ailing, 
born at Newark, New Jersey, March 19, 1812, 
died in .Albany, New York, June 25, igoo. 

The Colvins are a family of ancient Eng- 
lish lineage, the first appearance of the name 
in English history occurring in the old chron- 
icles, wherein it is stated that Colvin, Duke 
of Col-chester, or Kaer-Colvin ("Col-chestcr" 
equivalent to "Colvin-town"), became King 
of P.ritain and rejected the authority of the 
Roman Emperor. The Roman general, Con- 
stantius, being sent against him with an army, 
a truce was made and Constantius married 
Helen Colvin, daughter of the king. The son 
of this union was Constantine, afterwards Em- 
peror of Rome, and called "The Great," who 
was the first Christian emperor.* His moth- 
er. Helen, was the Saint Helena, of the an- 
cient Catholic Church, so honored as the 
discoverer at Jerusalem of the remain,s of the 
"true cross" on which tlie Savior died, which 
facts may be found more fully brought out in 
Geoffrey's British History, chapter vi., Graf- 
ton's Chronicles : Heylyn Chronicles, p. 273. 

(I) The progenitor of the Colvin family in 
-America was John Colvin. who was the pa- 
ternal great-grandfather of Hon. \'erplanck 
Colvin. He was born in Scotland in 1752, 
near Castle Douglas, of renowned memory, 
and came to this country from there in 1772, 
settling at Nine Partners, New York, where 
he married Sarah Fuller. She was born in 
Connecticut, -April 25, 1754, and was a de- 
scendant of a Mayflower Pilgrim. They sub- 
sequently removed to Coeymans, .Albanv coun- 
ty, New York, where he died January. 1814. 
Near this place he owned a large farm, situ- 
ated west of Coeymans village or landing, on- 
the Hudson river. He was a large man, pos- 
sessing great physical strength as well as 

*See ancient English CTironicles of Britain (Graf- 
ton, 1568, p. 86-87-88-89), and Peter Heylyn's great 
"Cosmographi," Kings of Britain, p. 273. 



458 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



strong mental qualities, was of high character, 
a man of integrity and eminent for his piety. 
In 1811 he was member of assembly, being 
elected on the same ticket with Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, Abraham Van Vechten and Abel 
French, all prominent men of his day in New 
York State. 

(H) James Colvin, eldest son of John Col- 
vin and Sarah Fuller, was born at Coeymans, 
New York, July 11, 1776, and died in Albany, 
New York, Alay 6, 1846. He married Cath- 
erine Huyck Verplanck, which brought a 
wealth of ancient American history into the 
family. She was born in Coeymans, June 
30, 1778, and was the granddaughter of Da- 
vid \'erplanck (son of Isaac Verplanck, tenth 
child of Abraham ist), whose first wife was 
Ariaantje Coeymans. From her he inherited 
a great part of the Coeymans Patent in Al- 
bany and Greene counties, a very ancient pat- 
ent or manorial grant, located before the Van 
Rensselaer Patent of Rensselaerwyck, or Al- 
bany. 

David Verplanck was born April 14, 1695, 
and married (first), July 16, 1723, Ariaantje, 
daughter of Barent Pieterse Coeymans, born 
at Coeymans, October 19, 1672; (second) a 
Miss Brouwer : (third), Catrina Boom, No- 
vember 10, 1752. David Verplanck 's father 
was Isaac \'erplanck, who was baptized June 
26, 1641, and married Abigail Uytenbogart. 
Isaac Verplanck's father was Abraham 
Isaacse Verplanck, of New Amsterdam, who 
emigrated to that place from Holland at a 
time when there were only fifteen houses on 
Manhattan Island, and was commander of the 
Dutch forces there under Governor Kieft in 
the first war with the Indians. In the house 
•of the Verplancks at Fishkill. New York, 
where some of the family settled in 1682, 
the Society of the Cincinnati was formed. 
When he died he left 8,500 acres of the Coey- 
mans Patent to each of his four children : 
Johannes, Ariaantje, Harriet and Isaac Da- 
vidse. 

Ariaantje Coeymans, wife of David Ver- 
planck, was the daughter of Barent Pieterse 
Coeymans. who purchased the enormous tract 
bearing his name. He was the son of Picter 
Coeymans. also a miller, the progenitor of 
his family in America, who came from LTtrecht 
in 1636, and he married the daughter of .A.n- 
dries De Vos. Barent, first owner of the mill 
at Coeymans, had litigation with the Patroon 
\'an Rensselaer, because he had dealings be- 
fore the Patroon with the native Indians for 
the tract of land measuring ten or twelve 
miles along the Hudson river. It was decided 
in Coeymans' favor in 1714, antl he obtained 
a patent from Queen Anne confirming the en- 



tire tract to him. Upon a commanding site, 
near the Hudson river, was erected the old 
stone mansion, the oldest building in the 
place, and still an object of great interest, 
once called the "Coeymans' Castle." 

(Ill) Hon. Andrew J. Colvin was born at 
Coeymans, New York, April 30, 1808, and 
died at Albany, New York, July 8, 1889. He 
was corporation counsel of Albany ; district 
attorney for Albany county, the first ever 
elected in that county, and state senator dur- 
ing 1 860- 1 86 1. He was author of the act 
giving women their legal rights, and of the 
act abolishing the death penalty, which was 
restored after he left the senate. He was 
noted for his patriotism during the civil war, 
and was chosen by the legislature to be presi- 
dent of the joint session of the New York 
State assembly and senate, selected by the leg- 
islature to receive Abraham Lincoln on his 
visit to Albany, which was the only reception 
ever given by the state to the martyr Presi- 
dent. 

Andrew James Colvin married, at Newark, 
New Jersey, September 2, 1845, Margaret 
Crane Ailing, daughter of Prudden Ailing 
and Maria Halsey, of Newark, New Jersey. 
She was a niece of Colonel John Ford, and 
related to General Prudden of the revolu- 
tionary army, and by marriage of her aunt, 
^latikia (Rosekrans) Halsey, to General Ebe- 
nezer Foote of the Continental army, 
an old Delaware county family. She was a 
descendant of Roger Ailing (ist) progenitor 
of the family in America, who came to this 
coimtry in 1639, settling in New Haven, Con- 
necticut. 

When the Rev. Mr. Davenport proposed 
to found Yale College, Roger Ailing was the 
first to respond and say he "would send his 
son" there. Roger Alling's eldest son Samuel 
married Sarah Winston, of the old Cecil 
(Churchill. Marlborough) families; their eld- 
est son. Samuel, Jr., married, at New Haven, 
in 1690, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Curry, 
and removed to Newark, New Jersey, 1702 ; 
their son, Samuel Ailing (3d), the deacon, 
married Abigail Prudden, granddaughter of 
Rev. John Prudden (2nd), minister of the 
first church of Newark. They had a son, 
John .'Mling (3rd), first of Newark, who mar- 
ried Abigail Young of Newark ; their son, 
John .filing (4th"), born in 1746, at Newark, 
married Martha Crane, of Newark, a descend- 
ant of Jasper Crane. The third son of this 
John .Ailing (4th) was Prudden Ailing, of 
Newark, born October 20, 1779, who married, 
March 16. 1806, Maria Halsey. Prudden Ail- 
ing died at Newark, January 31, 1857. Their 
.youngest daughter was Margaret Crane All- 



HUDSON AND MOTIAWK \"ALLEYS 



459 



ing. who was tlie mother of \'erplanck Col- 
Tin. 

Prucklen Ailing in later life had vessels ply- 
ing between Savannah, Georgia, and Newark, 
A'ew Jersey, and when he dosed his business 
at the former place, drove all the distance in 
liis carriage to Ballston, New York, to visit 
his relatives, the Ball family. He owned many 
negro slaves, but gave them all their free- 
dom, as did also the Colvin family, setting 
them free in Albany county before the act 
emancipating slaves in New York state was 
passed. 

( )f interest to the family is the fact that 
a daughter of the Mr. Ball mentioned, married 
a Pierson, and was called by the Allings, 
".Aunty" Pierson. Her father, Mr. Ball, was 
a conrtdential officer of General Washington ; 
was captured by the Hessians on Staten 
Island, and had his toes crushed by the butts 
of the muskets of these soldiers, and finallv 
■was killed by these soldiers. The I'.all family 
-vvas relatctl to General Washington's mother. 

Pruddcn .Ailing had an uncle. General Prud- 
den, who married a Miss Ogden, of Newark, 
New Jersey. General Prudden was high 
sherif? of Alorris county when Washington 
had his headquarters there at and after the 
revolution, and he took his nephew, Prudden 
Ailing, then a child, to W'ashington's camp. 
It was there afterwards that the portrait of 
Prudden Ailing was painted, showing him in 
scarlet coat and powdered hair in a queue, now 
owned by Ailing Ward, in Ohio, son or grand- 
son of (General Prndden's sister. A portrait 
of Washington was painted in the same stvle. 
and is now in the national capital. General 
Prudden brought up his nephew, Prudden .Ail- 
ing, from childhood. John .Ailing (4th), ma- 
ternal great-grandfather of Verplanck Col- 
vin, in 1775 joined a company of minute men 
of the American patriots and was chosen third 
lieutenant. He was in the battles fought at 
Newark and elsewhere. The family records 
published tell of his severe fighting, face to 
face, with the British, musket in hand, at 
Newark. In .April. 1782, he was wounded, 
by a bayonet, in the thigh, and died December 
2. 1795. aged forty-nine years. Prudden Ail- 
ing, \'erplanck Colvin's grandfather, was 
twenty years old when President Washington 
died, and his acquaintance with and rela- 
tionship to Washington was a valued feature 
•of his life. 

(T\' I Hon. \'erplanck Colvin, son of Hon. 
Andrew James Colvin and Margaret Crane 
Ailing, was born at Albany, January 4, 1847. 
He was educated at home, then at the Albany 
Academy, and afterwards by private tutors. 
At a later period he was for a short time an 



instructor in surveying, engineering and geo- 
desy at Hamilton C'ollege, New York. .At 
Nassau, Rensselaer county. New York, whith- 
er his family removed shortly after the out- 
break of the civil war, he indulged his taste 
for outdoor life and laid the foundation of 
his love for topographical science by prepar- 
ing topographical maps of the country. He 
next studied law under his father, practicing 
successfully in the minor courts, but inclined 
more and more to scientific pursuits. 

He kept up his interest in topography and 
military map reconnaissance; allied himself 
closely with the .Albany Institute (one of the 
oldest and most eminent scientific and literary 
organizations in America, dating to 1791), 
and organized a very successful course of free 
scientific lectures in tiie State Geological Hall, 
Albany. Continuing his topographical and ge- 
ological studies in iSCi^, he began his explora- 
tion of the Adirondack wilderness, corrected 
many errors in existing maps of that region, 
and during several successive summers con- 
tinued this line of work so pleasing to him by 
natural bent. In 1870 he made the first ascent 
and measurement of the height of Mt. Sew- 
ard, and about that time discbvered the re- 
markable errors of the local variations of the 
compass needle in northern New York-, which 
render bearings taken in most parts of these 
mountains valueless without long, skillful 
study. It was during this winter that he killed 
a huge bear in close combat in the snow, near 
Lake Pleasant, Hamilton county, in the -Adi- 
rondacks. 

In i86g he made a critical topographical 
and geological survey of the Helderbergh 
mountains of New York, finely illustrated by 
his sketches. A brief abstract of this work 
was published by the Harpers- — who had the 
famous engraver. Harry Fenn, jirejiare the 
wood cuts — and Mr. Colvin was ])aid by the 
Harpers at the same rate as General George 
P>. McClellan and Horace Greeley, then among 
the most famous writers in America. This 
gave Verplanck Colvin a high position in 
American literature and led to more impor- 
tant work, among which was bis intimate ac- 
quaintance with the great New York State 
Geologist, James Hall (who afterwards 
brought Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, when the 
latter was president of the Royal Society of 
Great Britain, to see Mr. Colvin). Mr. Colvin 
learned much from James Hall on geology ; 
and the mathematics of meteorology and as- 
tronomy from Professor George W. Hough, 
late of the Dudley Observatory and Dearborn 
Observatory. 

During the latter part of the winter of 
1870 he traveled extensively through the 



460 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Southern States, and by pen and pencil illus- 
trated his account of these journeys. In 1871 
he crossed the great plains to Colorado, visit- 
ing Wyoming, Nebraska and the Black Hills, 
and was the first to ascend, describe and map 
highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, sub- 
sequently writing an article for Harper's 
Mas^azine, entitled "The Dome of the Conti- 
nent." which caused the name "Dome State" 
to be first applied to Colorado. He was elect- 
ed an honorary member of the Rocky Moun- 
tain Club of Denver, an honor rarely con- 
ferred, such honor being limited to a few 
special explorers of the Rockies, including 
Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan. In 

1871 Mr. Colvin urged the creation of the 
Adirondack park and forest preserve. In 

1872 he induced the New York state legisla- 
ture to make the first appropriation for the 
state survey in the Adirondacks, and he was 
accordingly appointed superintendent of that 
valuable work, as well as of other state sur- 
veys : and in the same year he traced the Hud- 
son river to its highest lake source, Lake 
Tear of the Clouds, on the southern flank of 
Mt. Marcy. and he was the first to visit and 
name this lake and source of the HudscnT. 

In 1873 he was appointed one of the Com- 
mission of the State Parks of New York, hav- 
ing been the first to recommend making the 
Adirondack Forest Preserve, and in this com- 
mission was associated with William A. 
Wheeler, later vice-president of the LTnited 
States, and Horatio Seymour, governor of 
New York. 

In 1875 he made the first true measurement 
with level and rod of Mt. Marcy, the highest 
peak in New York state, proving its altitude 
to be 5,344 feet above sea level. His services 
have been of great value to the state and sci- 
ence at large, and the highest mountain on 
the eastern shore of the lower Ausablc lake, 
in the eastern Adirondacks, bears his name. 
This title was given to the lake by Rev. Theo- 
dore L. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, New York, in 
the New York Independent, many years ago. 
Mr. Colvin was the first man to climb this 
mountain, and he has climbed and measured 
all the highest peaks of the Adirondack re- 
gion. 

In 1876 he explored the headwaters of the 
Moose river and Beaver river region, finding 
numerous lakes never before placed on any 
map. In 1877, while exploring on snowslioes 
among the mountains at the head of Red 
river, he encountered an enormous panther, 
which had just killed a deer, and he killed 
the panther by a single shot from his rifle. 

In 1881 he was called upon to lecture on 
higher surveying and geodesy at Hamilton 



College, New York, at the suggestion: of his- 
friend, the great astronomer, Professor C. H. 
F. Peters (who was the discoverer of thirty- 
six of the minor planets of our solar system ) ; 
and, at this time, Mr. Colvin was the guest 
of President Darling. 

In 1882 he was chosen, with Governor 
Alonzo B. Cornell, one of the New York dele- 
gates to the first American Forestry Congress, 
and read an important paper before that learn- 
ed body. 

In 1883 he was given full and comjilete 
charge of the New York State Land Survey, 
which ofiice he held a great many years. In 
1888, when the national government was pro- 
posing to erect new gun foundries for the- 
great cannon which have proved so excellent, 
he showed in an able paper that the most se- 
cure location for the factory was at the Water- 
vliet arsenal, near Albany, that city being "the 
sole unconqnered capital of the zi'orld." Con- 
gress ■ adopted his views, and he was called 
into consultation by the ordnance officers of 
the United States army. In recognition of 
this service the Albany Burgesses' Corps pre- 
sented Mr. Colvin with a handsome sword. 
In 1891 he was nominated for the office of 
state engineer and surveyor, and polled 538,- 
000 votes, being 4,000 ahead of the candidate- 
tor governor. 

In 1893 he represented the state of New 
York in the reception to the Duke of X'eragua- 
and family, the descendants of Columbus, at 
the Capitol, and traveled with them to the 
lakes and mountains of this state, in this- 
manner establishing a friendship with that 
family which has since been maintained by 
correspondence. 

Mr. Colvin was chosen president of the an- 
cient scientific society, the Albany Institute, 
to succeed the late I.eonard Kip, the gifted' 
author. As such he conducted it upon a high' 
basis of learning, following his ideas that this 
organization was the leader in higher educa- 
tional matters at Albany and the people should' 
be made acquainted witli all recent discover- 
ies and inventions by listening to the descrip- 
tions given by the originators themselves. In- 
this way he secured men of wide note to- 
discuss topics of valuable historical, scientific 
and technical concerns of the day. His own 
paper, niathematically jjroving from the rec- 
ords given by Plutarch, that this continent 
was known to the PhcEnecians and Cartlia- 
genians, is very important. 

From the allusions made to Plutarch to tlie 
position of the star Saturn, to the direction 
of the sun at its extreme northerly elongation- 
about the time of the first century of the Chris- 
tian era, to the length of the days and nights 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



461 



:at the extreme north point reached by the 
vovagcrs, to their account of stopijing- at Bri- 
tain, and the distance sailed on the outward 
voyage to this continent, the height of the 
tides, the ice in the rivers, the warmth of 
the tropical climate of the countries upon the 
Mexican Gulf, and the voyage directly east- 
ward, back to Carthage, Mr. Colvin has 
worked out, by astronomical and geographical 
formulae, on the basis of the observations of 
the Egyptian astronomer, Ptolemy, even the 
latitudes, directions and distances of the 
points referred to in the text of the ancient 
Roman writer, nearly two thousand years ago ; 
and proved the knowledge of this continent 
by the ancients. 

Mr. Colvin's paper "On the true path of 
the moon in space," showing that the earth 
and moon move around the sun like projec- 
tiles in wave-like curves, always concave 
toward the sun, and that, hence, the moon 
never goes around the earth in a circular or 
elliptical orbit, has made clear a very obscure 
question in astronomy and greatly facilitated 
the study of that science. 

His address to the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, delivered at Albany in 1896, was 
memorable, showing that the issues of the 
civil war were not closed when the military 
conflict ceased ; but that the industrial prob- 
lems which arose enter into the later political 
conditions, particularly in the competition of 
cheap negro labor in the South with white 
labor in the North, and that tlicse issues are 
not to be finally settled without full considera- 
tion of the rights and wrongs of the human 
race through all of the historic conditions of 
the preceding ages of effort for civilization, 
the freedom to do right, and prevention of 
wrong, which were the underlying causes 
leading up to the civil war, and in the same 
way to the more recent Spanish-American 
war of 1898. 

In 1898 Superintendent Colvin offered the 
services of himself and the chief officers and 
employees of his department to the state for 
military service in a letter to the adjutant- 
general : but the state militia was given pref- 
erence, and he was ordered by the governor 
to continue his work in the civil service. His 
department was the only New York state civil 
division tendering its services for this war. 

Mr. Colvin's chief work has Jieen in higher 
engineering and geodesy, much of the results 
of which has been published by the state in 
the form of reports to the legislature : but in 
addition to these are numerous pamphlets and 
a variety of publications made by him at vari- 
ous times. Many of his writings have been 
copiously illustrated or accompanied by valu- 



able topographical maps, designs, plans and 
designs of things devised to improve and facil- 
itate engineering work. They are considered 
far from being what is termed dry, and en- 
gage the thought of many a reader wishing 
to be well informed on New York state af- 
fairs especially appertaining to the .Adiron- 
dack region. In this line he is the inventor 
of a portable boat to be used in making ex- 
plorations : made improvements in telescopes, 
and discovered a method of securing the mean 
temperature of the atmosphere independent 
of the thermometer, by observations on the ve- 
locity of sound. He is the author of "First 
Ascent of Mt. Marcy," published by the state 
in 1871 ; "The Helderberg Mountains," illus- 
trated. Harper's, 187 1 ; "The Dome of the 
Continent," Harper's, 1872. 

He has also acted as consulting engineer 
on many important works, in the location 
of railroads, etc. ; has been president of the 
Schenectady and Albany Railway Company, 
and a director and officer in other railroad 
companies. He was consulted in regard to 
the eastern extension of the Canadian Pa- 
cific Railway by Lord Mount Stephen and 
Sir \\'illiam Van Horn, of that important cor- 
poration. 

In his geographical explorations he has 
made large additions to knowledge. His map 
sketch of the snowy range of the Rocky Aloun- 
tains around Gray's Peak, made in 1S70, was 
the first ever published, and has not been ma- 
terially changed by any subsequent and more 
expensive and elaborate surveys. 

In 1883, Seth Green, then superintendent 
for the State Fishery Commission, published 
an estimate that there were only three hun- 
dred lakes and ponds in New York state, and 
Mr. Colvin was called on to give an account 
of those which he knew in the Adirondacks 
and northern comities of New York, and 
furnished a list of those which he had either 
personally visited or which had been located 
by survey or reconnoissance, amounting to 
upwards of one thousand in that portion of 
the state alone, while there are many small 
ponds which have no names. 

Under the law he was given charge of the 
surveys of all state land and the re-location 
and restoration of boundary lines which might 
be in litigation or dispute between the state 
and private parties. His surveys were made 
by law prima facie evidence in the courts of 
New York, when certified under his hand and 
oflficial seal. 

In 1902 Mr. Colvin was elected president 
of the New York Canadian Pacific Railway 
Company, a railroad reorganized in 1905, 
from three separate companies previously 



462 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



chartered by the state of New 'S'ork. viz.: 
The New York & Albany raih-oad (150 
miles) ; the Schenectady & Albany railroad 
(18 miles): and the New York Northern 
railroad (nearly 200 miles). The united 
stock of these railway companies already 
authorized bv law (forming' the new company 
of 1905) is $10,150,000, and bonds authorized 
and recorded are $6,000,000, covering; the 
right-of-way acquired. The work of con- 
structing these railways was begun under the 
late President Joseph H. Ramsey, the former 
president and builder of the Albany & Sus- 
quehanna railroad, the $100 stock of which 
now commands $270 per share in the market. 
About $2,000,000 has been expended upon the 
construction work of the consolidated new 
company (the New York Canadian Pacific 
Railway Company) and its completion is 
greatly desired by the people along its line. 

Mr. Colvin is a member of the American 
Institute of Mining Engineers, honorary mem- 
ber of the Club Alpine Frangais of Paris, the 
Adirondack Club, fellow of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, hon- 
orary member of the similar society in Great 
Britain, Sons of the Revolution, correspond- 
ing member of the Appalachian Mountain 
Club of Boston, Massachusetts, and Sierra 
Club of California : was the first honorary 
president of the Adirondack Guides' Associa- 
tion, president of Albany Chamber of Com- 
merce, of the Scotch "Burns Club" of Al- 
bany, the New York State Historical Society, 
Albany Institute, life member of the National 
Geographic Society, a foundation mem- 
ber of the Fortnightly Club, and he is also 
allied with several other organizations of sim- 
ilar nature. 

Mr. Colvin is not married. He resides in 
the old homestead of the Colvin family in Al- 
bany, situated in his park among the great 
trees in the heart of the city of .Albany, in 
the large and beautiful place known as "The 
Elms," on Western avenue, it being the same 
place in which his grandmother and his father 
previously resided ; and the spacious grounds 
have been a garden since old colonial times. 



The Chase family is of ancient 
CHASE English origin, the name being 

derived, no doubt, from the 
French word "chasser," to hunt. The family 
seat of the branch from which the American 
one now considered is descended, was at Ches- 
ham, P.uckinghamshire, through which runs 
the river Chess, giving its name to the town. 
The Chase arms are: Gules: four crosses 
patance argent, two and two, on a canton 
azure, a lion passant or. 



{ I ) Thomas Chase, of Chesham, a descend- 
ant of the ancient family. 

(II) John, son of Thomas Chase, was also 
of Chesham. 

(III) Matthew, son of John Chase, was of 
Chesham : married Elizabeth Bould, daughter 
of Robert Bould. 

(I\') Thomas, son of Matthew Chase, was- 
of Hundrech parish, Chesham. 

(\') Richard, son of Thomas Chase, was 
born in Hundrech, Chesham, England, bap- 
tized August 3, 1542, married Joan Bishop, 
at Chesham, April 16, 1564. They had ten 
children, two of whom, Aquila and Thomas, 
came to America, and with William Chase 
(not a brother so far as any proof can be 
shown) are the ancestors of nearly all of the 
name in America who claim early descent. 

(Vl) Thomas, eighth child and sixth son 
of Richard and Joan (Bishop) Chase, born 
in Hundrech parish, Chesham. Buckingham- 
shire, England, was baptized July 18, 15S5. 
He is the American ancestor of Judge Emory 
A. Chase, whose line of descent follows : 
Thomas came to America about the year 
1636. In 1639 he was one of the early set- 
tlers of Hampton, New Hampshire, as was 
Aquila Chase, his brother, who remained until 
1646, when he returned to Newburyport, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he died in 1670. Thomas 
lived hereafter in Hampton, where he died 
in 1652. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Thomas Philbrick, in 1642, who survived him, 
and married (second), August 26, 1653, John 
Garland, whom she also survived, and mar- 
ried (third), February 19. 1677, Judge Henry 
Roby. Children: i. Thomas, born 1643, died 
in Hampton, unmarried. 2. Joseph, born 
1645. resided in Hampton; was taken pris- 
oner in the assault on Major Waldron's, June 
2y. 1689: married, January 31. 1671, Rachael 
Partridge, of Salisbury. 3. Isaac, of whom 
further. 4. James, born 1649 ; married, Sep- 
tember 2, 1675, Elizabeth Green. 5. Abraham, 
born August 6, 1651; "was killed in ye 
Wares," in 1676. 

( \TI) Lieutenant Isaac, son of Thomas and 
I'^Iizabcth (Philbrick) Chase, was born in 
Hampton, New HamiJshire. April i, 1647, died 
in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Massachu- 
setts, May 19, 1727. He is buried in the old 
cemetery on the hill overlooking the harbor 
at the village of N'incyard Haven, where his 
tombstone is yet to be found, though not 
wholly legible. It records that "Here lies the 
body of Isaac Chase, who died May ye 19, 
1727." He married (first), February 20, 
1673, Mary Perkins; (second), October 5, 
1675, Mary Tilton, who survived him until 
1746, aged eighty-eight years. Children: i. 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



463 



Thomas, born Xoveniber IQ, i(>7/'. married, 
February 21, 1704, Jean Smith. 2. Ra^chel, 
born October 25, 1679; married July 19, 1700, 
Sanuiel Kni,q;ht. 3. Isaac, born February 21, 
1681 ; married, April 3, 1702, Mary Pease. 
4. Abraham, l)orn January 10, 1683: married 
(first) .Abigail liarnard (second), March 5, 
1732, Mercy Nickerson. 5. James, born Jan- 
uary 15, 1685, married Rachel Brown. 6. 
Mary, born January 17, 1687; married, June 
14, 1704, Beniah Weeks. 7. Joseph, of whom 
further. 8. Jonathan, born December 28, 

1691 : married Mehitable . 9. Hannah, 

born November 25, 1693; married, December 
31, 1712. Nathan Pease. 10. Sarah, born Oc- 
tober 15, 1695; married, June 27. 1716, Sam- 
uel Cobb. II. Priscilla, born iSjovember 12, 
1697; married, November 18, 1718, Nathaniel 
Folger. 12. Elizabeth, born September 7, 
1703. died unmarried, 1719. 

(\TH) Joseph, son of Lieutenant Isaac and 
Mary (Tilton) Chase, was born February 26, 
1689, and died May — , 1749. He married 
Lydia Coffin, of Nantucket, September 16, 
17 14. She was a great-granddaughter of 
Tristram Coffin (Trustee), of Nantucket. She 
died July 17, 1749. Children: i. Abel, of 
whom further. 2. Mary, born February 9, 
1721 : married, October 4, 1748, David Dun- 
ham. 3. Priscilla, married, March 17, 1741, 
Henry Smith. 4. Demaris, born May 12, 
1724; married Peter Ripley. 5. Lydia, mar- 
ried Shuball Dunham. 6. Rachel, married, 
July 9, 1769, Thomas Gwin.- 7. Joseph, sup- 
posed to be drowned. 8. Thomas, married 
(first) Anna Fields; (second) Elizabeth Col- 
lins. 9. Sarah, born April 7, 1735 ; married, 
October i, 1755, Seth Pease. 10. Ijcnjamin. 
born May 14, 1737. 

( IX ) Abel, son of Joseph and Lydia ( Cof- 
fin) Chase, was born October 9, 1719. died 
January 25, 1808. He married, February 14, 
1744. Mercy Mayhew, born February 23, 1725, 
died February 25, 1807. A few years before 
their death they spent with their son Zepha- 
niah, and were buried on the farm in the Chase 
cemetery, hereinafter mentioned. Children : 

1. Benjamin, born December 23, 1745, died at 
Hudson, New York, November 3, 1816: mar- 
ried. February 27, 1768, Elizabeth Bronk, 
born April 22, 1746, died October 25, 1801. 

2. Zephaniah, of whom further. 3. Henry, 
born October 5, 1756, died unmarried, July 
8, 1832. 

(X) Zephaniah, son of Abel and Mercy 
(Mayhew) Chase, was born in Edgartown, 
Martha's \'ineyard, Massachusetts, March 14, 
1748. He married (first), October 10, 1772, 
Abigail Skiff, born at Chillmark, Martha's 
"Vineyard, July 4, 1748, died at Chillmark, 



March 27, 1784, daughter of Joseph and Re- 
member (Gibbs) Skiff. He married (second), 
January 16, 1785, Widow Love (West) Skiflf. 
born October 5, 1756, at TLsbury, Martha's 
Vineyard, died July 8, 1832, at Jewett Center, 
New York. Children of first marriage: i. 
Benjamin, of whom further. 2. Elizabeth, 
twin of Benjamin, wiio died when eighteen 
days old. 2. Joseph, born December 2, 1775, 
and died July 2, 1831 ; married, November 10, 
1805, Jemima, daughter of Lambert Howk ; 
children, John, Samuel and Isaac. 3. Thomas, 
born October 18, 1777, died, unmarried, in 
Hudson, New York. January 22, 182 1. Chil- 
dren of second marriage: i. David, born 
March i, 1786, died August 27, 187 1 : mar- 
ried (first), October 13, 1818, Abigail Pratt, 
(second) February 13, 1850, Charlotte John- 
son : children, all by first marriage : Eunice, 
Emmeline, Harriet, David Nobel. Polly. Lucy 
Ann, Charles Pratt, and Abigail. 2. West, 
the first child born after the removal to New 
York, January 25, 1788. died September 7, 
1792. 3. Charles, born September 9, 1790, 
died April 24, 1844: married, November 30, 
1809. Nellie (or Eleanor) Howk, born Octo- 
ber 3, 1789, died June 10, 1868. Children: 
Cynthia, Electa, .Vlmira, Levisa, Esther, Lucy, 
Eliza, Manley, Charles Wesley. D. Fletcher, 
Horace W. and Lambert Charles. 4. Abigail, 
born October 28, 1792, died December 15. 
1848: married, May 23, 181 1, Jared Johnson, 
born July i, 1786, died November 18, 1851 ; 
children : Tamesiu, P>etsey. .\bigail, Orra and 
Orvilla. 5. Elizabeth, born February 23, 1795 : 
married, March 17, 1814, Anson Bushnell ; 
children : Alvin, Horace, Eunice, Mary Etta, 
and Lewis. 6. West (2) born May 30, 1797, 
died May 22, 1880: married, September 30, 
1817, Julia M. Newton, born May 5. 1800, 
died November 29, 1879; children: Newton, 
Eunice. Laura (died in infancy), Laura Eliza- 
beth, Phidelia Ann, Caroline and Jane Estelle. 
7. Peter, born January 18. 1799, died July 6, 
1799. 8. Rebecca, twin of Peter, died at Hunt- 
er, New York, April 15. 1863. She preserved 
some of the jaersonal articles of her father, Ze- 
phaniah, which she handed down to her chil- 
dren and grandchildren, among them a pocket- 
book now the property of Judge Emory A. 
Chase, given him by Dr. Frank Baldwin, of 
Brooklyn, New York, her grandchild. She 
married. November 15. 181S. Richard licnvk, 
born July 10, 1792, died at Hunter, New York, 
May 6, 1874, son of Lambert Howk. He 
served in the war of 1812 under Colonel 
Robinson. Children : .\bi and .Vnn. Zepha- 
niah's brother I'.enjamin was a sea captain, 
and he had been on several whaling voyages 
with him. although he was a joiner or cabi- 



464 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



net-maker by trade. Seeing no prospect for 
his boj's but a. seafaring life, he determined 
to find a place where land was cheaper and 
rear his boys on a farm. One of his relatives 
■owned a large tract of land near Binghamton, 
New York, and offered to give him a farm 
if he would begin a settlement there. He 
'Owned .some real property at Vineyard Ha- 
ven, on Martha's Vineyard, which he sold for 
two hundred and fifty dollars preparatory to 
Iiis seeking a home in the western wilds. With 
the proceeds of his property he took his sec- 
ond wife. Love, and their son David, then a 
little more than a year old, and his sons by 
his first wife, Benjamin, aged thirteen, Joseph, 
.aged eleven, and Thomas, aged nine, and 
started on his long and dangerous journey. 
He reached Hudson, New York, probably by 
ineans of a slow sailing sloop from ALirtha's 
Vineyard. From a document in the possession 
•of Judge Emory A. Chase, it appears that they 
were in Hudson, August i, 1787. At Hud- 
son they learned that the difficult part of the 
journey lay before them, a journey through 
forests infested with bears, wolves, panthers 
and other wild animals, and that there was 
■only a crude road through the forest. In- 
■dians yet roamed the forests of eastern and 
southern New York. Zephaniah purchased a 
yoke of oxen and a lumber wagon and started 
■on his journey to Binghamton, taking his 
Avife and children and such tools and personal 
■property as he had with him in the primitive 
conveyance. How he crossed the Hudson 
river, tradition does not disclose, but it was 
probably by boarding some sailing vessel and 
landing at Catskill, New York. From Cats- 
kill to Binghamton the road led over the Cats- 
kill mountains, and the entire journey was 
through an almost unbroken forest, with only 
a few settlers' cabins along the way. They 
proceeded to the valley of Batavia-l<ill, west 
of the eastern range of the Catskills, and, 
while resting near a well-known high rock, 
standing within what is now the village of 
Windham, at a cabin built against said rock, 
in which lived an early settler, a man who had 
come from Binghamton on foot informed them 
that, owing to an unusual wind, many trees 
were blown across the road, and that it would 
be impossible to get through with a wagon. 
While waiting, somewhat undetermined what 
to do, he met one Thomas Harriot, who of- 
fered to sell him his farm situated on the 
Schoharie-kill at a point ten miles up that 
stream from the junction of the Batavia-kill 
vith it at a point ten miles below where they 
were at what is now Prattsville. He concluded 
to buy this farm and agreed to give, upon 
r^ iching the farm, the oxen as part payment 



for the same. How they reached the farm is 
told, hereinafter. The house the settlers 
found was only two logs high, covered with 
bark, but a blockhouse was in course of erec- 
tion, and this Zephaniah and his sons finished 
before the cold of winter, and here shortly 
afterwards their son West was born, the first 
Chase born in the Catskills. There was no 
saw mill within twenty miles of the farm at 
which logs could be sawed into material adapt- 
ed for use in completing the house and from 
which to make furniture, so all such materials 
were made by Zephaniah and his sons by hew- 
ing the logs into blocks or splitting them and 
shaving or planing them into boards by the 
use of axes and other tools brought from 
Martha's Vineyard. Some of the furniture 
made by Zephaniah is in the possession of his 
descendants. The deed from Thomas Harriot 
is dated .-\ugust 19. 1787. Here the family 
continued to live, and they cleared away the 
forest which covered the valley, as well as the 
high lands, and here all of the children of the 
second marriage, except David, were born. 
Zephaniah subsequently built a more preten- 
tious house, which is still standing. The 
homestead farm in 1787 was in the town of 
Woodstock, Ulster county. New York. It 
was subsequently included in the new town of 
Windham and in Greene county. In subse- 
quent divisions of the territory it became suc- 
cessively a part of the town of Lexington and 
of Jewett. It is now a part of the town of Jew- 
ett, Greene county, and the postoffice is Jewett 
Center, New York. Zephaniah was a Baptist, 
but few of his descendants are of that faith, 
many being Methodists or Presbyterians. He 
was a soldier in the revolutionary war. In 
the record of revolutionary soldiers for the 
state of Massachusetts in the state library at 
Albany is the following: "Chase, Zephaniah, 
private, Captain Smith's (Seacoast Company), 
service from September i, 1776, to November 
21, 1776, two months and twenty days." He 
died in Lexington, New York, May 30, 1828, 
in his eighty-first year, and is buried in the 
family burial plot in the cemetery on the hill 
north of the house which he built and which 
is known as the "Chase Cemetery." 

(XI) Benjamin, eldest child of Zephaniah 
and Abigail (Skiff) Chase, was born at 
Holmes Hole, Martha's Vineyard, Massachu- 
setts, January 21, 1774, and died at Jewett 
Center, New York, February 28, 1862. When 
Zephaniah and his family on their westward 
journey reached the point on the Batavia-kill 
mentioned, where the farm was purchased, 
Benjamin (then a lad of eleven years) was 
sent with the oxen and goods down the Bata- 
via-kill, ten miles, until he reached the Scho- 



HUDSON AND :\IOHA\VK VALLEYS 



465 



harie-kill, and he was directed to then follow 
that stream easterly ten miles to the farm that 
was to be their future home. Zephaniah took 
his wife and the three youn<jest children, in- 
cluding David, the baby, and crossed the 
mountain range on foot through what is now 
Jewett Heights, a much shorter route, being 
guided to his destination by marked trees de- 
scribed to him by the man from whose cabin 
they started. The physical and mental char- 
acter of Benjamin is shown in his willingness 
to undertake and ability to direct and con- 
summate the hard and dangerous journey. 
The father knew what he could expect of him, 
or he would not have entrusted the boy's 
personal safety and the safety of the property 
in such an undertaking. He made the trip in 
safety and the family was reunited at the des- 
ignated spot. His life was spent at the home- 
stead farm and a farm near it which he 
purchased : he engaged in farming, lumbering 
and tanning, and was also an officer in the 
local militia. He lived to be eightv-eight vears 
old. 

He married, August 4, 1799, Lydia Skiff, 
who died January 12, 1829, aged forty-nine 
years, a daughter of his stepmother. Love 
( \\'est ) Skiff, by her first husband. Children : 
I. Elizabeth, born March 14, 1800, died July 
5, 1883: married, September 17, 1820, Luman 
\\"hitcomb ; children : Louisa. Horace, Lucy, 
Almira, Lydia, Alary, Ogden, Newton, Lewis 
]\L and Augusta. 2. Lydia, born July 22, 
1802; married, March 31, 1822, Orrin Bur- 
gess : children : Alvin, Caroline. Harriet, 
Sayres, Charles W. Dwight and Addison. 3. 
Benjamin, born February i, 1804, died July 
13. 1895; married. May 6, 1827, Elizabeth 
Burgess, born May 27, 1803, died July 15, 
1889: children: Ann Eliza, Mary Elizabeth, 
Cyrus W. and Martha. 4. Abigail, born 
March 17, 1807, died January 21, 1821. 5. 
^^'illiam, born June 17, 1809, died at Fitch- 
ville. Ohio, June 17. 1888: married (first), 
October 27, 1836, Parmalia Wolcott, born 
January 28, 1817, died .\ugust 15, 1849: mar- 
ried (second). February 28, 1850, Elizabeth 
A. Jump, born March 22, 1817, died at Fitch- 
ville, July 28, 1893. Children of first mar- 
riage : Alvin Bushnell, Mary Francis, Watson 
Dwight ; children of second wife : Ella Eu- 
retha and Sarah Libbie. 6. Lucinda, born 
March 26, 181 1, died October 31, 1878: mar- 
ried, March 30, 1830, Matthias FL Chitten- 
den, born May i, 1807, died February 9, 1881 ; 
children : Mary Jane, Alanson H., .Albert W., 
Sarah R., and Edward B. 7. Mary, born 
April 9, 1813, died March 25. 1879: married, 
September 9, 1835, Samuel \V. Cook, born 
April I, 1881. died June 29, 1893; children: 



Julia H., Gideon J., Mary, Laura J. and Eliza- 
beth. 8. Sarah, born June 28, 1816, died at 
Hopkins, Michigan, May 17, 1879; married, 
May 30, 1841, Peleg W. Chamberlain, born 
Julv 16, 1812, died April 17, 1879; children: 
Albert P., West C, Helen A., Lydia A., Mary 
J., Emerson H., Edward A. and Julia H. 9. 
Albert, of whom further. 10. Ira. born Octo- 
ber 23, 1 82 1, died January 29, 1901 ; married, 
May 20, 1850, Esther Chase, a kinswoman; 
children : Alvin, Theodore and Minnie. 

fXH) Albert, son of Benjamin and Lydia 
(Skiff) Chase, was born at Lexington, New 
York, January 4, 1819. He lived with his par- 
ents on the old homestead until the death 
of his mother, January 12, 1829. after which 
he went to live in the family of his uncle, 
Charles Chase, on a farm two miles below 
what is now the village of Hunter. He attend- 
ed the district schools, and when twenty years 
old returned to Lexington and learned the car- 
penter's trade, which he followed for twenty- 
five years, becoming one of the largest con- 
tractors in that part of the county. He mar- 
ried, September i, 1844. at the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in East Jewett. Laura Orin- 
da \\'oodworth. daughter of Abner and Betsey 
(Judson) Woodworth, born April 7, 1822, 
died at Hensonville. June 2, 1906. After their 
marriage they resided for about one year in 
the town of Lexington, when they moved to 
Hensonville (1845) ^"d he there carried on an 
extensive lumber and contracting business for 
many years. Subsequently he purchased a 
large farm in the outskirts of the village, and 
after erecting new buildings thereon made it 
his home for the rest of his life. He died 
there October 13, 1902. He was a Republican 
in politics, and held the office of justice of the 
peace of the town. He was an active support- 
er of the Methodist church at Hensonville, and 
for twenty-six years the superintendent of its 
Sunday-school. The children of Albert and 
Laura O. Chase were all born at Hensonville, 
New York: i. Saphrona E., born June 2, 
1845, fl'cd January 7, 1862. 2. Lydia Au- 
gusta, born April 4, 1847, <^1'^<^ Alarch 31, 
1880: married, January 4, 1871, Cyrus E. 
Bloodgood : child : Albert Chase, born No- 
vember 23, 1871, now a lawyer and resident 
of Catskill, New York, married Annie How- 
land. 3. Abner, born October 19, 1848, died 
September 25, 1830. 4. Emory Albert, of 
whom further. 5. Demont L., born March 4, 
i860, now a resident and business man of 
Hensonville. New York: married, November 
16. 1 88 1, Josie A. Osborn, born November 23, 
i860: children: Leona L. and Elbert Osborn. 

(XIII) Judge Emory Albert Chase, son of 
.\lbert and Laura Orinda (Woodworth) 5° 



466 



HUDSON' AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Chase, was born at Hensonville, Greene coun- 
ty, New York, August 31. 1854. He was edu- 
cated at the village school and at Fort Edward 
Collegiate Institute, after which he taught 
school for several years, in the meantime pre- 
paring for the legal profession. On March 
27, 1877, he entered the law offices of King 
& Hallock, at Catskill, New York, and after 
a thorough course of preparation was admit- 
ted to the bar May 6, 1880. In that year Mr. 
King retired and a new legal firm was formed 
by Mr. Hallock and W. Irving Jennings un- 
der the name of Hallock & Jennings. Mr. 
Chase was given an interest in the business, 
but his name could not appear as a member 
of the firm, as at that time he had not been 
admitted as an attorney-at-law. The firm 
name was afterwards and in 1882 changed to 
Hallock, Jennings & Chase. On September 
22, 1890, Mr. Hallock retired, but the firm 
continuing in the name of Jennings & Chase. 
They became well known as able, conscientious 
lawyers, and had a very large and profitable 
clientage. Mr. Chase was successively admit- 
ted to the United States district and circuit 
courts and the United States supreme court. 
His practice frequently took him before the 
state and Federal courts, and he was every- 
where recognized as a successful lawyer and 
a man of the highest character. 

In 1880, the year he was admitted to the 
bar, he was the candidate of his party for 
district attorney of Greene county, but al- 
though he ran far ahead of his ticket he was 
defeated by 211 votes. In 1882 he was elected 
a member of the Catskill board of education 
and served continually in such board until 
1896, the last five years being as president. 
He also served one term as supervisor of the 
town of Catskill, and for many years was the 
village counsel. In 1896 Mr. Chase, who had 
now been in active political and professional 
life since 1880, was nominated by the Third 
Judicial District Republican Convention for 
justice of the supreme court of New York. He 
was opposed by the Democratic candidate, 
Frank H. Osborn. At the election following 
he received a majority of 12,680 votes, and 
was the second supreme court judge ever 
elected by the Republican party in that judicial 
district. Before. assuming the duties of his 
office he retired from the law firm of Jen- 
nings & Chase, his place being taken by his 
opponent for the judgeship, Frank H. Os- 
born. Judge Chase made his first appearance 
on the bench at the January trial term of 1897, 
at Schoharie, and at the close of his first trial 
term received an engrossed copy of compli- 
mentary resolutions adopted by the Schoharie 
County Bar. As he went from countv to 



county in the Third District he won the high- 
est encomiums from the lawyers and the press 
for his fair, impartial rulings, his unfailing 
courtesy and rapid methods of disposing of 
business. January 8, 1900, he was designated 
an associate justice of the appellate division, 
third department, by Governor Odell : Decem- 
ber 31, 1905, he was designated as an asso- 
ciate judge of the Court of Appeals under the 
constitutional amendment of 1899, by Gov- 
ernor Higgins. At the expiration of his term 
of fourteen years in tgio. Judge Chase was 
unanimously renominated by the Republican 
convention of the Third District held October 
5, 1910. At the Democratic convention, held 
a few days later, he was paid the high and 
unusual compliment of a unanimous nomina- 
tion by his political opponents, the nominating 
speech being made by the unsuccessful candi- 
date of fourteen years earlier, Frank H. Os- 
born. He said in part : "He is a man of irre- 
proachable character, an able lawyer and an 
ideal judge." During that part of his term in 
which he was engaged as a trial justice he 
frequently by invitation presided over terms 
of court in New York City and other parts 
of the state, and many noted cases were tried 
before him. While he has been a justice of the 
Appellate Division and a judge of the Court 
of Appeals, hundreds of opinions have been 
written by him which appear in the law re- 
ports and make a part of the judicial history 
of the state. The New York State Bar Asso- 
ciation, in endorsing his renomination, said : 

"His judicial career, both in trial and appel- 
late courts, and especially as a member, by des- 
ignation, of the Court of -\ppeals. is and has 
lieen distinguished for, and characterized by such 
eminent judicial qualifications and great legal 
learning and ability as to make it most fitting 
and desirable that his services be retained by 
the public. Therefore, the New York State Bar 
-Association, by its duly authorized committee, 
hereby urges the unanimous renomination and 
election of Mr. Justice Chase, irrespective of 
party, to the end that the judiciary may. as far 
as possible, be kept free from politics, that the 
public may retain the services of a tried, upright 
and most worthy judge, and, as we hope, if not 
expect, if re-elected, he may continue to adorn 
the bench of the Court of .Appeals as one of 
its appointed members." 

-At the election on November 8, 1910. Judge 
Chase received the vote of the two great politi- 
cal parties and was re-elected for anotlier term 
of fourteen years, ^\'hen Governor-elect Dix 
became governor on January i. 191 1, his first 
act was to re-designate Judge Chase, together 
with his former associate, Judge Frank H. 
Hiscock, to the Court of Appeals, pursuant to 
said amendment to the constitution adopted in 
1899. Judge Chase is now engaged in the per- 
formance of his duties as a judge of that 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



467 



court. Soon after Judge Chase took office as 
a justice of the supreme court, January i, 
1897. he resigned from most of the trust and 
business enterprises in wiiich he was inter- 
ested. He has retained his position as vice- 
president of the Catskill Savings Bank, and a 
director of the Tanner's National Bank. He 
is a member and a trustee of Christ Presbyter- 
ian Church of Catskill, and a liberal supporter 
of all good causes in his home town. He is 
deeply interested in historical and genealogical 
matters and has given much time to the pres- 
ervation of his own family history. He is a 
vice-president of the Chase-Chace Family .As- 
sociation, which held its first reunion in the 
historic meeting house of the First Religious 
Society in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Au- 
gust 30, 1900. This society embraces the de- 
scendants of William, Thomas and Aquila 
Chase, the latter being the progenitor of 
Judge Salmon P. Chase, everywhere known 
as the "Great Secretary of the Treasury" and 
the '"Father of the Greenback." 

Judge Chase married, at Prattsville, New 
York, June 30, 1885, Mary E. Churchill, 
daughter of Addison J. and Elizabeth 
(Houghtaling) Churchill, born October 23, 
1861. Children: i. Jessie Churchill Chase; 
she is a graduate of the Catskill high school, 
and (1909) of Smith's College, with the de- 
gree of A. B. 2. Albert Woodworth Chase ; 
he graduated at Phillips Andover Academy, 
and is now a sophomore at Yale L^niversity. 



John D. Parsons. Jr., was 
PARSONS born in Albany, New York, 
January 2, 1847, and died at 
his home in the same city,' December 16, 
1904. He was the son of John D. Parsons 
and Eleanor Bowne, and his father was 
the son of Stephen Parsons and Hannah 
Thorne, residents of Albany, New York. 

Mr. Parsons was regarded as one of the 
best known and most influential financiers, not 
alone in the city of Albany, where he resided 
all his life, but throughout this section of the 
state, where he had banking affiliations in 
other cities, and also had a large circle of ac- 
quaintances among the more prominent finan- 
ciers of New York City. Those who enjoyed 
his intimate companionship found him to be 
a cheerful, optimistic and faithful friend. 
Everyone could say of him that he made an 
excellent citizen. He was a far-seeing, shrewd 
financier, and a kind, devoted husband and 
brother, a loyal friend. 

He received his preparatory education at lo- 
cal institutions and in Professor Collins' pri- 
vate school at .\lbany. then entered Union 
College. After his college days he began his 



professional career at once, finding employ- 
ment under his father in the firm of Weed, 
Parsons & Co., proprietors of one of the larg- 
est printing establishments in the state, his 
father being a member of it, and there he re- 
mained for some time. Later on he com- 
menced business on his own responsibility as 
a law-book publisher, but retained his posi- 
tion as superintendent of the Weed, Parsons 
& Co. concern. About 1888 he sold out the 
law-book business to Bancroft, Whitney & 
Co., of San Francisco. 

His more important career, as a banker, be- 
gan in 1885, when he was elected a director 
of the National P-xcIiange liank, then located 
on liroadway, in the same building with the 
Exchange Savings Bank. At a meeting of its 
directors, held February 15, 1887, he was 
chosen president, and he continued to hold this 
position until the time of his death. He made 
it a progressive institution, and by the wis- 
dom of conservatism in his transactions suc- 
ceeded in winning the confidence of Albany's 
best men of business and merchants. Com- 
parison of its standing when he entered upon 
his management with the bank's condition 
when it ended, although it had previously been 
governed by sagacious minds, shows a steady 
advancement. 

In 1900, he turned his attention to the or- 
ganization of the first trust company ever 
established in the city of Albany, which was 
formed Afarch 20, 1900, and on organization 
as the Albany Trust Comjiany, May i, 1900, 
he was chosen its first president, and he re- 
mained such until he died. He was much con- 
cerned in the erection of the building, and 
chose as a site one of the most prominent cor- 
ners of the business section of Albany, the 
northwest corner of State street and Broad- 
way, directly opposite the postoffice, and where 
for nearly a century had stood one of the 
city's landmarks, known as the Marble Pillar 
Building. Following the designs executed by 
Marcus T. Reynolds, architect, the trust com- 
pany erected one of the notable edifices of the 
city, and opened there Scj^tember 5, 1904. 
Air. Parsons felt he had taken a propitious 
step in advancement of the city's interests, 
and well was proud when the new institution 
opened its doors, and he received the congrat- 
ulations of his friends. Besides holding these 
two offices as president, Mr. Parsons was a 
director of the Schenectady Trust Company, 
of the Adirondack Trust Company of Sara- 
toga, of the Syracuse Trust Company and of 
the Troy Trust Company. 

His home at No. 233 State street was un- 
usually handsomely furnished, because the 
power to buy was coupled with capacity to 



468 



HUDSOX AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



choose, and he possessed more than one oil 
painting by the Old Masters, that by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds possibly the choicest because 
of its rare beauty. He created a handsome 
country estate at Cedar Hill, where he built 
a spacious house that many guests might be 
welcomed, its veranda affording an admirable 
view of the Hudson river skirting his plateau, 
and the grounds laid out with skill. He was 
fond of good horses and driving, but his 
taste was especially for fine types of books, 
and as an ardent collector of special lines of 
autographs he probably was surpassed by but 
few in Xew York state. It is known that he 
cleverly planned a "corner" for the letters of 
several persons of note, and thus possessed the 
only specimens extant. So eager was he in 
the pursuit of this fascinating hobby that he 
made distant trips a number of times with 
the sole object of acquiring a rarity, and it 
delighted him more when it depended not so 
much on the size of the check as upon the 
sagacity to ferret it out and find the proper 
method to guarantee it for his collection. He 
was particularly desirous to complete his set 
of letters of the mayors of Albany, which re- 
quired locating sixty specimens, a task he 
found to be far more difficult than gathering 
those of the presidents and vice-presidents, 
because those written by the nation's chief 
executive were more generally saved by recipi- 
ents. He also took delight in good speci- 
mens of precious stones, securing them for 
their beauty. 

Mr. Parsons had a wide affiliation with 
bodies of men other than the six institutions 
already named. He was a member of the 
Fort Orange, the .Albany and tlie .Albany 
Country clubs of Albany, of the Philip Living- 
ston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, and 
of the Albany Institute and Historical and Art 
Society. He belonged to the First Reformed 
Dutch Church congregation, and was formerly 
a trustee. He was extensively concerned in 
Masonic institutions, and was a member of 
Masters Lodge No. 5, Free and .Accepted Ma- 
sons, the Ineffable and Sublime Lodge of Per- 
fection, Grand Council of Princes of Jerusa- 
lem, Albany Sovereign Consistory, A. A. S. R., 
and Cyrus Temple, .A. A. O. N. M. S. 

L^nquestionaljly. Mr. Parsons was intensely 
interested and patriotically devoted to the up- 
building of his native city. .Mthough a man 
of splendid charities, possessing a warm heart 
for those in whom he took concern, he dis- 
tributed his largesse without ostentation, and 
as a rule avoided publicity in his giving, yet 
none the less were his contributions joined in 
every public cause or for philanthropic exten- 
sion of a charity meriting his bounty. Be- 



neath his business reserve, a quiet, dignified 
exterior, but far from coldness, palpitated a 
heart fresh and as kindly as a child, ready 
ever to be cordial and never counting upon a 
return. 

His death came suddenly in the early morn- 
ing hours of December 14, 1904, and was due 
to heart failure. It came as a severe shock 
to the business community, who had seen him 
only the previous day in apparently as excel- 
lent health as he had seemed to them at any 
time. It is true that he had been complaining 
of ill-health for a year or more ; but this was 
not known in business circles, and he had bus- 
ied himself in arranging his affairs so as to 
be able to take an extended recreation by 
traveling after the holidays. He had no child, 
and was survived by his wife, a brother. H. 
Bowne Parsons, and four sisters — Mrs. John 
P. Failin, Mrs. George M. Beadle, of Syra- 
cuse, Mrs. Walter M. Newton, and Miss Ella 
D. Parsons, of Albany. 

Mr. Parsons married, at Albany, November 
9, 1870, IVIiss Agnes Evans Chase, daughter 
of Sylvanus Goodnough Chase. 

The Albany Trust Company's trustees 
voiced the following sentiment regarding the 
one who had created the institution: 

"A deep sense of personal loss is experienced 
by each of us in the death of the genial, whole- 
souled, enthusiastic friend, the invariably cheer- 
ful, sanguine and buoyant counsellor, the loyal, 
unswerving, devoted confidant, the ever-ready, 
resourceful adviser; a man who formed the 
most intense and enduring friendships, and who, 
when he admitted one into that circle, would 
never hear or entertain any suspicion of wrong 
in him 'he grappled them to his heart with 
hooks of steel.' He was distinctively an Albany 
man. with business interests in our midst, which 
he established and carried on so successfully. 
To the subject of banking, he brought the 
trained and educated mind, the untiring industry, 
unquestioned integrity, and that attractive per- 
sonality which had distinguished him in college 
and in business. The formation of the ."Mbany 
Trust Company was due to his forethought, en- 
ergy anti the reputation which he had achieved. 
He was a man of warm heart and generous im- 
pulses, and he was frequently importuned for 
financial assistance and responded with alac- 
rity." 

Among other sincere expressions recorded 
by the National Exchange Bank, the directors 
said : "Mr. Parsons was generous to all in 
need, and always ready to aid liberally every 
charitable case. His extreme modesty and 
dislike of ostentation have kept his acts and 
achievements from the public gaze." 

This family was originally from 

FRE.AR France, where the name was 

Frerc. They were Huguenots, 

and suffered the persecutions that drove so 





,^4A 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



469 



many I'Venchmen from their native land into 
exile. The Freres went to England, where the 
spelling of the name was changed to Frear ; 
others of the family fled to Holland, where 
the name became Freer. The family was 
founded in the United States by Joseph Frear, 
grandfather of William H. Frear, of Troy, 
New York. Through intermarriage his fam- 
ily traces descent from the earliest settlers of 
Long Island, New York, \'ermont and Massa- 
chusetts, through the Roe, Overton, Davis, 
Bradley, Presby, Wright and Wadsworth 
families. 

(I) Joseph Frear was born in England, 
April 2, 1777, died in Binghamton, New York, 
January 3, 1851. He came to America, set- 
tling in Quebec, Canada, in 1814, where he 
pursued his trade of contracting ship joiner. 
He was a deep and devout Christian nature. 
He joined the church when but a lad and be- 
gan religious work very early. In Quebec he 
was a Christian worker among the sailors of 
the water front, helped to establish the first 
Sunday-school and a place of meeting over 
which was raised the first Bethel flag ever seen 
in the harbor. He removed after a time to 
New York City, where he joined the Broome 
Street Dutch Reformed Church, becoming 
deacon and elder. He later removed to Ellen- 
ville, Ulster county. New York, where he was 
active in the church, serving as elder several 
years. In 1849 he removed to Binghamton, 
New York, where he united with the Congre- 
gational Church. His religious life covered 
a period of half a century of honorable Chris- 
tian endeavor, and his performance outran his 
profession. He was honored and respected 
wherever he was known. Not the least of his 
virtues was his patient self-denial for the bet- 
terment of his family. He married, in Eng- 
land, Eleanor Lee, who died at Binghamton, 
New York, April 17, 185 1, aged seventy-two 
years, two months, sixteen days. 

(II) William, son of Joseph Frear, was 
born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Au- 
gust I, 1816, died in Troy, New York, Febru- 
ary 15, 1882. He was quite young when his 
parents settled in Quebec, where his boyhood 
was spent and education received. From Que- 
bec he went to New York City. In 1839 he 
removed to Ellenville, Ulster county. New 
York, where he engaged in trade. In a short 
time he transferred his home and business to 
West Coxsackie, New York, where he con- 
tinued for forty years an honored citizen. He 
closed his long and useful life a resident of 
Troy. New York. He was a man of high 
principle, strict integrity and great industry 
and energy. He joined the Stanton Street 
Baptist Church, New York City, when six- 



teen years of age, and was a faithful member 
of that denomination also during the early 
years of his residence at Coxsackie. Later 
he joined the First Dutch Reformed Church, 
Upper Coxsackie, which he served as deacon, 
elder and superintendent of Sabbath school 
many years. He was a member of Ark Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons, and also of the 
lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, Coxsackie. During his latter years in 
Troy he was a member of the Fifth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church. He always supported 
the Republican party. His remarkably cheer- 
ful disposition made him the friend of old and 
young. He married, September 3, 1839, De- 
borah Ann Davis, daughter of Anselm Davis 
and Abigail Overton, born July 24, 1819. at 
Coram, Long Island, died in Troy, New 
York, May 5, 1898. Children: i. 'William 
H., of further mention. 2. Mary Emma, born 
June 19, 1843, '^'sd March 31, 1850. 3. .^nna 
Minerva, born September 6, 1846, died Octo- 
ber 12, 1883. 4. George, born September 15, 
1849, died March 2, 1850. 5. I\Iary Emma 
(2), born April 13, 1851, died September 10, 
1852. 6. Isabella Dorothy. 7. Edwin .Augus- 
tus, married Eliza Eddy Haskell, October 23, 
1895; children: Augusta Flaskell, born Sep- 
tember II, 1897; Titus Eddy, December 26, 
1898. 8. Martha Bessac, married Professor 
Charles AVellman Parks. April 14, 1887. 

(Ill) William Henry, son of VV'illiam and 
Deborah Ann (Davis) Frear, was born in 
West Coxsackie, New York, March 29, 1841. 
He was educated in the public school of Dis- 
trict No. 6, of which his father was a trustee, 
and at Co.xsackie Academy. His ambition at 
that time was for a professional career of 
either law or architecture, but in 1857 dur- 
ing a school vacation, he clerked for a while 
in the store of Barnet Gay to fill a temporary 
vacancy. Here he found his true vocation, 
and from that little Upper Coxsackie store he 
advanced rapidly yet surely to his proud posi- 
tion of "Troy's leading merchant." He re- 
mained with Mr. Gay two years, then was 
with John Flagg & Co., dry goods merchants 
of Troy, for six years. This was his last 
subordinate position. He had saved a sinall cap- 
ital which, added to that of Sylvanus Haverly, 
his partner, stocked and furnished a small 
dry goods store at No. 322 River street, Troy, 
where as Haverly & F'rear they opened for 
business March 9, 1865. His share of the 
capital. $J.ooo, was obtained by his savings 
and the aid of his father, mother and wife, 
all of whom had faith in the young man. The 
enterprise was successful ; the industry, self- 
denial and application of the partners com- 
pelled success. In 1868 they admitted, or 



470 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \-ALLEYS 



rather consolidated with John Flagg, Mr. 
Frear's former employer, and removed their 
business to the store, Nos. 3-4 Cannon Place, 
in Washington Square, opening April 9, 1868, 
as Flagg, Haverly & Frear, the latter as man- 
ager. January 2, 1869, Mr. Haverly with- 
drew, leaving the firm of Flagg & Frear. 
October 27, 1869, Mr. Frear purchased all 
other interests in the firm and for twenty-five 
years was the sole owner and manager. It 
was during this period that his peculiar talents 
had full sway, and the commercial instinct 
now fully aroused, developed into a passion or 
force that carried all before it, and made 
the name of Frear known far and near as the 
synonym for enterprise, originality and square 
dealing. He superintended all important de- 
tails of his business, was buyer and advertiser, 
and in the early years salesman and often 
bookkeeper. He introduced modern adver- 
tising, and was the first merchant to insert a 
full page "ad." in a Troy newspaper ; intro- 
duced the delivery system in his part of New 
York state ; employed advertising methods far 
in advance of contemporaries, even in the 
largest cities, some of them startling in their 
originality ; established a mail-order depart- 
ment : adopted the cash system of making pur- 
chases : added department after department 
until fifty-three dififerent stores were under 
one roof; in fact, the great store throbbed 
and thrilled with the resistless energy of its 
untiring master. He adopted as his store 
motto. "Par negotiis ne que supra" (Equal 
to his business, but not above it), and this ex- 
presses the man. There never has been a 
moment when, although every nerve and mus- 
cle were strained to almost the breaking point, 
he was not ecpial to the business, and his grip 
firm on its important details, but "not above 
it," applies equally well. Not for him was the 
leather chair and the mahogany desk, but the 
thick of the fray ; yet when the golden flood 
of prosperity came none knew better than he 
how to enjoy it. His life is one of the won- 
ders of the commercial world, yet, while he 
is proud of the name he has carved for him- 
self among .America's great merchants, he 
does not ascribe it to anything but good hard 
business sense put into circulation, personal 
attention, fair dealing and a thorough knowl- 
edge of his business. He has the largest store 
and the largest business in Troy, constantly 
cmj)loys over four hundred people, and has 
])reserved photogra])hs of nearly all his present 
and former employees, as well as copies of all 
his advertisements. .After twenty-five years 
under his own name and management, he ad- 
mitted his brother, Edwin A. Frear, and his 
eldest son, Charles W., to the firm, which 



became. May 24, 1894, William H. Frear & 
Company. On December 2, 1899, Mr. Frear's 
second son, William 1!., was admitted to part- 
nership in the firm, making a very valuable 
addition to the managing force, but the sign, 
"Frear's Troy Cash Bazaar," still remains, 
and the business, greater than ever, goes on 
under the same skillful direction. 

In addition to developing a business of in- 
calculable benefit to Troy, Mr. Frear has 
borne his full share of the city's improvement. 
He is known as a very large real estate owner, 
probably the largest in the city. He has 
bought and improved store, hotel and resi- 
dence city property, and added a suburban 
mansion to the beauties of the residential sec- 
tion. He was quick to respond to the call of 
humanity when the P>urdett building burned in 
February, 1896. with destructive loss of life 
and property, and as treasurer and chief al- 
moner of the Relief Fund, he gave a great 
deal of time and money to the work. When 
his own store was partially destroyed by fire 
in December, 1893, he resumed trade on the 
fourth day thereafter, under a temporary roof, 
and handled his usual Christmas trade. As a 
staunch Republican, he has often responded 
to the demands of his party, although having 
no desire for public office. He was a member 
of the Troy Centennial Committee of one 
hundred in 1889, the Citizens' Association of 
1892, and of the Committee of Public Safety 
in 1894. He served on the staff of P>rigadier- 
General Alonzo Alden with rank of captain, 
and is an associate member of Griswold Post, 
G. A. R. He has many outside business inter- 
ests, being a director of the Security Trust 
Company, a trustee of the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, trustee of the Samaritan 
Plospital ; and was for many years a trustee of 
the .Second Presbyterian Church, the Troy 
\'oung Women's .Association, a director of the 
Citizens' Steamboat Company, member of the 
committee for Old Home Week, Troy, 1908, 
and member of the committee of Hudson-Ful- 
ton Celebration of 1909; member of Troy Re- 
publican Club and Chamber of Conunerce. He 
was one of the largest contributors to the 
building funds of Rensselaer Inn and Rensse- 
laer Polytechnic Institute. He was treasurer 
of the Citizens' Relief Fund, Spanish-Ameri- 
can war, and one of thirty citizens who 
founded the permanent home of the Fresh Air 
I'und at Grafton. 

His restless energy in his more active years 
was strikingly displayed while on his summer 
vacations. A volume, title "l'"ive \\'eeks in Eu- 
rope," "A Photographic Memorandum," is 
the joint work of his pen and camera, and is 
the record of one of his vacations. Appended 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \- ALLEYS 



471 



to each photo<:^raph is an a])propriate extract 
from his letters home, descriptive of the scene 
depicted. During- later years Mr. h'rear has 
given himself more time and opportunity to 
satisfy the artistic side of his nature, which, 
had he not g^one into business, would perhaps 
have led him into the world of art as a pro- 
ducer, instead of a patron. He is a connois- 
seur in oil paintings, and has a large and 
costly collection of the masters in his Troy 
home. .Among his treasured mementos of 
great men and events is the table used by the 
Japanese and Russian commissioners at Ports- 
mouth Navy Yard, New Hampshire, as they 
deliberated the terms of the treaty of peace 
between their respective nations. The treaty 
was drawn up and signed on the table, which 
was purchased and presented to Mr. Frear 
by his sister. His library, paintings and sur- 
roundings bespeak the cultured, artistic gen- 
tleman, who now able to satisfy all his finer 
impulses is devoting himself to the beautiful 
and sentimental with the same interest and 
same methods that half a century ago he at- 
tacked life's problems from the standpoint of 
an enthusiastic youth. A retrospective view 
over his fifty years of active business life 
cannot fail to bring him both satisfaction and 
pride. 

Mr. Frear married at Pittsfield, Massachu- 
setts, October 27, 1863, Martha Frances 
Wright, born in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, 
daughter of Charles Wright, of Pownal, Ver- 
mont, and Martha M. Bradley, of Lanesboro, 
Massachusetts, a descendant of early colonial 
settlers. Mrs. Frear has been a wise counsel- 
lor and faithful supporter all through the 
years of business strife, and shares with her 
husband the satisfaction that comes after a 
well-earned victory. She is a member of the 
Episcopal church. Daughters of the .American 
Revolution, Troy Girls' Club, Women's Im- 
provement League, Friends of the Sisterhood 
of St. Paul's Church, Women's .-Xuxiliary 
Young Men's Christian Association, is a mem- 
ber of the Women's Au.xiliary of the Troy 
Hospital, and one of the managers of the 
Episcopal Church Home. She is hospitable 
and social in disposition, and is charitable and 
benevolent to the institutions that are worthy. 
Children, all born in Troy, New York : 

I. Charles Wright, educated in the public 
schools. Mount Anthony Seminarv, Benning- 
ton. \'ermont, and graduated from the classical 
department of Phillips Academy, Andover. 
Massachusetts, in the class of 1889, where 
during the course he was leader of the or- 
chestra. .Afterward took a special course in 
the junior year at Williams College. He was 
admitted to the firm of William H. Frear & 



Company, .May 24, 1894. He was a volun- 
teer in the Spanish-.American war. He was a 
private in Company A, Second New York 
State Infantry, and was transferred to the 
203rd Regiment, and warranted as sergeant- 
major .August 4, 1898, subsequently promoted 
to second lieutenant. Company E, same regi- 
ment. He was commissioned battalion adju- 
tant with the rank of first lieutenant, in the 
Second Regiment, New York State National 
Guard. April 20, 1899. He is a director of 
the National City Bank ; member of the .Army 
and Navy Club of New York City ; member 
of M. D. Russell Post," Spanish-.American 
War \'eterans : Sons of the Revolution ; Troy 
Club : Chamber of Commerce of Troy : Paf- 
raets Dael and the Laureate Boat Clubs. He 
married. June 28, 1910. Mary E. Gurney, of 
Greenfield. Massachusetts. 

2. William Bradley Frear was educated in 
the public schools of Troy and finished the 
grammar school course at School No. 5. being 
the first in his class. He was fourth in a class 
of ninety in entrance examination for admis- 
sion to the Troy high school, June 18, 1887. 
Upon graduation therefrom, June 30, 1891, he 
was second in the class, securing the classical 
honor and delivering the salutatory address. 
He was also a student at the Troy Business 
College night school. He entered Williams 
College the following fall, graduating in June, 
1895, with the degree of B. A. During these 
four years, in addition to the regular routine 
of study, he was prominently iclentified with 
the best interests of the college. He was a 
member of the track and tlie class athletic 
teams ; president of the Dramatic Association, 
and leader of the college choir and quartette. 
He was with the Glee Club on its well- 
remembered trip to St. Louis in 1894, and was 
director of the music for the College Cen- 
tennial in 1893. He has long been favorably 
known in musical circles as a cornetist. He 
was admitted to the firm of William H. Frear 
& Company, December 2, 1899. He has the 
inventive quality, and holds LTnited States 
Patent 34,825, granted July 23. 1901. He 
was captain of .Arba Read Fire Company in 
1901. filling the office satisfactorily in every 
respect, and had full charge of the company's 
famous trip to the Piuffalo e.xposition. He is 
a director of the Security Trust Company ; 
was the first president of the Alumni Associa- 
tion of the Troy high school ; a member of 
the Chamber of Conrmerce. Commercial Trav- 
elers' .Association, Atlantic Deeper W^ater- 
ways Association, Troy Golf Club, Troy Vo- 
cal Society, Troy Club, Williams College 
.Alumni .Association. Zeta Psi Fraternity, and 
Sons of the Revolution. He is a member and 



472 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



trustee of the Second Presbyterian Church, of 
Troy, New York. He married Edna Russell 
Jayne, of Brooklyn, New York, February i, 
1905. Children: Carolyn Russell, born De- 
cember 5, 1905 ; Frances Wright, November 
8, 1907 ; Edna Jayne, March 23, 1910. 

3. Edwin Henry Frear, educated in city 
schools, Troy Academy, Preparatory School 
at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and Troy Busi- 
ness College. He is a member of the Second 
Presbyterian Church, Troy, New York, of 
the Island Golf Club, Rensselaer County Re- 
publican Club, Troy Young Men's Christian 
Association, ^and is now with William H. 
Frear & Company. 



At the time of going to press, 
HUDSON investigation of this line has 
not been completed. All that 
can be definitely stated is that T. (Thomas) 
Hudson and his brother, of New Jersey, 
moved into what was then Albany county. 
New York, about 1800. The probable line is 
as follows : 

(I) Jonathan Hudson, born in England, 
1658, died April 5, 1729; married, June 17, 

1686, Sarali , and resided in Lyme, 

Connecticut. 

(H) Jonathan (2) Hudson, born January 
6. 1690, married, May 30, 1728, Mary Jen- 
nings. From Shelter Island, New York, Jon- 
athan came to New York state : was a resident 
of Westchester county, and <lied in Albany, in 

1745- 

(III) John (3) Hudson, born about 1730, 
settled in New Jersey. He was a private in 
Captain William Piatt's company, First Regi- 
ment of the Jersey Line, Continental Army. 
Of his' family nothing can be told further than 
that the initial of one of his sons was T., 
supposed to have been Thomas. 

(IV) T. (Thomas), supposed to be son of 
John (3) Hudson, was born in New Jersey 

about 1750. He married S , of 

whom nothing further can be told. He served 
in the Somerset county militia of New Jer- 
sey during the revolution. He spent the last 
years of his life with his son Samuel, in 
either Cherry \'alley. New York, or Esper- 
ance, New York. He was the ancestor of that 
portion of the Hudson family that settled in 
the upper Hudson valley — Troy and vicinity. 
He had a brother who moved to Edinburg, 
New York, where he died and is buried, and 
who was the ancestor of that portion that set- 
tled in the vicinity of Galway, New York, 
where many of them have lived ever since. 
This brother had a son Abraham, who was 
born in 1781. died 1870, and married Sally 
Johnson, of New Jersey, whose sister mar- 



ried the son of Thomas Hudson (IV). They 
had five children : Nathaniel, Lucinda, Polly, 
Johnson and Samuel, the last being still alive 
at the age of ninety, and living at Galway ; he 
married Lucinda McOmber, and they had four 
children, all living: Sarah L., George E., 
Charles William and A. Edgar. T. (Thomas) 
(IV) had two sons: Samuel, of whom fur- 
ther mention, and Daniel, a soldier in the 
war of 1812, who took part in the Platts- 
burg campaign. 

(Vj Samuel, son of T and S 

Hudson, was born in New Jersey, in 1781, 
died July 15, 1853. He is buried in Mt. Ida 
Cemetery, Troy, New York. He was a man 
of education, and after coming to New York 
state taught school at Cherry Valley and Es- 
perance in Otsego and Schoharie counties. 
He married Phoebe Johnson, died March 16, 
185 1, daughter of Abram and Mary John- 
son of New Jersey. Children : Thomas, died 
in California, unmarried ; Daniel, of further 
mention ; Eliza, taught in a private school in 
Troy for forty years ; Johnson, removed tO' 
Michigan, serving in the civil war in a regi- 
ment from that state. 

(VI) Daniel (4), son of Samuel and 
Phoebe (Johnson) Hudson, was born in Es- 
perance, Schoharie county. New York, in 
1813, died in Troy, New York, in 1879, and 
is buried in Schenectady, New York. He 
was a paper-box manufacturer in Troy, re- 
tiring about five years before his death. He 
established a fire brick works on Second 
street, Troy, which is still in operation under 
the name of the Ostrander Brick Company. 
He was a man of the utmost integrity, with 
mental attainments of a high degree. He was 
an earnest Methodist, and was one of the first 
organizers of the Third Street Methodist 
Church, and later in his life was for years 
a prominent active member of the Sec- 
ond Street (now Fifth Avenue) Methodist 
Church, which he served in an ofificial ca- 
pacity. He married Mary Ann MacHenry, 
born and buried in Schenectady, died in Troy, 
1687. The MacHcnrys are of Scotch-Irish 
ancestry. Mary /\nn Hudson being the third 
generation in the United States. Children, 
born in Troy: i. Thomas, born in 1835, and 
died in Troy, in 1861, where he was a dealer 
in dental supplies ; he married Lorena Down- 
ing, of Troy, and had two sons — Herbert, 
now living in Watervlict, and in the employ 
of the ITnion R. R. Co. (1910), and Walter, 
now living in New York (1910). 2. Samuel, 
born 1836, died 1890; he was a prominent 
volunteer fireman in Troy, at one time being 
captain of the Osgood Steamer Company. 
Identified with the Republican party, he was 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



473 



clerk of the board of excise in Troy for sev- 
eral years. 3. Myra, born in 1838, died in 
W'aterbury, Connecticut, I\Iay, 1910; married 
George I'. Chapman, of Bridgeport, Connecti- 
cut, who died in 1898. She was a second 
wife. 4. W'ilham Henry, of further mention. 
5. Edward B.. born in Troy, September 3, 
1846. entered the drug business in 186 1. For 
ten years he was located in San Francisco as 
manager for the Pacific coast of the Wm. 
S. Merrill Chemical Company. During and 
after the San Francisco earthquake he was in- 
strumental in preserving and reestablishing 
their business in that territory. He married 
Mary \\'atson, of Troy, New York, in 1876, 
who died in Albany, New York, in 1897, leav- 
ing no children. Edward B. Hudson is still 
alive (1910). He is now connected with the 
Lewis Co-Operative Company, Kansas City, 
manufacturers of Safety Poison Cabinets for 
Druggists. He is a member of the Albany 
Commercial Travelers' Club. 6. Charles Dan- 
iel, a lawyer of keen mentality, who practiced 
in Watervliet for many years, now a resident 
of New York. Married Ruth Crow, of Troy, 
and has one daughter, Mabel, born in 1876, 
a school teacher in New York City. Two 
children of Daniel and Mary Ann Hudson died 
in infancy. 

(\TI) William Henry, son of Daniel and 
Mary Ann (MacHenry) Hudson, was born 
in Troy, New York, July 21, 1843, died in that 
city August 9, 1897. He was educated in the 
public and private schools, and at an early age 
entered the employ of the Manufacturers' Na- 
tional Bank as messenger boy. He received 
successive promotions during his twenty-eight 
years of service with that institution, rising 
to the position of teller. He also organized the 
firm of Moore & Hudson (1867) to do a 
general life and fire insurance business, which 
became a well-known and prosperous firm, 
and still exists under the firm name of Hud- 
son & Thompson. He was reared in the Meth- 
odist faith of his parents, but after his mar- 
riage attended the First Presbyterian Church 
of Troy. Politically he was a Republican. 
He was an able man of business, most genial 
in his social relations, and held in high es- 
teem in the community. He married. May 30, 
1866, at Hudson, New York. Jennie, daugh- 
ter of Captain Henry Waldo (see Waldo). 
Children: i. Henry Waldo, of whom further; 
2. Ralph Clark, born in Troy, November 23, 
1875. He removed to New York in 1895, and 
entered the employ of A. J. Cammeyer, the 
largest retail shoe house in the world, as a 
clerk, and is now (1910) general manager. 
He was a member of the Troy Citizens' Corps, 
and on his removal to New York enlisted in 



Company E, Seventy-first Regiment, New 
York National Guard, and saw service in the 
Spanish- American war. He ranked as cor- 
poral ; was at San Juan and Santiago, return- 
ing as lieutenant. He married, December 4, 
1909, at the Church of the Transfiguration, 
in New York City, Mrs. Harriett Corbett, of 
San Francisco, California. 

(VHI) Henry NN'aldo, eldest son of Wil- 
liam Henry and Jane (Waldo) Hudson, was- 
born in Troy, New York, March 3, 1870. He- 
was educated in the public schools and Troy 
Academy. He entered his father's office, 
where he acquired a thorough knowledge of 
the insurance business in all its branches and 
detail. This business, established by William; 
Flenry Hudson in 1867, has continued under 
several firm names, the present name of Hud- 
son & Thompson being established in 1905, 
the son, Henry Waldo, being senior partner. 
Flenry Waldo Hudson was for a time in the 
employ of Geo. B. Cluett's Sons of Troy, and 
in 1888 entered the employ of the United 
National Bank of Troy as junior clerk,, 
continuing with that institution until 1901, 
having reached the position of paying teller. 
In the meantime he had been admitted as a 
partner with his father, under the firm name 
of William FI. Hudson & Son. In 1901 he 
removed to Hoosick Falls and became as- 
sistant treasurer of the Walter A. Wood 
Mowing & Reaping Machine Company. He 
was also assistant auditor, and in 1906 was 
elected auditor. In 1907 he was chosen treas- 
urer, which office he now fills (1910). He is 
a member of several clubs in Troy and Hoo- 
sick Falls, and is a Republican. He married, 
June 5, 1901, at Rutland, Vermont, Mary 
Lucretia, daughter of Henry Arthur Sawyer. 

The lines of descent of Mary Lucretia 
(Sawyer) Hudson lead to the very oldest and 
best known of the Pilgrims, including the 
Brewster, Standish, Stafford, Putnam, Prence 
and Paddock families. The elder line may 
be that of Brewster, although the Standish 
line is equally ancient in America. 

(The Brewster Line). 

(I) Elder William, "Mayflower" passen- 
ger and first colonial governor, married Mary. 

(II) Patience, daughter of Elder William 
Brewster, married Colonial Governor Thomas 
Prence. 

(III) Mary, daughter of Governor Thomas 
and Patience (Brewster) Prence. married 
Major John Freeman, an officer of King Phil- 
lip's war. 

(IV) John, son of Major John and Mary 
(Prence) Freeman, married Sarah Merrick. 

(V) Mercy, daughter of John and Sarah 



n'74 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK VALLEYS 



(Merrick) Freeman, married Deacon Chill- 
ingsworth Foster. 

(\'I) Mary, daughter of Deacon and Mercy 
(Freeman) Foster, married David Paddock, 
of an old English family. 

(\'n) Foster, son of David and Mary 
(Foster) Paddock, married Damson Ray- 
mond. 

(\'ni) Anthony, son of Foster and Dam- 
son ( Raymond ) Paddock, married Rahama 
^Marshall. 

( IX ) Betsey, daughter of Anthony and 
Rahama (Marshall) Paddock, married Palmer 
Stafford. 

(X) Lucretia, daughter of Palmer and 
Betsey (Paddock) Stafford, married David 
Sawyer. 

(XI) Henry Arthur, son of David and Lu- 
cretia (Stafford) Sawyer, married Julia Put- 
nam. 

(XH) Mary Lucretia, daughter of Henry 
Arthur and Julia (Putnam) Sawyer, mar- 
ried Henry Waldo Hudson. (See Hudson 
MIL) 

(The Stafford Line). 

John and Thomas Stafford, younger sons 
of Lord Staiford, of Staffordshire. England, 
came to the American colonies in a vessel of 
their own and settled at Scituate, Rhode 
Island. Both married. Thomas married Mary 
'Cleveland, and moved to Stephentown, New 
York, thence to Danby, Vermont, later to 
Plattsburg, New York. Children : Rowland, 
Palmer, John, Deborah, Stutely, of later men- 
tion, Nancy, Joseph and Francis. 

(II) Stutely. son of Thomas and Mary 
(Cleveland) Stafford, married (her second 
husband) Rebecca (Doty) Irish, April 2, 
1780. She was then twenty-one years of age, 
had been a widow nearly three years, and had 
been the wife of John Irish nearly five years. 
She was a granddaughter of Francis De Long, 
a French officer, and Heilcha Van Skalk, of 
Amsterdam. Holland, who married in Amer- 
ica and lived on Long Island. New York. 
Their children were : Ora, Elias, Rachel, 
Maricha, Lucretia and Zonacha. Lucretia 
De Long married Joseph Doty, and first set- 
tled at Fishkill, New York, later removed to 
"Nine Partners," Dutchess county. New York. 
Children : Peter. Rhoda, Jacob. Elizabeth, 
Rebecca, Patty, Nancy, Lydia, Mary Ann. 
Rebecca Doty married John Irish, in 1772. 
They removed to Tinmouth, Vermont, where 
he was killed by the Indians, July, 1777. She 
married Stutely Stafford, April 2, 1780. They 
lived at Danby, later in Wallingford. Ver- 
mont. By her first marriage she had Lucre- 
tia, Joseph and Rhoda Irish: by her second 
marriage she had Merriam, Nancy, Palmer, 



Ormond, Holden Marbury, Sylvia, John and 
^ilercy. 

(III) Palmer, son of Stutely and Rebecca 
(Doty-Irish) Stafford, married Betsey, 
daughter of Anthony Paddock, a great-grand- 
son of Elder William Brewster. ( See Brews- 
ter.) Children: Alehala, Rahama, Lucretia. 
Sylvia, Rebecca, Benjamin, Bourdman, Jay, 
Stutely, and Darius, and Eveline. 

(IV) Lucretia, daughter of Palmer and 
Betsey (Paddock) Stafford, was born at Wal- 
lingford. \'ermont, 18 13, died at Aurora, Illi- 
nois, December 3, 1893. She married David 
Sawyer, of Tinmouth, \'ermont, son of David 
Sawyer, and a descendant of Miles Standish, 
of the "Mayflower" and early Pilgrim days. 
He was born September 25, 1807, died at 
Moira, New York. December 31, 1859. Chil- 
dren : Anson. Henry, Persis, Palmer, Noah, 
Malinda. 

(\') Henry Arthur, son of David and Lu- 
cretia (Stafford) Sawyer, was born at Tin- 
mouth, Vermont, March 19, 1834, died at Rut- 
land, October 6, 1899. He married, at Rut- 
land. Vermont, May 15, 1866. Julia, daughter 
of James Madison Putnam, great-grandniece 
of Israel Putnam. She was born at Ludlow, 
\'ermont, November 15, 1841. Children: 
I. James, married Helen Bradford W^ebb ; 
children : Henry, and Barbara. 2. Mary Lu- 
cretia. 3. David Henry. 

(\'I) Mary Lucretia, daughter of Henry 
Arthur and Julia (Putnam) Sawyer, married 
Henry Waldo Hudson, of Troy, New York. 

I'^rom Miles and Barbara Standish. of 
Plymouth, the Sawyers' descent is through 
Prudence Standish, a daughter or grand- 
daughter of Josiah, son of Miles and Barbara 
Standish. She married Jacob Sawyer in 1730. 

(IV) Ephraini, son of Jacob and Prudence 
( Standish ) Sawyer, married Smith. 

(\') David, son of Ephraim and 



( Smith ) Sawyer, married Mary Woodruff, 
and children were Noah Woodruff, Olive Bar- 
bara and David. 

( VI ) David, son of David and Mary 
(Woodruff) Sawyer, married Lucretia Staf- 
ford. (Sec Stafford IV.) 

(The Putnam Line). 

The -American ancestor of Julia (Putnam) 
Sawyer, mother of Mary Lucretia Sawyer 
Hudson, was John Putnam, who with his wife 
Priscilla (maiden name believed to have been 
Deacon) and three sons — Thomas, John and 
Nathaniel — came from England in 1634. 
They settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where 
the father died October 30, 1662. They had 
seven children. 

(II) Lieutenant Thomas, eldest son of 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



475 



Jolm and Priscilla Pulnaiii. was baptized at 
Astt»n, Abbotts, county of Bucks, England, 
March 7, 1614-15, died at Salem village. May 
5, 1 686. He was an inhabitant of Lynn in 
1640, selectman in 1642, and joined the Salem 
church in 1643. He was a man of education, 
wrote a good hand, held many of the Salem 
ofifices in town and church, and was lieuten- 
ant of a troop of horse. He married (first) 
Ann, daughter of Edward and Prudence 
(Stockton) Holyoke, who bore him eight chil- 
dren : ( second ) Mary, widow of Nathaniel 
\'eren, who bore him one child, Joseph, after- 
ward the father of General Israel Putnam, of 
revolutionary fame. 

(HI) Sergeant Thomas, son of Lieutenant 
Thomas and his first wife, Ann (Holyoke) 
Putnam, was baptized in the Salem church, 
February 16, 1652, died in Salem, May 24, 
1699. He married Ann, youngest daughter of 
George and Elizabeth Carr, of Salisbury. 
They had twelve children, eleven of whom 
were alive in 1715. 

( IV ) Seth, twelfth child of Sergeant 
Thomas and Ann (Carr) Putnam, was born 
in Salem village. May, 1695, died at Charles- 
town, New Hampshire, November 30, 1775. 
He was one of the pioneers in that exposed 
frontier town, and sent two sons to help fight 
the French and Indians. He helped form 
the first church at Charlestown and was 
among the first ten members on the list. He 
married, September 17, 1718, Ruth Whipple, 
wiio died February i, 1785. They had eight 
children. 

( \' ) Timothy, youngest son of Seth and 
Ruth (Whipple) Putnam, was born at Bil- 
lerica, Massachusetts, December 25, 1732, died 
at Charlestown, New Hampshire. He was a 
member of Colonel Eellows's regiment, which 
marched to reenforce Ticonderoga in Mav, 
1777, and again in June of that year, but 
found the fort evacuated. He married Sus- 
anna Badger, who bore him seven children. 

(\T) John, son of Timothy and Susanna 
( Badger 1 Putnam, was born in Charlestown, 
New Hampshire. June 4, 1764, died in Mont- 
pelier. \'ermont. June 9, 1848. He was a 
farmer of Montpelier. and was borne on the 
pension roll of the revolution. He married 
(first) Catherine Carr, (second) Mrs. Peggy 
Glidden, at Charlestown. New Hampshire, 
widow of Moses Willard. She was born Octo- 
ber 25, 1781, died in Montpelier, February 
19, 1832. He had six children by the first 
wife, and five by the second. 

(\TI) Colonel James Madison, .son of John 
and his second wife, Peggy (Glidden-Willard) 
Putnam, was born in Springfield, \"ermont, 
July (), 1813, died 1888. He was a millwright 



by trade and was one of the last survivors 
of the old line of commissioned tnilitia oflficers. 
He was for many years sheriff of Windham 
county, \'ermont, and proprietor of the Frank- 
lin House at Rutland. In later years until 
1880 he was chief of police and a wholesale 
dealer in coal and grain. He was prominent 
in the Baptist church and the Ma.sonic and 
Odd Fellows orders. He married, in Ludlow, 
\'ermont, j\Iarch 5, 1838, Sarah .\nn, daugh- 
ter of Oliver and Lois (Steele) Mason. She 
was born in Springfield, \crmont, August 28, 
1817. They had three children. 

(\'HI) Julia .\nn, daughter of Colonel 
James ]\Iadison and Sarah Ann (Steele) 
Putnam, was born in Ludlow, \'ermont, No- 
vember 15, 1841 ; married May 15, 1866, 
Henry Arthur Sawyer. They had three chil- 
dren. 

( IN ) Mary Lucretia, daughter of Henry 
Arthur and Julia Ann (Putnam) Sawyer, 
married Henry Waldo Hudson. 

(The Waldo Line). 

The maternal line of Henry Waldo Hudson 
and Ralph Clark Hudson begins in Amer- 
ica with Deacon Cornelius Waldo, born about 
1624, in England, died January 3, 1700-1, at 
Chelmsford. Massachusetts. The earliest rec- 
ord of him in New England is in 1647. He 
married Hannah, daughter of John and Eliz- 
abeth (Thompson) Cogswell, of Ipswich. 
She was born 1624. at Westbury. Leigh, Wilt- 
shire, England, and caine with her parents 
to .-Xmerica in the ship "Angel Gabriel," 
which sailed from Bristol, May 23. 1635, and 
was wrecked on the coast of Pemaquid in the 
gale of August 15, several lives being lost 
in the disaster. She died Deceinber 25, 1704, 
at Charlestown, Massachusetts, aged eighty 
years. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren. 

(II) John, son of Cornelius and Hannah 
(Cogswell) ^^'aldo, died April 14, 1700. at 
Windham, Connecticut. He was a soldier in 
King Philip's war, and was wounded in the 
"Quaboag fight," August 2, 1675. In No- 
vember, 1697, he purchased a grist mill at 
Windham, Connecticut, removing there a 
little later. He .soon after died. He mar- 
ried, about 1676, Rebecca, daughter of Cap- 
tain Samuel and Rebecca (Graves) .-\dams, 
of Charlestown, Massachusetts. She died Sep- 
tember 17, 1727, at Canterbury, Connecticut, 
surviving her husband twenty-seven years. 
They were the parents of eight children. 

(ill) Edward, son of John and Rebecca 
(.•\dams) \\'aldo, was born at Dunstable, 
Massachusetts, April 23, 1684. died .August 
3, 1767, at Windham, Connecticut. He was 



476 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



educated in Boston, and taus;ht school for 
a number of years in Windham. He was a 
farmer of substance and a citizen of influ- 
ence, was a member of the general assembly 
three terms, and a lieutenant of the military 
company at ^^'indham. He married (first) 
Thankful Dimmock, born March, 1682, at 
Barnstable, Massachusetts, died December 13, 
1757, at Windham, daughter of Deacon Shu- 
bael and Joanna (Bursley) Dimmock, and 
granddaughter of Elder Thomas Dimmock, of 
Barnstable, Alassacliusetts, deputy six terms, 
member of the council of war 1642, and lieu- 
tenant of militia. The will of Edward Waldo 
mentions a second wife, Mary. Children by 
first marriage, ten. 

(IX) Zacheus, son of Edward and Thank- 
ful (Dimmock) Waldo, was born at Wind- 
ham, Connecticut, July 19, 1725, died there 
September 10, 1810. He married (first) Feb- 
ruary 3, 1746, at Lebanon, Connecticut, Tali- 
tlia Kingsbury, born December 7, 1726, at 
Norwich, died January 18, 1789; (second) 
Catherine, widow of Moses Graves. By first 
marriage he had five children. 

(V) Cyprian, son of Zacheus and Talitha 
(Kingsbury) Waldo, was born at Windham, 
Connecticut, November 13, 1747, died at 
Sharon, Connecticut, July 8. 1797. He mar- 
ried Hannah Ripley, born February 23, 1750, 
died June 27, 1813, and is buried at Spencer's 
Corner, town of Northeast, Dutchess county, 
New York. They had seven children. 

(VI) David Ripley, son of Cyprian and 
Hannah (Ripley) Waldo, was born at Sharon, 
Connecticut, July 24, 1778, died at Hudson, 
New York, October 16, 1815. He removed 
to Hudson in 1794 and engaged in merchan- 
dising and freighting. He established the 
Waldo homestead on Main street, which is yet 
in jjossession of the family. He married 
Deborah Clark, born .A.ugust 4, 177S, at Nan- 
tucket, Massachusetts, died at Hudson, New 
■S'ork, I^Iarch 3, 1848, daughter of George 
Clark, and granddaughter of Ichabod and 
Deborah (Bunker) Clark. George Clark mar- 
ried Abigail Swain, a descendant of Richard 
Swain of Nantucket. Children of David Rip- 
ley and Deborah Clark Waldo: i. George 
Ciark, a sailor, died in Boston "aged thirty- 
eight, buried in the South Ground," unmar- 
ried. 2. Charles, graduate of Union College, 
1817; "he was a lawyer of some prominence, 
resident at Hudson ; held positions of trust 
and responsibility, and was a brilliant conver- 
sationalist and deliater. Many of the influen- 
tial men of the town were his intimate friends, 
his preferences being for the society of re- 
fined and literary men." He was unmarried. 
3. Henry, of whom further. 4. William. "He 



was an accountant of decided ability, correct 
and methodical in his habits, a firm friend, 
strong in his likes and dislikes. A small por- 
tion of his life was spent in New York City, 
where he was employed as an accountant. He 
was also in New Orleans for a short time. He 
was never satisfied away from home. He was 
devotedly attached to his mother, and lived 
but one year after her death." He was un- 
married. 

(VH) Henry, son of David Ripley and 
Deborah (Clark) Waldo, was born February 
18, 1805, at Hudson, New York, died there 
March 12, 1888. Of a roving nature, he ran 
away to sea at the age of fifteen years and 
followed a sailor's life until he was forty. 
Among the many tlirilling adventures was the 
rescue of the captain, his wife, three children, 
and the crew, of an English brig. The British 
Admiralty acknowledged this brave act by 
presenting Waldo and his four associates with 
one hundred pounds. His vessel was wrecked 
in mid-.-\tlantic, and for two days and three 
nights he and seven sailors clung to the 
wreckage until rescued by a passing vessel. 
He rose to be captain of the ship "Orbit," but 
soon after retired from the sea. He settled 
in Hudson, where he engagd in merchandis- 
ing for a time, until the discovery of gold in 
California, which awoke again the "wander- 
lust." A company was formed, the bark 
"Mousam" purchased, and Captain Waldo 
placed in command. They sailed around the 
Horn and safely reached San Francisco, 
where the company disbanded. Captain 
Waldo remained in California eighteen 
months, was elected associate judge of El- 
dorado county, opened the first court there, 
and was actively and prominently identified 
with that county. Ill health, however, com- 
pelled his return, and soon after he was 
elected sheriflf of Columbia county, being the 
only Republican elected on the ticket. June 
23, 1870, he was appointed inspector of cus- 
toms at New York City. He married, Febru- 
ary 10, 1845, Sarah Heath, born December 4, 
1822, at Hudson, the place of her death, July 
25. 1890. Children: i. Jane Eliza, of whom 
further. 2. George Clark, secretary of the 
old Equitable Savings Bank of New York 
City, president of the E.xcelsior Bank of New 
York City at the age of thirty-one years (said 
to have been the youngest bank president in 
the state) ; died. He was prominent in the 
Masonic order, and a member of prominent 
New York City clubs ; married October 10, 
1874, Florence Adelaide Post. They had no 
children, but adopted a son, Willard Clark 
Waldo. 3. Deborah, married, December 11, 
1895, at Alount Vernon, New York, Lothar 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



477 



Alexander Mortimer, Baron von Grave, born 
in Prussia, a descendant of one of the old 
military families of Prussia. He served in 
the Turco-Austrian war as lieutenant, was 
wounded, and later opened an art studio in 
Munich, being finely educated in the fine arts 
and a painter of note. He later came to the 
United States and opened a studio in New 
York City, became interested in industrial art, 
and in 1899 was in charge of the art depart- 
incnt iif H. L. Judd & Company, in Walling- 
ford. Connecticut. Deborah was his second 
w'ife. They had no issue. 4. Harriet, mar- 
ried. October 16, 1883, at Hudson, Joseph 
Bartlett Hydorn. of Troy, New York, born 
April I. i860, died February 13, 1898, at Al- 
bany. New Yorlx. He was educated at Rens- 
selaer Polytechnic Institute as a chemist, and 
witli his father inaugurated the first electric 
light plant in Troy. Later he was connected 
with the state insurance department at Albany. 
They had one child, Joseph r>artlett, born 
August I. 1885. 

(MH) Jane Eliza (Jennie), eldest child 
•of Captain Henry and Sarah (Heath) Waldo, 
was born at Hudson. New York, March 17, 
1846. She married. May 30. 1866, at Hudson, 
William Henry Hudson. (See Hudson VHL) 



The Drapers of England, from 
DRAPER whom the American family 

descend, were originally na- 
tives to the county of Yorkshire, at or near 
Heptonstall, and all of the name are believed 
to have descended from William, John and 
Henry Le Drapon. Heptonstall is a village 
and parochial chapelry in Halifax Parish. 
West Riding, Yorkshire. The ancestor of 
the American family is Thomas Draper, father 
•of James "'the Puritan." He was a clothier 
and fuller. His ancestors had followed the 
same business before him. and his American 
descendants frequently did likewise in New 
England. The very name Draper suggests 
the occupation, "one who deals in cloth." His 
wife's name is not preserved.. The Hepton- 
stall family records, back to 1593. do not re- 
cord the marriage of Thomas Draper. The 
family name is an honored one in English 
history, and was entitled to a coat-of-arms. 
Sir Christopher Draper, in 1657, was lord 
mayor of London, and there are many of the 
name who have been prominent in the civil 
and military history of their native country. 
The Stausfields and Drapers were closelv al- 
lied for centuries in England, and culminated 
in the marriage of a daughter of the house to 
James Draper, "the Puritan." and becoming 
the mother of tlie Draper family of America. 
In this countrv the name is an honored one in 



every branch of our civil, religious or com- 
mercial life. They are found in every pro- 
fession, business or trade. Many eminent 
men have borne the name which we here 
trace through nine generations, from James 
"the Puritan." to Frederick Elliott Draper, of 
Troy, New York. 

( II) James, fourth .son and child of Thomas 
Draper, was born in the priory of Heptonstall, 
vicarage of Halifax, Yorkshire, England, in 
161 8, died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1694. 
Although James Draper is found in history 
as one of the original proprietors of the town 
of Lancaster, no evidence can be found that 
he ever lived there. His first residence was 
in Roxbury, Sarah, Susanna and James, his 
first American-born children, there first saw 
the light. He then moved to Dedham. for 
his sons. John, Moses and Daniel were born 
there. He then must have returned to Rox- 
bury. for his youngest children, Patience and 
Jonathan, are recorded as born there, and 
James, the father, is there buried. He was 
made a freeman of Roxbury, 1690. His first 
child, born in America, was Susanna, born 
about 1650. wliich determines to a reasonable 
certainty the date of his emigration. He 
married, in Heptonstall. April 21, 1646. Mi- 
riam, daughter of Gideon Stansfield and his 
wife. Grace Eastwood, of \\'adsworth. York- 
shire. James and Aliriam (Stansfield) Dra- 
per are buried at W^est Roxbury. Massachu- 
setts, where the same stone marks the resting- 
place of both. They had nine children: Mi- 
riam, born in England, and the others in 
America — Susanna, Sarah, James, see for- 
ward. John. ]\Ioses. Daniel. Patience and Jon- 
athan. The sons all married and founded fam- 
ilies. The daughters also married, excepting 
]\Iiriam, the eldest, who died in infancy be- 
fore leaving England. 

(III) James (2). fourth child and eldest 
son of James (i) "the Puritan" and Miriam 
(Stansfield) Draper, was born at Roxbury, 
Alassachusetts, in 1654, died there April 30. 
1698. He received from his father part of his 
farm at Roxbury. In 1683 leave was granted 
by the town of Dedham to Nathaniel \Miit- 
ing and James Draper to "erect a fulling 
mill below the corn mills" on Mother Brook. 
He served as a soldier in King Philip's war 
during 1675. After his death his widow kept 
an ordinary on Baker street. Roxbury. James 
was a great wrestler, and the chamjiion of his 
section. This proved his undoing. In dis- 
posing of the ambitious claim of a stranger 
to being the "best man," he broke a tendon 
in his leg and was never able to go out again. 
James and Abigail, his wife, are buried in 
the First Parish cemeterv at Dedham, Massa- 



478 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK \'ALLEYS 



chusetts, where a stone marks their resting 
place, inscribed, "They were lovely and pleas- 
ant in their life; in their death were not di- 
vided." He married, February 18. 1681, Abi- 
ijail Whiting, born in Roxbury. June 7, 1663, 
died October 25, 1721, daughter of Nathaniel 
Whiting and his wife Hannah Dwight. She 
was a granddaughter of John Dwight, from 
whom President Timothy Dwight of Yale 
College and other prominent men descended. 
They were the parents of seven children : 
Abigail, Nathaniel, William, Eunice, James, 
Gideon, Ebenezer, see forward. 

(I\') Ebenezer, fifth son and youngest child 
of James (2) and Abigail (Whiting) Draper, 
was born at Roxbury. Massachusetts, April 
2-], i6g8, died there June 3, 1784. He and 
his first wife were admitted to full commun- 
ion at the Fir.st Church of Roxbury. January 
26, 1724. He was dismissed to the church 
in Dedham, November 14, 1734. He was a 
farmer by occupation, and, after leaving his 
father's home in Roxbury, passed his life at 
his family seat, "Green Lodge," near Dedham. 
He married (first), March 2, 1723, Dorothy, 
daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Morris) 
Child, of Brookline, Massachusetts. She was 
a sister of Abigail, who married James Dra- 
per. She was born May 25, 1701, died Au- 
gust 2, 1748. He married (second) Novem- 
ber 16, 1749, Sybil, born January 3, 1720, 
died February 16, 1816. daughter of William 
and Esther Avery, of Dedham. Massachu- 
setts. Children of first wife: Dorothy. Anna, 
Keziah, Ebenezer, Anna (2), Prudence, Isaac, 
Miriam, Stephen, see forward. Children of 
second wife: .Sybil, Rebecca, William. Re- 
becca (2), Jemima, Mary, Catherine and Anna, 
Dorothy (Ciiild) Draper was a daughter of 
Joshua Child, born in Roxbury, Massachu- 
setts, 1638: married. May 9, 1685, Elizabeth 
Morris, granddaughter of iienjamin Child, 
who emigrated from Great Britain to America 
and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His 
wife Mary was admitted to the church at that 
town in 1658. They were the parents of 
twelve children : Joshua being the third son 
and child. 

(\') Stephen, ninth child and third son of 
Ebenezer and Dorothy (Child) Draper, was 
horn at the family home "Green Lodge" near 
Dedham, Massachusetts, February 23, 1742. 
He served three enlistments in the revolu- 
tionary war, twice as sergeant in Colonel 
John Daggett's regiment, and once as cor- 
poral in Colonel Dean's regiment, all of this 
service performed in Rhode Island on alarms. 
He came to Attleboro from Dedham with his 
l)rothers. Isaac and Ebenezer, and purchased 
thirty acres of land deeded to him. .\pril 17, 



1772. He erected a tannery, which was one- 
of the largest in the country, and was a very 
successful business man. He also had a mill 
for weaving cloth and one for making nails, 
and built other tanneries in Connecticut and 
Rhode Island. He was a man of uncommon 
energy, highest integrity, and a very strict 
Puritan. The house that he built was occu- 
pied by his descendants until 1885, when it 
was torn down and another erected in its 
place on the same site and again occupied by 
his posterity. To this day it is the family 
shrine, and each Thanksgiving Day the family 
meet in large numbers and celebrate the day. 
The old tannery buildings were demolished in 
1858. He married, April 4, 1764, Elizabeth,, 
born September 11, 1740, daughter of Jona- 
than and Mary Fisher, of Dedham, Massa- 
chusetts. Children, all born in South Attle- 
boro, Massachusetts: Fisher, Paul, Anna, 
Betty, Stephen, see forward, Mary, Catherine, 
Joseph, Ebenezer and ^liriam. 

(\T) Stephen (2), third son and fifth 
child of Stephen (i) and Elizabeth (Fisher) 
Draper, was born in South Attleboro, Massa- 
chusetts, April 29, 1775. He removed to Kill- 
ingley. Connecticut. He married ( first ) Fan- 
ny Capron. died March 19, 1799; married 
(second), September 27, 1801. Catherine 
Fisher, of Fisherville. Massachusetts. Chil- 
dren by second marriage : Eliza : Seth, mar- 
ried Mary L. Greeman : Edwin ; Albert ; Ste- 
phen (see forward) ; Daniel F. and Fanny C. 

(\TI) Stephen (3), fourth son and fifth 
child of Stephen (2) and Catherine (Fisher) 
Draper, was born in Killingley, Connecticut, 
March 19, 181 1, died in Troy. New York, 
March 19, 1890. He was apprenticed to a 
tanner when but twelve years of age, but left 
that when still a young man and removed to 
Greenville. Massachusetts, where he engaged 
in the manufacture of scythes, as .senior mem- 
ber of Draper, Brown & Chadsey. He re- 
moved to Troy, New York, in 1847, and con- 
ducted the same business there very success- 
fully until the invention and introduction of 
mowing machines. He then engaged in the 
manufacture of twine and fish lines until a 
few months before his death. He married 
(first), in 1840, Harriet, daughter of Captain 
T. Elliott, of Sutton, Massachusetts. She 
died September 5, 1850. Children: 1. Wil- 
liam Henry, see forward. 2. I'rederick El- 
liott, see forward. 3. Harriet Augusta, born 
December 12. 1845. 4- Charles Eugene, born 
.\ugust 14. 1850: married (fir.st) December 
IS. 1876. Jenny Pile, of Troy. New York, 
died April 14, 1886; married (second), No- 
vember 4, 1891, Lucy G. Gushing. Children 
by first wife: i. Charles Stephen, lj<jrn and' 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



479' 



died in 1881. ii. Jenny Louise, July 30. 1882. 
Stephen Draper married (second), November 
15, 1851, Wealthy Cutting of Leicester, Alas- 
sachuetts, wlio died March 19, 1889; chil- 
dren of second wife: 5. Edward Cuttinj;, 
died in infancy. 6. Catherine l'"isher, died in 
infancy. 

(VHI) William Henry Draper, eldest son 
of Stephen (3) and Harriet (Elliott) Dra- 
per, was born in Rochdale, Worcester county, 
Massachusetts, June 24, 1841. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Troy, whither 
his parents removed when he was five years 
of age. In 1856 he was appointed teller of 
the Farmers" liank at Lansingburg (Troy), 
continuing until August 1. 1861. He was 
employed by a firm in Schenectady until 1869, 
when he removed to Troy to enter into busi- 
ness with his father under the firm name of 
S. Drajjer & Son, which firm was continued 
until 1883, W. H. Draper carrying on the 
business from that time until 1890, when his 
son. -Andrew L. Draper, became associated 
with him under the firm name of W. H. Dra- 
per & Son, which continued until July i, 1909, 
when E. E. Draper became a member of the 
firm of W. H. Draper & Sons. This firm 
manufactures braided sash cord, lines and 
twines. Mr. Draper early became connected 
with the Republican party, was trustee of the 
Lansingburg village corporation, jury com- 
missioner for Rensselaer county from 1896 to 
1901. In 1900 he was nominated and elected 
the follow'ing November a member of the 
national house of representatives from the 
nineteenth congressional district of New 
York. December 8, igoi, he took his seat 
as a member of the fifty-seventh congress. 
He was re-elected from the twenty-second dis- 
trict in 1902-04-06-08, and is now serving his 
fifth consecutive term. His career as con- 
gressman has been one of honor, and his years 
of service at Washington have given him an 
experience that renders him of particular 
benefit to his district. He has served on many 
of the responsible committees of the house, 
and received many signal proofs of the confi- 
dence reposed in him by those high in author- 
ity at the national capitol. He is a strong, in- 
fluential member of his party, and recognized 
among the leaders in New York state. 

Mr. Draper married, November 15. 1864, 
Magdalene Livingston, of Schenectady. New 
York. Children: i. Andrew Livingston, 
born December 23, 1865; married, October 15, 
1891, Mary Ruth Thompson, of Lockport, 
New York, daughter of George B. and Mary 
(Avery) Thompson. 2. Grace Mary, born 
November 7, 1870, died May 17, 187 1. 3. 
George Frederick, born September 22, 1872, 



died December 19, 1873. 4- Edward Elliott, 
born June 19, 1876; graduate of Union Col- 
lege, class of 1897, receiving degree of .\. 1!.: 
married. October 6, 1902, Jessamine, daugh- 
ter of Charles P. and Matilda (Everingham) 
Kimball, of Troy, New York ; child, Richard 
Elliott, born June 19, 1909. 5. Bessie Mag- 
dalene, educated at La Salle Seminary, .\u- 
burndale, Massachusetts. 

(\TII) F'rederick Elliott, son of Stephen 
(3) and Harriet (Elliott) Draper, was bom 
in Rochdale, Massachusetts, October 12, 1843. 
He came to Troy when three years of age. 
He was educated in the public schools and 
began his business life in a book and newspa- 
per store. In October, 1861, he enlisted in 
the Eleventh Independent Battery, New York 
\'olunteers, which was attached to the .\rmy 
of the Potomac. He saw hard .service and 
with his battery was in the hard-fought and 
bloody battles of Fredericksburg, (i'hancel- 
lorsville, Wilderness and others. He was pro- 
moted corporal of the battery and mustered 
out with honor at the close of the war. In 
1869 he began engaging in the tobacco busi- 
ness and for many years was the junior part- 
ner of Fitzpatrick & Draper, manufacturers of 
cigars and wholesalers of tobacco. He was 
one of the organizers of the National City 
Bank of Troy, in 1903, and a director since 
that date ; director of the Troy Trust Com- 
pany : of Polk & Calder. wholesale drugs : 
president of Boutwell Milling & Grain Com- 
pany ; vice-president and director of the W'U- 
bur Stephens Company, manufacturers of 
shirts, collars and cuffs. He is now living in 
Troy, retired from active business. During 
his active life he was a resident of Lansing- 
burg (now North Troy), and from 1879 to- 
1888 was president of the village corporation. 
He is a Republican in politics and served as 
delegate to Republican state convention that 
nominated Governor Cornell. He is a trustee 
of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. 

He married, in Boston. Massachusetts, in 
1 87 1, .Vnn Jane, born in Troy, New ^'ork, 
daughter of Don Carlos Woodcock, who was 
born in Hoosick, New York, in 1805, died 
in Troy, in 1880. He was a graduate of 
\\'il!iams College, .A. B., 1839: studied law and 
was a practicing attorney of Troy. He mar- 
ried Julia Blass, and had four children, of 
whom .\nn Jane Woodcock was the third. 
Children: i. Frederick Elliott, see forward. 
2. Phili]) Henry, born .April 2, 187?^; educated 
in the common and high schools, Troy Acad- 
emy, Park -Avenue Institute, Bridgeport. Con- 
necticut, and a student two years at Williams 
College ; in 1897 he enlisted in the Citizens' 



48o 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



Corps, now Company A, Second Regiment, 
New York National Guard, served in the 
Spanish-American war, and during the strike 
■on the Hudson \'alley railroad was on duty 
with his company in Albany ; he was ap- 
pointed battalion quartermaster and sergeant, 
continuing in the service until 1907; he was 
in the employ of Polk & Calder, wholesale 
druggists, and with Fitzpatrick & Draper, 
wholesale tobacco dealers, until July. 1907, 
when he engaged in the fire, casualty and 
bonding business as the senior partner of 
Draper & Higgins ; he is active in the Repub- 
lican party and a member of the Presbyterian 
church : he is a member of the college fra- 
ternity. Delta Psi; Trojan Hook and Ladder 
Company, and the senior company of the 
Citizens' Corps ; while at Williams he was 
prominent in athletics, full-back of the foot- 
tall team, and after leaving college played 
the same position with the Chicago Athletic 
Association and was captain of the team ; in 

1902 and 1903 played with the Watertown 
Athletic Association. He married, Novem- 
"ber 16. 1904, at Watertown. New York, Sally 
Bryant, daughter of Henry Stimson, editor 
and publisher, born at Tampa, Florida ; child : 
Philip Henry Draper (2), born September 6, 
igo6. 3. Louis Legrand. born August 10, 
1879, in Troy. New York; he is now a stu- 
dent at the College of Osteopathy, Los An- 
■geles. California. 

(IX) Frederick Elliott (2). son of Fred- 
■erick Elliott (i) and Ann Jane (Woodcock) 
Draper, was born in Troy, New York. April 
3, 1873. His primary education was obtained 
in the public schools of Troy, after which 
lie passed through the high school, graduat- 
ing in 1891 ; entered Williams College, from 
which he was graduated A. P... class of 1895. 
Choosing the profession of law. he matricu- 
lated at Harvard Law School, graduating 
LL. P.. in 1898. He was admitted to the 
New York state bar in the fall of the same 
year, located his law offices in Troy, and un- 
til 1902 carried on his practice alone. Tn 
the latter year he formed a partnershij) with 
C. W. Pietts, a leading lawyer of Troy, and as 
Belts & Draper so continue (1910"). They 
conduct a general law practice, and are well 
established in public favor. In December. 
1907, he was appointed by the mayor of Troy, 
judge of the city court, to fill out an unex- 
pired term. At the fall election of 1909 he 
Avas elected by the people to fill the same 
office for the full term of four years. Judge 
Draper is active in city public affairs. Po- 
litically he is an Independent Republican. Tn 

1903 he was the Independent candidate for 
■county attorney. Init failed of election by a 



narrow margin. During the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war he enlisted in May, 1898, in Company 
A, Second Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
and served until his company was mustered 
out in November of the same year. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian church of Troy. 
His college fraternity is Delta Psi. His so- 
cial clubs are the Island, Golf and Pafraets 
Dael. His fraternal relations are Masonic, 
being affiliated with both lodge and chapter of 
that order. He married. October 4. 1903, 
Katherine Peebles, of Waterford, daughter 
of Dr. Roland H. and Katherine Duer (Aus- 
tin) Stubbs, of Waterford, New York. Chil- 
dren : I. Katherine Roland, born August 8, 
1904. 2. Frederick Elliott (3), born Janu- 
ary 8, 1906. 



The Dornins of New York 
DORNIN City, there seated since 1790, 

descend from Alexander Dor- 
nin. of "Lecharrowhoyle." in the parish of 
Raphoe, barony of Tirawley, county of Mayo, 
Ireland. This estate was confiscated by Oli- 
ver Cromwell. 

(I) The American ancestor was Thomas 
Dornin, son of Patrick, son of Brian, fifth in 
descent froin Alexander. He came to Amer- 
ica when a boy and settled in New York City, 
where he studied law and practiced his pro- 
fession. He served during the war of 1812 
in Captain Homer Whittemore's company. 
Second (\'an Hook's) Regiment New York 
Militia, service September 2 to October 26, 
1814. He died December. 181 5. He married 
Phoebe Marchant, born October 14, 1775. 
died April 10, 1847, daughter of Gamaliel and 
Lvdia (Ripley) Marchant (see Marchant 
V'l). 

(II) William Henry, son of Thomas and 
Phoebe (Marchant) Dornin, was born in New 
York City, July 31, 181 1, died there October 
16, 1S77. He married. November 23. 1834, 
Phoebe G. Coffin (see Coffin \TI), born July 
10. 1 819. died October 13. 1899. daughter of 
George Bunker and Abigail (Allen) Coffin, a 
descendant of Tristram Coffin, of Nantucket. 

(III) William Coffin, son of William Hen- 
ry and Phoebe G. (Coffin) Dornin. was born 
in New York City. February 20. 1840. He 
was educated in the city schools; began his 
business career there and still continues, en- 
gaged as a stock broker. He married, June 
20, 1866, Mary Jane Evans, born .September 
19, T845. died September 30, 189S. daughter 
of Robert William Evans, born October 23, 
T817. died !\Iay 31. 1868: married. .September 
15. 1840. Harriet Elizalx?th Westcott, born 
July 17. 1824, daughter of Solomon Westcott, 
born .September 20, 1789. died January 5, 



HUDSON AXD MOHAWK VALLEYS 



481 



1874; married, October 6, 1810, Sarah Badg- 
er, born June 10, 1792, died October 25, 1875, 
daughter of Samuel Badger, who married, 
February 13, 1787, EHzabeth Gardner (sec 
Gardner IX). Robert W. Evans is a son of 
William Evans, who came to Columbia coun- 
ty. New York, from Lancashire, England, and 
his wife. Mary (Blaco) Evans, born May 31, 
1800, died September 9, 1849. Robert \V. 
Evans settled in Hudson, New York, where 
the family now resides. His wife, Harriet 
Elizabeth (Westcott) Evans, daughter of Sol- 
omon W'estcott, son of Abraham Westcott, 
born January 31, 1760, married Lydia W'ardell, 
born July i, 1765, and descendant of Richard 
Westcott, one of the original proprietors of 
Bedford. Westchester county. New York, and 
said to be of the family of Stukely Westcott, 
the associate of Roger W'illiams in the foun- 
dation of the city of Providence, Rhode 
Island. Children of Robert William and Har- 
riet E. (Westcott) Evans: i. Cornelius Hen- 
ry. 2. ]\Iary Jane, married William Coffin 
Dornin. 3. Harriet, married Arthur Curtiss 
Stott (see Stott). Children of William Cof- 
fin and Mary Jane (Evans) Dornin: i. 
Mary. 2. Arthur Evans, born April 3, 1870, 
died April, 1904; married Caroline Louise, 
daughter of John Neilson Bull ; child, Arthur 
Evans, born May, 1904. 3. William Coffin 
(2), of further mention. 4. Florence, de- 
ceased. 

(I\') William Coffin (2), .son of William 
Coffin (i) and Mary Jane (Evans) Dornin. 
was born in New York City, August 4, 1873. 
He prepared for college in city schools; en- 
tered Columbia University, whence he was 
graduated A. B., class of 1894, now engaged 
in the real estate business in New York City. 

(The Coffin Line). 
Phoebe G. (Coffin) Dornin descends from 
the well-known Coffin family • of Nantucket, 
Massachusetts. 

(I) Stephen Coffin, born May 10, 1652, 
married, 1668. Marv Bunker, born 1652, died 
1724. 

(II) Stephen (2), son of Stephen (i) and 
Mary (Bunker) Coffin, was born February 20, 
1676, died 1725; married, September 21, 
1693. Experience Look, born November 22, 
1672, diet! .\pril 17, 1759, daughter of Thom- 
as Look, born June. 1646, and his wife, Eliza- 
beth (Bunker) Look, born 1646. 

(III) Zephaniah, son of Stephen (2) and 
Experience (Look) Coffin, was born -August 
2S. 1699. died September 10. 1774; married, 
July, 1725, Miriam Macy. born February 16, 
1708. died August 2, 1736, daughter of John 
(2) !Macy, born 1675, died November 28, 



1751 ; married, April 25, 1707, Judith Worth, 
born December 22, 1689, died November 8, 
1767, daughter of John Worth, who married, 
September 22, 1684, IMiriam Gardner, daugh- 
ter of Richard and granddaughter of Thomas 
Gardner. John (2) Macy was the son of 
John (i) j\Iacy, born July 14, 1655, died Oc- 
tober 14, 1691 ; married Deborah Gardner, 
born February 12, 1658. daughter of Richard 
and granddaughter of Thomas Gardner. 

(IV) Stephen (3), son of Zephaniah and 
Miriam (Macy) Coffin, married Alary Bunker, 
born 1736 (see Bunker III), of .\antucket. 

(V) Noah, son of Stephen (3) and Mary 
(Bunker) Coffin, removed from Nantucket, 
Massachusetts, to Cooperstown, New York. 
He married Lydia Bunker (see Bunker V). 

(\'I) George Bunker, son of Noah and 
Lydia (Bunker) Coffin, was born November 
4, 1781, died I'ebruary ij, 1855; married, May 
II, 1803, Abigail .\llen, born March 19, 1784, 
died May 31, 1852, daughter of Ebenezer Al- 
len, born March 'iG, 1749, died October 8, 
1790, married Mary Wing, born March 12, 
1749, died October 16, 1789. He settled in 
Hudson, New York. 

(VII) Phoebe G.. daughter of George 
Bunker and Abigail (.\llen) Coffin, married 
William Henry Dornin (see Dornin II). 

(The Bunker Line). 
Lydia (Bunker) Coffin, wife of Noah Cof- 
fin, was a daughter of Jonathan Bunker and 
fourth in descent from George Bunker, who 
died May 26, 1658, and Jane (Godfrey) 
Bunker, died October 31, 1(^2. 

(II) William, son of George and Jane 
(Godfrey) Bunker, was born 1648. died June 
6, 1712: married, April 11, 1665, Mary ?ilacy, 
born December 4, 1648. died 1729, daughter 
of Thomas Macy, chief magistrate of Nan- 
tucket, born 1608, died April 19, 1682; mar- 
ried, September 6. 1639, Sarah Hopcot, born 
1612. died 1706. 

(III) Peleg, son of William and Mary 
(Macy) Bunker, married Susanna, died June 
II, 1740. daughter of Stephen and Mary 
(Bunker) Coffin (see Coffin I\'). Mary was 
the daughter of George and Jane (Godfrey) 
Bunker. 

(I\') Jonathan, son of Peleg and Susanna 
(Coffin) Bunker, died May 10, 1778; married, 
September 9, 1742, Judith Macy, born Oc- 
tober 14, 1 72 1, died December 20, 1799, 
daughter of Richard Macy, born September 
22, 1689, died December 25, 1779: married, 
September 8, 171 1, Deborah Pinkham, born 
December 28. 1694, died December 13, 1767, 
daughter of Richard and Mary (Coffin) 
Pinkham, granddaughter of James Coffin^ 



482 



HUDSON AND .MOHAWK \^-\LLEYS 



bom August 12, 1640, died July 28, 1720; 
married, December 3, 1663, Mary Severance, 
born August 5, 1645. Richard Macy was the 
son of John Macy, born July 14, 1655, died 
October 14, 1691 ; married Deborah Gardner, 
born February 2, 1658, died 171 2, daughter 
of Richard Gardner, a chief magistrate of 
Nantucket, and Sarah (Shattuck) Gardner. 
John Macy was the son of Thomas Macy, 
born 1608, died April 19, 1682; married, Sep- 
tember 6, 1639, Sarah Hopcot, born 1612, 
died 1706. 

Mary Severance, wife of James Coffin, was 
a daughter of John Severance, a member of 
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- 
pany of Boston, who died April 9, 1682. He 
married Abigail Kimball, died June 17, 1658, 
daughter of Richard Kimball, died June 22, 
1675, and Ursula, daughter of Henry and 
Martha Scott. 

(V) Lydia, daughter of Jonathan and Ju- 
dith (Macy) Bunker, married Noah Coffin 
(see Coffin V). They were the grandparents 
of Phoebe G. Coffin, wife of William Henry 
Dornin. 

(The Marchant Line). 

Phoebe (Marchant) Dornin, wife of 
Thomas Dornin, was daughter of Gamaliel 
Marchant, who was a descendant of John and 
Sarah Marchant, the former of whom died 
1717, and the latter r^Iarch 10, 1638 (Boston 
Records, New England Historical and Genea- 
logical Register, July, 1849, p. 247). 

(H) John (2), son of John (i) and Sarah 
Marchant, was appointed lieutenant under 
Captain Myles Standish; married Mary Mar- 
chant; was buried June 19, 1672. 

(HI) Abishai, son of John and Mary Mar- 
chant, married and had issue. 

(IV) John (3), son of Abishai Marchant, 
(lied i-'cbruarv 9, 1767: married Hepsibah 
llnxford. 

(\) John (4), son of John (3) and Hepsi- 
bah (Iluxford) Marchant, married iSIiriam 
Cleveland; died December 20, 1790. He 
served in the revolutionary war, a private in 
Captain I'>enjamin Smith's company, service 
from January 18 to September i, 1776 (see 
"Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the 
Revolution"). Miriam Cleveland was a de- 
scendant of Moses (i) Cleveland (a soldier 
of King Philip's war) and .Xnn (Winn) 
Cleveland. Their son, Moses (2), born Sep- 
tember I, 1 65 1, died October 30, 1717; mar- 
ried, .August 4, 1676, Ruth, born 1654, daugh- 
ter of Nicholas Norton, born 1610, died June 
8, 1690 (circa), and his wife Elizabeth (cir- 
ca), 1690. Ehenezer, son of Moses (2) 
Cleveland, was born t68i, died January i, 
1747; married Mary \'incent, born 1691, died 



1 761, daughter of Thomas, born September 
15, 1650, and Sarah (Post) Vincent, grand- 
daughter of William, born 1627, and Susan- 
nah (Browning) Vincent, born 1630. 

(\''I) Gamaliel, son of John (4) and Miriam 
(Cleveland) Marchant, married. May 19, 
1763, Lydia Ripley. He served in the revo- 
lutionary war as corporal in Captain Benja- 
min Smith's company, service from January 
19 to May 31, 1776, at Martha's Vineyard, 
in defense of the sea coast (see "Massachu- 
setts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution"). 
Lydia Ripley, born May 6, 1743, died Decem- 
ber 27, 1825, was a daughter of Peter and 
Damaris (Chase) Ripley, the latter of whom 
was baptized September 24, 1738, died Decem- 
ber 6, 1 761, daughter of Joseph Chase, died 
May I, 1749, "aged 60 years, 2 months, 20 

days"; married Lydia , died July 17, 

1749, aged "52 years, 2 months, 11 days."' 

(\TI) Phoebe, daughter of Gamaliel and 
Lydia (Ripley) Marchant, married Thomas 
Dornin (see Dornin I). 

(The Gardner Line). 

Elizabeth Gardner, great-grandmother of 
I\Iary Jane (Evans) Dornin, wife of \\'illiam 
Coffin Dornin, was a descendant of John ( i ) 
Gardner. 

(II) John (2), son of John (i) Gardner, 
was born December 20, 1633; married Susan- 
nah, daughter of Nathaniel and Alary Hou- 
chin, Honchin, or Howchin, daughter of Jere- 
my and Esther Houchin. Jeremy Houchin 
was a member of the .\ncient and Honorable 
Artillery Company of Boston, son of \\'illiam 
Houchin. 

(HI) Jeremiah, son of John (2) and Su- 
sannah (Houchin) Gardner, died May 3, 
1/68; married, /Vugust 8, 171 1, Sarah, born 
January 9, 1693, died December i, 1738, 
daughter of James (2) Coffin, died October 
2, 1741 ; married, March 19, 1692, Ruth 
Gardner, born January 26, 1678, died October 
4, 1748, daughter of Captain John Gardner, 
born 1624, died May, 1706; married, Febru- 
ary 20, 1634, Priscilla, daughter of Joseph 
Grafton. Captain John was a son of Thomas 
Gardner, died October 29, 1674, and Mar- 
garet (Frier) Gardner. 

(IV) George, son of Jeremiah and Sarah 
(Coffin) Gardner, married Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of James Chase, born January 13, 1685, 
and Rachel Brown, daughter of John (2) 
Brown and Rachel Gardner; granddaughter 
of John ( I ) P.rown and Hannah Hobart, and 
great-granddaughter of Elder John Brown. 
Hannah Hobart was the daughter of Rev. 
Peter Hobart, baptized October 13, 1604, died 
March 8, 1646; married Rebecca Ibrook. born 



HUDSON AND IMOHAWK VALLEYS 



483 



1621, died September 9, 1693 (second wife), 
daughter of Richard Ibrook. Rev. Peter Ho- 
bart was the son of Edmund Hobart, died 
March 8, 1646; married, September 12, 1600, 
Margaret Dewey. 

(\') Elisha. son of George and EHzabeth 
(Chase) Gardner, married ]\uth Meder. 

(VI) Elizabeth, daughter of Elisha and 
Ruth (Meder) Gardner, married, February 
13. 1787, Samuel Badger. 

(VII) Sarah, daughter of Samuel and Eliz- 
abeth (Gardner) Badger, born June 10, 1792, 
died October 25, 1875: married, October 6, 
1810, Solomon \\'estcott, born September 20, 
1789, died January 5, 1874, son of Abraham 
and Lydia ( Wardell) W'cstcott. 

(VIII) Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of Sol- 
omon and Sarah (Badger) Westcott. married 
Robert William, son of A\'illiam Evans. 

(IX) Mary Jane, daughter of Robert Wil- 
liam and Harriet Elizabeth (Westcott) Ev- 
ans, married William Coffin Dornin (see Dor- 
nin III). 

(The Chase Line). 
The Chase family, with whom the Gard- 
ners and Coffins intermarried, begins with 
Thomas Chase. 

(II) Richard, son of Thomas Chase, was 
baptized November 30, 1540; married, April 
16, 1564, Joan Bishop. 

(III) Aquila, son of Richard and Joan 
(Bishop) Chase, was born August 14, 1580; 
married Sarah . 

(IV) Thomas (2), son of Aquila and Sa- 
rah Chase, was born 1618, died 1652; mar- 
ried, 1642, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas 
Philbrick. 

(V) Isaac, son of Thomas (2) and Eliza- 
beth (Philbrick) Oiase, born April i, 1650, 
died May 19, 1727; married, October 5, 1675, 
Mary Tilton. 

(\T) James, son of Isaac and Mary (Til- 
ton) Chase, was born January 15, 1685; mar- 
ried Rachel Brown (see Gardner IV). 

(VII) Elizabeth, daughter of James and 
Rachel (Brown) Chase, married George 
Gardner (Gardner IV) and from them de- 
scent continues to William Coffin (2) Dornin, 
through his mother, Mary Jane (Evans) Dor- 
nin (see Gardner, Bunker and Coffin lines). 

(.Another Bunker Line). 
Mary (Bunker) Coffin, wife of Stephen 
Coffin, descended from William Bunker and 
Mary Macy (see Bunker II), through their 
son, Jabez, born November 7, 1678, died May 
6, 1750: married, November 19, 1706, Han- 
nah Gardner, born May 6, 1686, died March 
25. 1773. daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail 
Coffin. Samuel, son of Jabez and Hannah 



Bunker, was born September 5, 171 1, died 
September 3, 1786; married, November 17, 
1 73 1, Priscilla Coleman, born September 26, 
1713, died July 11, 1797. daughter of John 
(2) and granddaughter of John (i) Cole- 
man, born 1644, died 1715; married Joanna 
Folger, died May 18, 1719. John (2) Cole- 
man was born .Vugust 2, 1667. ^I'^J January 
19, 1762; married Priscilla Starbuck, born 
October 25, 1676, died March 14, 1762, 
daughter of Nathaniel Starbuck, born 1635, 
died February 2, 1719; married. 1662, Mary 
Coffin, born February 20. 1645. died Novem- 
ber 13, 1717. Mary, daughter of Samuel and 
Priscilla (Coleman) Bunker, married Ste- 
phen Coffin (see Coffin I\') ; from Ste])hen 
and Mary (Bunker) Coffin, the line continues 
to William Cofiin (2) Dornin, through his 
grandmother, Phoebe G. Coffin, daughter of 
George Bunker Coffin, son of Noah, son of 
Stephen Coffin. 

Descriptions of coats-of-arms of the fami- 
lies lierein recorded : 

Dornin : Gu. a lion passant guardant or. 
In base a human heart arg., charged with a 
saltire, couped, of the field. Crest : A dexter 
cubit arm, erect, holding a flaming sword, all 
proper. Motto : Fortiter et fideliter. 

Coffin : Az. semee of cross crosslets or, 
four bezants of the first. Crest : A martlet 
arg. Motto : Extant recte factis proemia. 

Marchant : Az. a chevron or. between 
three owls arg., legged of the 2nd. Crest: 
Out of a ducal coronet, an owl's leg erect or. 
Motto : Patria cara carior libertas. 

Coleman : Az. on a pale rayonne or, a lion 
rampant gu. Crest : A demi lion rampant 
gu. 

Kimball : Arg. a lion rampant gu. L pon 
a chief sa. 3 crescents or. Crest : A lion 
rampant holding in his dexter paw a dagger 
proper. 

Cleveland : Per chevron sa. and erm. a 
chevron engrailed, countercharged. Crest : 
A demi old man ])roper, habited az.. having 
on a cap gu. turned up with a hair front, hold- 
ing in the dexter hand a spear-headed arg. 
on the top of which is fixed a line proper 
passing behind him and wound up in the sin- 
ister hand. Motto: Pro Deo et patria. 

Ripley : Per chevron az. and or, 3 lions 
rampant countercharged. Crest : A demi 
lion vert, collared arg., holding between the 
paws an escutcheon per chevron or and arg. 

Westcott (Lyttleton) : Arg. a chevron be- 
tween three escallops sa. Crest : A stag's 
head caboshed sa., attired or, between the 
attires a bugle horn of the second, hanging 
from a band gu. 

Wing : Per pale arg. and vert a maunch 



484 



HUDSON AND MOHAWK VALLEYS 



countercharged. Crest: A maunch per pale 
arg. and vert between two wings or. 

Severance (Severne) : Arg. on a chevron 
sa. nine bezants. Crest: A cinquefoil or. 
Motto : Virtus praestantior auro. 

Hobart: Sa. an estoile of eight points or 
between two flaunches erm. Crest : A bull 
passant per pale sa. and gu. bezantee. In the 
nostrils an annulet or. 

Winn : Vert three eagles displayed in fesse 
or. Crest: A boar's head gu., couped or. 

Chase : Gu. four cross crosslets two and 
two or. On a canton az. a lion passant of 
the same. Crest : A demi lion rampant or, 
holding in his dexter paw a cross of the 
shield. Motto : Ne cede malis. 

Dewey : Sa. on a fesse arg. between three 
dragons' heads erased or, langued gu. as 
many cinquefoils of the field. Motto : Co- 
rona veniet delectis. Crest : A dragon's head 
between two wings expanded sa. on each a 
cinquefoil or. 

Tilton : Az. a ileur-de-lis arg. Cfest : 
An ostrich holding in the beak a horseshoe, 
all proper. ]\Iotto: Deo non fortuna. 

Starbuck : Sa. a fesse gu. charged with 
five mullets between three human hands two 
and one. Crest : A demi lion rampant hold- 
ing in his dexter paw a thistle and in his sinis- 
ter paw a fleur-de-lis. 



(VII) Tustine Van 
V.\N RENSSELAER Rensselaer, seventh 
child of General 
Stephen Vnn Rensselaer and Harriet Eliza- 
beth Ijayard, was born at Albany, New York, 
September 18, 1828; in 191 1 resided in New 
York City ; married in the Manor House at 
Albany, February 2, 1853, Howard Town- 
send, M. D. 

He was born at Albany, November 22, 
1823; died at his home. No. 13 Elk street, 
Albany, January 16, 1867, and was the son 
of Isaiah Townsend, who married Hannah 
Townsend. Children: i. Justine Van Rens- 
selaer, born at .A.lbany, New York, December 
5, 1833: died at Paris, France, April 22, 1881 ; 
married at .Albany, January 23. 1877, Lieu- 
tenant Thomas Henry Barber, U. S. A., who 
was born at London, England, May 6, 1844 ; 
died at New York, March 16, 1905, and was 



the son of Thomas Hunt Barber and Maria 
Thompson ; no issue. 2. Helen Schuyler, 
born at Albany, New York, November 17, 
1855; died there May 27, 1858. 3. Howard 
Townsend, born at Albany, New York, August 
2^, 1858; attorney practicing in New York 
City in 191 1 ; married at New York, April 17, 
1888 (first) Sophie Witherspoon Dickey, who 
was born at New York, January 9, 1864: died 
at Saranac Lake, New York, January 29, 
1892, and was the daughter of Charles Dens- 
ton Dickey and Mary Witherspoon ; children : 
Sophie Witherspoon, born at New York, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1889: married. New York, October 
10, 1910. John Adams Dix ; Howard, born at 
New York, Janua-ry 27, 1890, died at Thom- 
asville, Georgia, February !)■, 1891. Howard 
Townsend married (second),- at New York, 
October 20, 1894, Anne Lowndes Langdom 
who was born at IS^ew York, October 11, 1865, 
and was the daughter of Eugene Langdon 
and Harriet Lowndes ; children : .A.nne Lang- 
don, born at New York, November 13, 1898. 
Howard Van Rensselaer, born at New York, 
March 25, 1900; Eugene Langdon, born at 
Southampton, New York, September 24, 
1901 ; Philip Schuyler, born at New York, 
November 3, 1905 ; 4. Stephen \'an Rens- 
selaer, born at .Albany. New York. October 
20. i860: attorney; died at Hempstead, Long 
Island, January 13. 1901 : married, Grace 
Church Chantry, New York City, May 22, 
1888, Janet Eckford King, who was born at 
Rome, February 19, 1866; died at Quogue, 
Long Island. August 19, 1899, and was the 
daughter of Cornelius Low King and Janet 
De Kay ; children : Janet King, born at New 
York, "March 9, 1889; Margaret Schuyler, 
born at Bellows Falls, Vermont, July 19, 
1890: Stephen Van Rensselaer, born at New 
York. October 21, 1891 : died there. Septem- 
ber 3, 1893; Justine Van Rensselaer, born at 
New York, January 2, 1896. 5. Harriet Bay- 
ard, born at Albany, New York, March 23, 
1864: married, New York, April 28, 1886, 
Thomas Henry Barber, who was born at Lon- 
don. England, May 6, 1844: died at New 
York, Alarch 16, 1903; children: Thomas 
Hunt Barber, born at New York, January 20, 
1889: Justine Van Rensselaer, born at New 
York, March 30, 1891. 



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